Like the Yellowjackets they are, Stevensville came out hitting hard and playing fast and quickly scored against Polson in the season opener on Friday night in Stevensville. Logan Connors saw that Richie Brushia was open in the backfield and handed him the ball for a 24-yard gain that caught the Pirates standing flatfooted. That set up the ‘Jackets’ first touchdown when senior fullback Ethan Pateman scored. The 2-point conversion was good and Stevi had the lead.

Stevensville had another chance when they recovered the short kick after the touchdown but an interception ended that run.

Polson settled down and began banging away at the smaller Yellowjackets and scored a field goal and a touchdown in the first quarter. With fourth year starter Craig Bagnell at the helm of the Pirates, the more seasoned team kept the pressure on and scored another touchdown in the second quarter.

But like the Yellowjackets they are, Stevensville just kept coming right back at the Pirates. Stevensville’s Brushia did an end-around run that ended 48 yards later in a touchdown to score again in the second quarter.

“Yeah, we were outgunned,” said coach Bob Connors of his Yellowjackets. “They have a senior quarterback, a four-year starter. I thought our young kids, sophomores in the secondary and a couple of freshmen who ended up out there did well. But our seniors did a nice job of leading us and getting us over that hump of ‘oh my God, look how big they are’ and we were fine.”

When the gun sounded at the end of the first half, Polson was ahead, but not by much. The pesky Yellowjackets trailed by only a field goal. Neither team scored in the third quarter but both made up for it in the fourth quarter. Tim Bagnell broke loose for a 91-yard scoring run for Polson. The PAT was good and Polson had a 10-point lead.

But once again, Stevensville was right there. “We battled back,” said Connors. “We didn’t hang our heads. No one hid behind the other players.”

A leaping catch by Josh Haynes on a Connors pass resulted in another six points for Stevensville with only six minutes remaining in the game and a touchdown separating the two teams. Polson came back with a Bagnell run to give the Pirates some breathing room.

But once again, Stevensville came back. Pateman instructed Connors to trust him and get him the ball and he would take care of the rest. A short pass to Pateman gave the Stevensville senior a little running room. He put his head down and bulled his way to the final Yellowjacket touchdown.

Polson won, 31-26, but Coach Connors was very proud of his team’s efforts. Connors said Polson had great athletes. “That’s why I’m proud of my kids. We stuck our noses in there and either we’re young and dumb or we didn’t care (how big Polson was), we were going to play hard and fast.”

Pateman finished with 106 yards on 23 carries.

Corvallis ran over Browning, 42-0, in their opening game of the season. Rodee Anderson started the route with two interceptions and touchdowns. Anderson’s first interception and scoring run was for 30 yards. He turned right around and scored again when he snagged another Browning pass from 45 yards out.

Kennan Strong scored on a one-yard run. He was followed by Drew Zeiler’s 60-yard interception return. Shae Gingerich made another interception from 65 yards out that resulted in another touchdown. Matt Smith took a five-yard pass from Jordan Waldo and turned that into the sixth Blue Devil touchdown. Waldo tallied a safety for the final score in the game.

Golfers hit the courses

The defending state champions took to the course on Thursday in Anaconda at the Old Works Golf Course. Even though school hasn’t started here in the valley, teams have been practicing and preparing for the season. Hamilton finished second for the day for the boys and the girls finished in third place.

Hamilton had three players who finished in the top 10 for the boys. Jason Jessop, Eli Rogers and Tyler Jessop each scored 91. Hamilton finished with 368. Belgrade won the tournament with a score of 355. Rounding out the scoring were Dillon (386), Anaconda (399), Butte Central (400), Livingston (404), Stevensville (410) and Frenchtown (438).

Dillon’s Brett Creger took the top spot with 82. Sam Lubbers of Stevensville shot an 84 which put him in fifth place.

Hamilton’s three top 10 players each had a 91. Completing the team scoring were Brad Palin with 97, and Phil Silcher with 95.

Lubbers led the Yellowjackets with 84. He was followed by Clay Pape (94), Nigel McCallum (116), Milan Plachy (116), and Marcus Eyer (118).

On the girls’ side, the Broncs shot a 461, finishing third behind Anaconda and Livingston. Cierra Smith was the only Hamilton player to finish in the top 10 with 103.

Miranda Martin had 107, Amber Gough shot 124 and Tess Rankin finished with 127.

All Conference Legion baseball selections

For the first time, the American Legion selected All Conference players this year in the American Legion Baseball Association. Both of the Bitterroot teams were well represented with the Red Sox having six players named to the team and five to the Bucs.

