A sweet homecoming

A rare home win just in time to produce a sweet homecoming victory.

Plains Horsemen football coach Eddie Fultz was looking for a little homecoming revenge against the Victor Pirates in Plains Friday night and, by the time the king and queen were crowned, the game was played and the lights were dimmed, the Horsemen had won 66-6 to cap a perfect fall evening.

It was Plains’ first home win since the 2017 season, Fultz said, and soundly avenges a 44-34 loss to the Pirates in Victor’s homecoming game last fall. Improving to 3-3 in Western Conference 8-Man standings, the Horsemen travel to Superior Friday night to take on the unbeaten (6-0 in conference, 7-0 overall) Clark Fork Mountain Cats, currently the No. 2 ranked 8-Man team in Montana.

Falling to 0-6 and 0-7, Victor will host 1-5, 1-5 Arlee this week.

If the Horsemen harbor any playoff hopes at all, a win in Superior is a must. And a Horsemen win over the Cats is not an impossibility. Under similar circumstances last fall, Plains played Clark Fork very well before falling back to a 76-34 loss in Plains. Plains trailed only 44-34 well into the third quarter of the 2018 game with Clark Fork.

“We like to think we can play with anybody in this league,” Fultz said. “Clark Fork puts a lot of points on the board but we have a defensive scheme in mind that will hopefully pressure them into making some mistakes.

“We hope to still be hanging around in the second half and if they tighten up,” he added, “maybe we can take advantage.”

The Horsemen took advantage of the out-manned Victor Pirates Friday, jumping out to a big lead and getting everyone lots of playing time. “We just canceled the rest of our JV schedule due to the fact that we are down to 16 players,” Fultz offered, “so it’s good we were able to get everybody in against Victor.”

Fultz said injuries appear to have taken their toll on Victor this season. “They are pretty banged up, and their best player didn’t suit up because of some sort of injury,” Fultz said. “But both teams ended up having fun with it, there was some pretty good sportsmanship out there by the time it was over.”

Gavin Regalado scored Plains’ first touchdown on a 52-yard run on his only carry of the night. Treydon Brouillette threw two touchdown passes to Kade Pardee and scored one himself on a 30-yard run. Esvin Reyes scored two TDs, one on a 13-yard run from scrimmage and the other on a 33-yard fumble return, Pardee reached the end zone again on a punt return, Nathan McNulty scored on a 37-yard run and Gary Bradley on a 23-yard jaunt.