Class A football: Locomotives put a stop to the Pirates’ season
LAUREL — The defending champs defended.
Kyson Moran threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Laurel held down Polson for a 28-14 victory Saturday in a State A semifinal football game.
Moran threw just seven passes, but he completed six for 127 yards. The key completion was to Beau Dantic on a third-and-11 screen that the running back took 74 yards for a score.
It came moments after Polson quarterback Jarrett Wilson’s 2-yard touchdown run, and gave Laurel (10-0) the lead for good, 14-7, 1:50 left in the first half.
“That was it. I felt like that was the play of the game,” said Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann, whose club ended up 10-1. “We were calling timeouts to get the ball back, and they were going into the wind. Instead we’re down seven going into the half. That was a big turning point for us.”
Dantic ran for 118 yards on 26 carries; Laurel gained 353 yards total and held possession for 30 minutes out of 48. The Locomotives are headed to their third straight title game; they’ll host Hamilton, a 28-7 winner over Lewistown in the other semifinal.
Laurel gave up very few big plays, though Wilson got his 48th touchdown pass of the season, a 52-yarder to Colton Graham in the fourth quarter.
That cut a 28-7 gap to 28-14 with 8:16 left, but Laurel never gave the ball back. The Locomotives recovered an onside kick, gained four first downs and ran out the clock.
“Being down two touchdowns, we’re hoping to get a stop and score and save timeouts for the last,” Glinsmann said. “We just weren’t able to get them off the field.
“I feel like overall we just outcoached. Our guys did a great job; we just didn’t put them in a position to be successful.”
Wilson completed 24 of 28 passes for 219 yards. He was intercepted on Polson’s first drive, though Laurel quickly fumbled the ball back.
The Pirates would like some do-overs: They gave up the ball on downs at their own 34 to set up Laurel’s first score, a 4-yard run by Owen Wilcox; their next drive they got to first-and-goal — Xavier Fisher caught a 22-yard pass and Alex Muzquiz gained 17 on another — only to give the ball on downs at the 1.
After Laurel took the third-quarter kickoff and went up 21-7 on Moran’s 17-yard TD pass to Justin Boehler (on third-and-10), Polson gave up the ball on downs again at its own 29.
Six running plays later, Moran crashed in from the 3 and it was 28-7.
Graham caught five passes for 70 yards and his 16th TD of the season for the Pirates. He led a talented quintet of senior receivers; Polson will lose 11 players to graduation overall.
“We’re going to miss them,” said Glinsmann, who took over the Pirates after their 0-9 season in 2018. “Like I told them after the game: I feel like the program is turned around, heading in the right direction, and it’s because of those seniors.”
Polson 0 7 0 7 - 14
Laurel 7 7 14 0 - 28
L — Owen Wilcox 4 run (Desmet kick), 1:20-1Q
P — Jarrett Wilson 2 run (Kaden Nelson kick), 3:09-2Q
L — Beau Dantic 74 pass from Kyson Moran (Desmet kick), 1:50-2Q
L — Dalton Boehler 17 pass from Moran (Desmet kick), 8:33-3Q
L — Moran 3 run (Desmet) kick, 2:54-3Q
P — Colton Graham 52 pass from Wilson (Nelson kick), 8:16-4Q
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Polson — Keyen Nash 8-37, Wilson 14-17, Xavier Fisher 1-2; Laurel — Dantic 26-118, Moran 14-44, Wilcox 7-28, Camden Johnson 1-4.
PASSING: Polson — Wilson 24-28-1 for 219 yards; Moran 6-7-0 for 127 yards; Danti 1-2-0 for 32 yards.
RECEIVING: Polson — Graham 5-70, Fisher 7-69, Alex Muzquiz 5-39, Nash 4-27, Robert Perez 3-14. Laurel — Dantic 2-72, Boehler 2-48, Jacob Wibinger 2-43, Wilcox 1-minus 4.