It could have easily gone the other way at Darby’s Homecoming. Victor coach Brandon Howell said his team was ready for the tough Tigers. Although Victor doesn’t have as many players out for football as Darby, Howell felt his team would match up well against the Tigers. But then starting center Jack Pederson was injured in an accident Friday morning that was witnessed by some of his teammates. Pederson has been the heart of the Pirates, the one that is always pumping his fellow teammates up. But by game time he was in surgery, and his teammates were faced with picking themselves up for the football game. Players had to be switched around to fill the gap in the middle of the Pirate line.
Homecoming can be a distraction and that may have been the case for the Tigers. They had a difficult time containing quarterback Steven Scheffer who took to the air for three touchdowns. Victor’s first touchdown was a pass from Scheffer to Jesse Pearson from 16 yards out. Scheffer ran for the two-point conversion. Darby came back to score with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter. The Tigers scored on a five-yard pass from Kye McCollaum to Zach McCrossin. The two-point conversion failed and there was a two-point difference.
However Victor didn’t let up. At the 24-second mark, Scheffer hit Colt Neville from 30 yards out for another six points. After another Scheffer run on the conversion, the pirates were up, 16-6. Victor broke loose in the third quarter and scored when Dallas Baines raced 33 yards for the score. Pearson scored twice more in the third quarter on runs of six yards and 12 yards. His final TD was an 18-yard reception from Scheffer to make the final score, 44-18.
“We handled the adversity well,” said Howell. “Even with almost 300 yards in penalties (we’re going to work on that), we really played with focus. We were playing for Jack.”
Darby’s John Becker scored in the third quarter with an eight-yard run. Their final touchdown was a 12-yard run by Justin Horvath in the fourth quarter. The Tigers were on their way to another score with about five minutes remaining in the game. They had a first down on the Pirates’ 19-yard line. But a fumble and a recovery by Victor stopped the momentum. Darby now has a record of 2-2 while Victor picked up their first win and are now 1-2 with the 44-18 win.
In another battle of the Bitterroot, Hamilton topped Corvallis, 42-14. Alex Draper rushed for three touchdowns. He scored in the first quarter on a two-yard plunge. Later, he raced seven yards and then his final TD was in the third quarter with a three-yard run. Bret Huxtable hit Bridger Bauder from 60 yards out for the first Bronc touchdown. The two paired up again in the fourth quarter, this time from 45 yards out. Huxtable also called his own number in the second quarter for a one yard run and touchdown. Bauder was 5-of-6 on the PATs.
Corvallis scored on a 15 yards pass from Spencer Jessop to Cole Wohltman. Cayden Ayers kicked the PAT. Daner Miller caught an 11-yard pass from Ridge Albright for the second Blue Devil touchdown. Ayers kicked the PAT again.
Florence stopped the two-point conversion by Eureka in the final minutes of the game to retain their lead and take the non-conference win. Eureka’s Brenton Pluid had surged three yards for the touchdown but the Lions couldn’t push through the Falcon line for the tying conversion. Eureka scored first but then Bo Zeiler returned the kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Braxton McCullough hit Shae Miller for the two-point conversion. Marcus Zeiler scored the second and final Florence touchdown in the second quarter when he pulled down a 50-yard pass from McCullough for the score. Florence won, 14-12.
Stevensville lost to Whitefish.