Polson beats the wind, Locomotives

POLSON — Tough wind, tough Locomotives, tougher Pirates.

Polson’s Jarrett Wilson intercepted a Laurel pass with 1:07 left in regulation, then scored on a 6-yard run with 29 seconds remaining to lift the Pirates to a 14-7 win in a Class A quarterfinal football game Saturday.

Wilson, the Pirates’ senior quarterback, threw for 208 yards and a touchdown and ran for 98 yards and another score to guide his team into the semifinals a second straight year.

Polson, 9-0, travels to 10-0 Lewistown next weekend for a shot at the state title. Lewistown edged Columbia Falls 14-6 Saturday.

Hamilton (10-0) will host the other semifinal, after beating Whitefish 34-20 Saturday; the defending champion Broncs, winners of 21 straight, will take on Billings Central.

It was the Pirates’ fourth showdown with a playoff team, and third that was a one-score game. A sharp south-to-north wind hampered both teams, and played into Laurel’s hands early. The Locomotives (8-3) got a 1-yard touchdown run from Gus Robertus — with the wind — to lead 7-0 in the first quarter. It took most of the day for Polson to get the lead.

“Credit to Laurel, they knew what it took to stop Jarrett Wilson and our offense,” Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann said. “I think the wind and the field were the difference.”

With the wind at his back in the second quarter, Wilson found Jaren Keene for a 27-yard touchdown, capping a 95-yard drive. Keyen Nash caught two long-gainers to set up the TD.

Polson had the ball back with 3:49 left in the half, but that drive ended with a Wilson fumble at Laurel’s 28-yard line.

The second half had plenty of action, if few points. Wilson intercepted Robertus on Laurel’s first play of the second half, but Robertus returned the favor at the Laurel 28 on the ensuing drive.

Wilson would throw a second interception in the fourth quarter, and Laurel drove to Polson’s 33 before a fourth-down pass was dropped.

Polson’s ensuing possession went nowhere, but Wilson got off a 64-yard punt to pin Laurel deep. Then, after Camden Johnson tore off a 20-yard run for the Locomotives, Robertus tried another pass into the wind — and Wilson was there for the pick again.

Set up at Laurel’s 28, Wilson found Tyler Wenderoth for a 16-yard gain on third-and-10. Then he called his own number twice, scoring the game-winner.

Tia Mercer tacked on the PAT kick, and Nash made back-to-back sacks of Robertus to seal the outcome.

“We lost to them last year (28-14 in the semifinals), and that was a game we feel like we should have won,” Glinsmann said. “We weren’t going to let the weather be an excuse for this team, and we were able to grind this win out.”

Nash had four catches for 79 yards for Polson.

Laurel 7 0 0 0 - 7

Polson 0 7 0 7 - 14

L — Gus Robertus 1 run (Owen Adams kick), 2:26-1Q

P — Jarrett Wilson 1 run (Tia Mercer kick), 8:50-2Q

P — JWilson 6 run (Mercer kick), L28-4Q

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Laurel (38-97) — Camden Johnson 11-66, Owen Younger 10-23, Gus Robertus 13-15, Tanner Schwend 2-5, Team 2-minus 20. Polson (34-125) — JWilson 22-98, Keyen Nash 9-20, Trent Wilson 2-6, Team 1-6.

PASSING: Laurel — Robertus 4-10-2 for 41 yards. Polson — JWilson 17-29-2 for 208 yards.

RECEIVING: Laurel — Tanner Knaub 2-26, Younger 1-15, Toran Harper 1-0. Polson — Nash 7-79, TWilson 4-33, Dawson DuMont 1-31, Jaren 1-27, Wenderoth 3-22, Cason Graham 1-16.

Lewistown 14, Columbia Falls 6

LEWISTOWN — In another defensive battle, Lewistown quarterback Gage Norslien ran for one touchdown and threw for another in the second quarter, and it held up.

Cody Schweikert got the Wildcats (7-3) on the board with a 9-yard scoring run in the third quarter, but the offense couldn’t get any more footting. The Eagles outgained the Wildcats 190-128.

Schweikert had 18 carries for 34 yards and was 11 for 23 passing for 79 yards with one interception. Justin Windauer caught four passes for 48 yards, and the Wildcats ended up 7-3.

