Polson blows by C-Falls in 4th frame quarter

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Polson busted the football game wide open in the last quarter to beat the Wildcats 25-6 Friday night. After nearly three quarters of close play, the Pirates scored late in the third quarter to break a 6-all tie.

Columbia Falls then allowed two big plays for touchdowns in the fourth. Polson's Brice Pickard scored on a 31-yard run, and Gabe Caye caught a 31-yard pass from Craig Bagnell. Pickard also caught a 20-yard pass from Bagnell for a Pirates' score in the first.

Josh Wilson scored for the Wildcats on an 8-yard run in the second quarter.

The match featured a slew of missed point after touchdown kicks. The two teams combined made just one out of five. Poor snapping was to blame.

"We were tied at the half," Wildcat coach John Thompson said. "But the second half went bad in a hurry."

Columbia Falls is banged up at the linebacker position, which created assignment problems the Pirates, 3-0 and 5-1, were able to exploit.

The game was closer than the final score shows. Polson had just three more possessions than the Wildcats in the second half. Both teams kept decent control of the ball. Columbia Falls had two turnovers to Polson's one.

"They are a good football team," Thompson said. "They don't make a lot of mistakes."

The loss puts Columbia Falls at 1-2 and 2-4.

Pirates 25, Wildcats 6

Polson 6 0 6 13 - 25

Columbia Falls 0 6 0 0 - 6

Polson - Andy Nelson 3 run (kick failed)

Columbia Falls - Josh Wilson 8 run (kick failed)

Polson - Gabe Caye 31 pass from Craig Bagnell (kick failed), Brice Pickard 31 run (Colton Woods, kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Polson, Andy Nelson 25-125; Josh Wilson 31-133

Passing - Polson, Craig Bagnell 10-19-158

Receiving - Polson, Colton Woods 5-80