Bulldogs oust Pirates on homecoming
Resiliency, heart and a good dose of old-fashioned toughness.
Refusing to let one game define their strength of character, the Whitefish football team dug deep Friday night and found a way to notch a must-have conference win.
The Bulldogs’ (4-2, 1-1) convincing 26-7 victory over Polson (3-2, 1-1) during homecoming was essential to keep their playoff chances alive after a tough loss Sept. 27 to Columbia Falls.
This week, the offense was efficient and the defense nearly unflappable as Whitefish had their way with the perennial powerhouse Pirates.
Whitefish tallied 250 rushing yards as sophomore quarterback Luke May ran for 162 yards on 20 carries. Running back Calub Thilmony finished with two touchdowns and 75 yards rushing on 14 carries.
“Polson is one of the better teams in the conference,” senior linebacker Gage Smith said after the game. “This was definitely huge for us.”
“We needed a conference win. We didn’t want to be going into the second half of conference play 0-2 and having to battle for a playoff spot.”
Key defensive stops on third down and timely interceptions kept Polson out of the end zone through three quarters.
The Pirates opening drive was cut short when senior defensive back Dave Rizzolo snagged an interception at mid-field. The turnover set up Whitefish’s first scoring drive that was capped with a Thilmony 17-yard touchdown run. The senior back followed his blockers, broke through tackles and carried two Polson defenders into the end zone.
Whitefish kept their second scoring drive alive with two key conversions on third down. A pass to Walter Holliday at the 3-yard line set up May’s touchdown run up the middle.
The Dogs defense made two more impressive stops before the half.
Steven Quimby and Jed Nagler combined to sack Pirate quarterback Andrew Weltz on third and short to force a punt. Then Rizzolo pulled down another interception to end Polson’s final drive of the half.
May hit receiver Sean Foley with a 32-yard pass in the corner of the end zone for Whitefish’s third score.
“That’s our bread and butter play,” Foley said. “I made a nice cut and Luke made a perfect pass. It was the perfect play.”
The Bulldog special teams unit recovered a Polson fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up their final scoring drive.
Thilmony capped the night with a 5-yard touchdown run into the south end zone.
“The offense stepped up tonight,” Thilmony said. “I found the holes and ran. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the offensive line.”
“I’m proud of how we bounced back and came out and played together.”
Holliday snagged an interception in the waning minutes to keep any hope of a Pirate comeback at bay.
“Guys were flying to the ball and the defense just made good plays tonight,” Smith said.
A rocking homecoming crowd proved to be a huge advantage as the Dawg Pound was at capacity.
“We have the best fans in the whole state. No doubt,” Foley said.
“We came out with a lot more fire and that was the difference tonight,” Smith added.
Polson 0 0 0 7 — 7
Whitefish 6 6 14 0 — 26
W — Calub Thilmony 15 run (conversion failed)
W — Luke May 3 run (conversion failed)
W — Sean Foley 32 pass from May (conversion failed)
W — Thilmony 5 run (Foley pass from May)
P — Cedrick Smith 8 pass from Andrew Weltz (Brady Hislop kick)