Norslien threw for just 29 yards — he completed 3 of 6 passes — but ran for 86 on 24 carries.

Columbia Falls 0 0 6 0 - 6

Lewistown 0 14 0 0 - 14

L — Gage Norslien 1 run (Kieran Netburn kick), 9:50-2Q

L — Royce Robinson 10 pass from Norslien (Netburn kick), :49-2Q

CF — Cody Schweikert 9 run (kick failed), 7:43-3Q

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Columbia Falls (29-49) — Schweikert 18-34, Reggie Sapa 6-20, Blaise Wunderlich 2-5, Justin Windauer 1-minus 1, Brandon Role 1-minus 1, Alihn Anderson 1-minus 8. Lewistown (41-161) — Norslien 24-86, Jett Boyce 13-73, Brody Jenness 2-5, Netburn 1-0, Greysen Arndt 1-minus 3.

PASSING: Columbia Falls — Schweikert 11-23-1 for 79 yards. Lewistown — Norslien 3-6-0 for 29 yards, Robinson 0-1-0 for 0 yards.

RECEIVING: Columbia Falls — Justin Windauer 4-49, Mark Robison 2-20, Jace Duval 2-8, Reggie Sapa 2-5, Schweikert 1-minus 3. Lewistown — Robinson 2-29, Boyce 1-0.

Hamilton 34, Whitefish 20

HAMILTON — Andrew Frederick ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-sealing 15-yard burst in the fourth quarter for Hamilton.

The Bulldogs fought back from a 20-6 halftime deficit and trailed just 26-20 after Fynn Ridgeway found Clayton Godsey with a 7-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter.

Then came a golden opportunity: Hamilton lost 27 yards on a bad snap, then had a 7-yard punt to give Whitefish the ball at its own 25, with 7:06 left in the game.

The Broncs held: Whitefish gave up the ball on downs at the 25, and Hamilton drove 75 yards for Frederick’s final touchdown, taking most of the final 5:08 off the clock.

Hamilton (10-0) will take on Billings Central in the semifinals Saturday. Whitefish ended up 7-4.

Ridgeway was 14 of 23 passing for 173 yards, and ran 15 times for 48 yards. He ended the season with 1,259 yards and 17 TDs on the ground, and 1,684 yards and 15 scores through the air.

Dane Hunt caught four passes for 53 yards Saturday for Whitefish. Godsey had five catches for 44 yards.

Whitefish 0 6 7 7 - 20

Hamilton 6 14 6 8 - 34

H — Tyson Bauder 1 run (kick failed)

W — Fynn Ridgeway 1 run (kick failed)

H — Andrew Frederick 1 run (kick)

H — Bauder 1 run (kick)

W — Decker Wolf 4 run (Ryder Barinowski kick)

H — Bauder 4 run (kick failed)

W — Clayton Godsey 7 pass from Ridgeway (Barinowski kick)

H — Frederick 16 run (Bauder run)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Whitefish (25-84) — Wold 4-28, Ridgeway 15-48, Ty Schwaiger 6-8.

Hamilton (54-358) — Frederick 20-154, Bauder 24-137, Jesse Anson 8-38, Eli Taylor 1-25, Liam O’Connell 1-4.

PASSING: Whitefish — Ridgeway 14-23-0 for 173 yards, Mason Kelch 1-1-0 for 8 yards, Schwaiger 1-1-0 for 6 yards. Hamilton — Bauder 3-6-1 for 50 yards;

RECEIVING: Whitefish — Dane unt 4-53, Godsey 5-44, Carson Krack 2-42, Kelch 2-36, Schwaiger 2-11, Jesse Burrough 1-6. Hamilton — Isaiah Van de Baan 1-30, O’Connell 2-20.

Billings Central 24, Dillon 21

BILLINGS — Clay Oven’s 1-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds left was the difference for Billings Central.

It was the third touchdown in the final 7:35 of the game: Oven had a 5-yard scoring run to put the Rams (9-1) up 17-14; Dillon went back in front on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Kee Christiansen to Eli Nourse.

The Beavers ended up 8-2.