Western A all conference team:

Pitcher – Mike Stanford, Bitterroot Red Sox
Catcher – Brady Anderson, Bitterroot Red Sox
1st Base – Luke Topp, Bitterroot Bucs
2nd Base – Rodee Anderson, Bitterroot Red Sox
Shortstop – Matt Perez, Bitterroot Bucs, Matt Hamlin, Bitterroot Red Sox
3rd Base – Dominic Goble, Bitterroot Bucs, Austin Allen, Bitterroot Red Sox
Outfielders – Andrew Shook, Bitterroot Red Sox
Max Burns, Bitterroot Bucs
Tyler Lind, Bitterroot Bucs

High school soccer season takes off

High school soccer took off on Friday and Saturday with Hamilton and Corvallis playing schools in the Billings area and Stevensville hosting Whitefish. All the teams were tough and the valley schools had their work cut out for them.

The Hamilton girls took on Laurel for their first game of the season. With a relatively young team on the field, the Broncs had players in positions they don’t normally play but the flexibility of the team proved to be a winner as the Broncs topped Laurel, 7-3. They were led by veteran Michelle Jones who notched a goal and a couple of assists in the win. Rachelle Eggleston added two more goals as did Bryanna Gordon.

Eggleston took a Jones pass two minutes into the match and scored to put Hamilton on the board. Laurel retaliated when Alicia Eisenspeter scored five minutes later. Gordon had a hand in the next two goals, scoring on a corner kick and then assisting Averyl LaSalle on another goal. Eggelston scored at the 35-minute marker and then assisted Gordon seven minutes later. Jones scored off a free kick and then assisted Shenoa Weeks for the final goal of the game. Laurel’s Lexie Day scored and then Hamilton’s LaSalle hit an own goal, adding one more to Laurel’s total.

Hamilton took 24 shots on goal while Laurel had 18. Megan Baker had seven saves for Hamilton.

On Saturday, Hamilton battled Billings Central to a 1-1 draw in a defensive battle. Billings Central scored their goal at the 17-minute mark when Ryanne Frazier took a Taylor O’Toole pass to score. Hamilton’s goal didn’t come until the 44-minute mark of the match when Nellie Moran set up a shot for Shenoa Weeks. Hamilton took seven shots on goal while Billings Central shot 13 times. Megan Baker had six saves for Hamilton and Billings Central had four saves. Hamilton had one corner kick and Billings Central had nine.

Corvallis played Billings Central for their season opener and the jitters were evident. Billings Central took 30 shots on goal and made 11 goals. Coral Higher had 12 saves for Corvallis and Danielle Morris had another seven saves in the 11-0 loss for the Blue Devils.

Saturday, the Blue Devils played Laurel. Laurel topped the Corvallis team, 4-1. Jennifer Wissenbach had the only goal for the Blue Devils. The unassisted goal came at the 42-minute mark of the match.

Stevensville played host to Whitefish. Whitefish came out strong and defeated Stevensville, 7-0. Stevensville had 20 saves but only took one shot.

On the boys’ side, Laurel came out strong and defeated Hamilton, 5-2. Although Hamilton scored first when Michael Miller booted a penalty kick in at the 20-minute mark, Laurel came right back and scored five goals while holding Hamilton scoreless. Hamilton put one final goal in when Dace Moerkerke took a Steven Bauder pass to score with five minutes remaining. Hamilton’s Nash Johnson had nine saves.

Billings Central stopped Hamilton, 2-0, in Hamilton’s second game of the weekend. Hamilton took five shots on goal while Billings Central had 17 shots. Nash Johnson had 13 saves for the Broncs.

Corvallis came from behind to take a 5-4 win over Billings Central in the Blue Devil boys’ first game of the season. Corvallis scored first when Marshal Johnson scored at 10 minutes. Billings Central then went to work and scored three unanswered goals. But the Devils didn’t back off. Johnson scored again just before the break when he took an assist from Estes Bush to hit the back of the net. Then it was Aaron Jessop taking a Kyle Powers pass. Cody Pearce scored an unassisted goal 58 minutes into the match. Forest Hoyt finished out the Blue Devil scoring with an unassisted goal at 69 minutes. Corvallis’ David Illgenfritz had nine saves for the Blue Devils.

Laurel and Corvallis battled to a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Laurel scored both goals early in the match and then Corvallis had to play catch up. Kyle Powers cut the lead in half when he scored off a penalty kick at 30 minutes. Powers again scored at the 51-minute mark but neither team could score again. Illgenfritz had eight saves and Corvallis took seven shots on goal.

Stevensville took on Whitefish on Saturday. The Bulldogs came out strongly and quickly set the tone of the game. Although Marshal Glunt had 13 saves for Stevensville, Whitefish won, 5-0.

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