The 500-times-2 club welcomes Polson’s Wilson
Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann has no intention of counting the numbers racked up — including four touchdown passes by Jarrett Wilson — in a 49-21 win over the Glacier junior varsity on Aug. 27.
“I don’t think I could justify it going into a conference meeting,” Glinsmann said Wednesday. “I don’t even know what Wilson threw for.”
It likely won’t matter because last week Wilson threw for 565 yards and seven touchdowns as Polson thumped Stevensville 52-12.
Wilson, a junior, became the seventh Class A quarterback to reach the seven-TD mark — a list that includes Columbia Falls’ Dakota Bridwell, who did it three times, including a record eight in 2016.
Class A historian Brian A. Reed notes that Wilson is just the second QB at that level to have two 500-yard games; the first was Billings Central’s Chris Klein in 1995. Only Klein, who threw for 624 in a wild one at Colstrip, has a higher single-game total than the 565 Wilson had against Stevi.
The numbers can be almost numbing, and are partly a product of a no-huddle offense — “what we call our cook section” — that looks to snap the ball 5 seconds after the referee places it.
Partly.
“The thing about Jarrett is his ability to not only diagnose the opponent’s defense, but he’s able to find the open receiver, and then he’s so accurate,” Glinsmann said. “It’s ultimately about him and the offense and the command that he has. He really picked it up at the end of his sophomore year and he’s come in this year and ran with it. We couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Polson, 3-0 (including a forfeit over Butte Central) going into a Friday home game against East Helena, has 10 seniors on the 2021 squad.
“And five of them are receivers,” Glinsman said.
Robert Perez and Alex Muzquiz are the outside receivers and Xavier Fisher and Colton Graham are on the inside, with Landon Becker rotating in here or there. Another key senior: Two-way lineman Braunson Henriksen, a 6-foot-5, 238-pound Big Sky Conference prospect.
“We treat our running backs (Dawson DuMont or Trent Dwelle) like an extension of our passing game,” Glinsman added. “He has some running back duties and some pass protection duties. And he also has ball-catching duties.
“That’s where we’re at. We just take what the defense gives us. Our motto is to simply attack space, fast.”
Still on
Covid-19 had scuttled a crosstown football battle between Missoula Hellgate and Missoula Sentinel, but the news that Lincoln County schools in Eureka has had a Covid-19 outbreak has not affected the Lions’ football schedule.
“Day-to-day,” said Eureka football coach Trevor Utter, whose club is scheduled to play Fairfield Friday. “A different challenge every hour. We are planning on boarding the bus and heading to Fairfield. We have a JV and varsity game, and are planning on heading over. We have some cases in our school but no cases on our team or our coaching staff.”
Fairfield lost last year’s State B Championship to Manhattan — its seventh runner-up finish to go with four titles. Eureka won three titles from 2016-20.
“We’re excited because it’s going to be a heck of a game,” Utter said. “If we can stay healthy and go play, that would be great.”
On the pitch
Sneaking this into the prep notes because she’s a recent prep: Flathead’s Skyleigh Thompson has started the past two matches as a true freshman for the Montana Grizzlies’ soccer squad.
Thompson has taken six shots this season and Columbia Falls’ Josie Windauer has five. Windauer, a sophomore, has a goal. Thompson has yet to score.
This and that
Speaking of Manhattan, the defending champs fell to then-No. 2 Florence 52-0 Friday. Patrick Duchien threw for 383 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score for the Falcons. … Mission improved to 2-0 with a 36-16 win over Charlo Friday. Kellen McClure had four TD passes to Bryce Umphrey for the Bulldogs, who at one point trailed 12-8.