The most impressive thing Victor coach Brandon Howell saw on the football field Saturday wasn’t the score. It was the fact that his Pirates never gave up and came back from 14 points to defeat the always tough Drummond Trojans in the opening game of the season.
“I think these kids have the best mental toughness of any of the teams I’ve coached in three years,” said Howell. “They didn’t give up.”
The Pirates came from behind in the fourth quarter to top the Trojans, 42-36. Drummond had a chance late in the fourth quarter when Mac Bignell took a pass right out of Pirate Kyle Ball’s hands on the goal line with the game tied. The Pirate defense stepped up the pressure and Drummond had to turn the ball over on downs. Ball went on to catch the final touchdown pass to give the Pirates the lead. Nate Bishop caught the pass on the two-point conversion.
Ball had 12 catches in the game including scoring receptions of six yards, 27 yards, and 18 yards. Bishop finished with two touchdown receptions on passes of 40 yards and 20 yards. Matt Kittel made his debut as the Pirates’ quarterback in impressive fashion. He completed 24 of 36 passes and had six touchdown passes. Senior Corey Deering had 72 yards on nine carries. He also made life miserable for Bignell, the Trojan’s quarterback, shadowing the quarterback and slowing down the play.
Philipsburg defeated Darby, 42-40, in a close Western C battle. Darby scored 26 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get the lead. Joe Caicedo led the Tigers with three rushing touchdowns and threw for one as well. Caicedo hit Mitch Wolf from 17 yards out for the Tiger’s first touchdown. He also had runs of three yards, 52 yards and 20 yards. Colton Johnston had a 38-yard run for the next Darby touchdown. Johnston also had a 29-yard scoring run for the Tigers. Blake Kormanik had 18 tackles for Darby. Loyd Rennaker is back at the helm of the Tigers after taking a few years off.
Hamilton lost to Billings Central, 49-0, in non-conference Class A action.