Polson, Bigfork hunt title berths

A six-hour bus ride for one, home cooking for the other.

Polson and Bigfork, schools (and combatants in the near future) that sit 35 miles apart on the shores of Flathead Lake, are back in the semifinals for high school football.

Bigfork hopes to make the State B championship again, only this time as a home team. The Vikings play host to Missoula Loyola Saturday at 1 p.m.

At the same time, 350 miles away, the Polson Pirates visit Lewistown for a State A semifinal. Polson is hunting its first state title and second championship appearance; the first came in 1969, when the Pirates lost to Butte Central.

Polson at Lewistown

The host Eagles are a little more pass-happy than the other A semifinalists, Hamilton and Billings Central, but Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann is concerned with how they run the ball.

“They’re extremely well-coached and look to be physical up front,” Glinsmann said. “Their offensive line, they get after it. And they’re very physical in the front six, defensively, so we’re going to have our hands full.

“They have a good running back and a very athletic quarterback, and they know what it takes to win this time of year.”

Lewistown quarterback Gage Norslien wears No. 18; top running back Jett Boyce, a 205-pound senior, wears 28. The two create most of the problems for opposing defenses, and Eagles Matthew Golik, Kieran Netburn and Royce Robinson have combined for 17 touchdown catches.

Perhaps more impressive is a Lewistown defense that has allowed more than one touchdown just twice all season.

Polson is coming off a 14-7 win over Laurel in which the wind along Flathead Lake made things as tough as the Locomotives defense. The forecast for Lewistown calls for 35 degrees, with a light wind.

That would be more conducive to Polson quarterback Jarrett Wilson adding to his 31 passing touchdowns this season. Klinsmann hopes so.

“I know you have to run the ball to win,” he said. “But it’s more fun to throw it.”

Polson advanced despite the loss of Brock Henriksen, a key player at tight end and on defense, to a knee injury. Against Laurel a couple players who’d returned from injury stepped forward: running back Keyen Nash, who caught four passes for 79 yards; and defensive lineman Ezra Fasthorse.

Fasthorse, 185 pounds, had missed several games after arm surgery.

“He’s an undersized guy, but very quick off the block,” Glinsmann said. “He creates problems for us in practice, and he’s able to do that on the game field as well.”

Lewistown is seeking its second state championship berth and first since winning the 2001 State A title.

Billings Central at Hamilton

These two teams are more run-heavy, and especially Billings Central: Rams quarterback Adam Balkenbush has thrown a total of five playoff passes, and had just one in last week’s back-and-forth, 24-21 win over Dillon. It was incomplete.

The defending champion Broncs have won 21 straight, but the Rams’ wing-T seems to be firing.

Missoula Loyola at Bigfork

Much has been written about how Bigfork has become a more balanced offense while chasing its first State B crown since 2010.

Meanwhile, the Loyola Sacred Heart Rams are relying heavily on Talen Reynolds, a junior running back who has piled up 1,556 rushing yards.

He got 93 of those yards in a 47-14 loss at Bigfork on Oct. 7. But that was then.

“They’ve improved dramatically since we played them,” said Bigfork coach Jim Benn, who in 2019 was an assistant at Loyola. “There’s been kind of a youth movement, it sounds like, and (coach) Todd Hughes does a tremendous job.”

Loyola quarterback Aiden Round completes a high percentage of passes and Jake Jamieson and Malik Lyttle each have five TD catches. But Reynolds, a 160-pounder who wears the same number as his dad, Griz great Chase (No. 34), is the key.

“He plays outside linebacker as well,” Benn said. “He’s a tough kid, and by all accounts a great kid.”

Junior Tristen Herd triggers a Viking offense that has piled up the passing yards compared to years past, with Isak Epperly, Bryce Gilliard and Nick Walker running some, but not all, of the routes: Junior Cole Knopik has taken half his eight receptions for TDs.

The ground game continued to churn up yardage (339 a game) and touchdowns (36). Senior Joe Farrier has 15 of those scores, but junior Wyatt Johnson has run for four, one more thing that bodes well for Bigfork’s impending move to Class A.

A year ago the Vikings played four road playoff games, ending with a title-game loss at Florence; this season they’ve stayed home, and would be again if they win Saturday.

“It’s hard to beat a good team twice,” Benn said. “There’s a lot of familiarity on both sides. A lot of these Loyola seniors were freshmen when I was there. When I don’t play them, I root for them.”

Boulder at Florence

The defending champion Florence Falcons get another chance at Boulder, after the Panthers handed them a 34-27 loss on Sept. 16, in Florence.

The 1 p.m. kickoff features a bit of a contrast in styles. Boulder sophomore quarterback Luke Oxarart has been more of a runner than a thrower, the Panthers have running back Dylan Root.

Florence QB Patrick Duchien does it all, and is responsible for 46 Falcon touchdowns.