A football playoffs: Polson drops Frenchtown in double overtime
FRENCHTOWN - Polson's first-round blues ended on Saturday, but it took some overtime.
The Pirates rattled off two scores in two series of extra play and held on to defeat defending state champion Frenchtown 27-21 in double overtime in the opening round of the Class A football playoffs.
Saturday's win was the first opening-round victory for the Pirates since 2002. Polson, which has won Northwestern A four times in the last nine years, is hoping to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time in over a decade. Polson will travel to Butte Central this weekend to face the top seed from Central A.
"We've lost some heartbreakers here the last couple years, so it's nice to be on the other side of that," Polson head coach Scott Wilson said.
"It was exciting. It was a game of two very evenly matched football teams. We came through."
Junior quarterback Vince DiGiallonardo threw for 257 yards and two TDs and ran for 77 yards and one TD. Louis Mohr had 114 yards receiving and two TD catches and Kyle Bagnell caught a touchdown pass and threw for one for Polson (7-2).
"There were a lot of ups and downs emotionally but I'm just really proud of how the kids played throughout," Wilson said.
In other Class A playoff action Saturday, Miles City defeated Havre 54-26. Miles City travels to play Columbia Falls this weekend. Belgrade beat Laurel 27-7 and moves on to play Dillon.
Polson 14 0 0 0 7 6 - 27
Frenchtown 7 0 7 0 7 0 - 21
F - Derrick Dauenhauer 2 run (Ben Metz kick)
P - Kyle Bagnell 11 pass from Vince DiGIallonardo (Bagnell kick)
P - Louis Mohr 46 pass from DiGiallonardo (Bagnell kick)
F - Andy Domingo 33 run (Metz kick)
F - Brad Nordahl 1 run (Metz kick)
P - Mohr 7 pass from Bagnell (Bagnell kick)
P - DiGIallonardo 6 run (kick failed)
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Polson (39-97): DiGiallonardo 22-77, Sheldon Fisher 4-12, Taylor Pitts 3-9, Justin Hoel 1-(-1). Frenchtown (59-212): Dauenhauer 20-108, Domingo 6-40, Nordahl 23-40, Metz 1-12, Ryan Anderson 2-7, David Anderson 7-5.
PASSING - Polson, DiGIallonardo 11-27-1-257. Frenchtown, Nordahl 1-2-1-9, Brydon Peacock 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING - Polson, Mohr 7-114, Bagnell 2-20, Kienan Keniston 1-9, Ian Lambeer 1-4. Frenchtown, Jake Ross 1-9.