Mission bulldogs Horsemen

PLAINS – The Horsemen moved the ball well, but offensive misfires cost them those potential hard-earned points in a 52-6 loss to Mission in Plains Saturday.

Now 2-3 in Western Conference 8-Man football play, coach Eddie Fultz and his Horsemen will play the 3-2 Clark Fork Mountain Cats in Superior Saturday at 1 p.m. Fultz said Monday that the Horsemen’s already thin, young lineup will be stretched even farther this week as three players will be out due to COVID-19 contract tracing protocol, meaning they are in quarantine.

Fultz said the Horsemen were able to get some offensive drives going during the game Saturday, but that unfortunately most of the drives fizzled out before reaching Mission’s end zone.

The Horsemen scored their only touchdown of the day on a 10-yard shovel-pass play from Tristan Subatch to Garth Parker in the second half.

On the other side of the equation, the Bulldogs seemed to take advantage of every scoring opportunity presented to them and were able to win their fourth straight game. After opening the season with a pair of losses, Mission improved to 4-2 with the win.

Plains’ lack of points was not for trying. “We actually moved the ball pretty well, had over 300 yards of total offense,” Fultz said. “But then we would have a misfire and end up not scoring.”

Seniors Subatch, Gavin Regalado and Tucker Foster led the Horsemen offense. Regalado picked up 124 yards rushing on 22 carries, Foster caught six passes for 84 yards and Subatch completed 15 of 24 passes for 172 yards.

A sophomore, Parker snagged six pass catches for 61 yards and Plains’ only touchdown of the game.

Although the Horsemen have won a couple of games it has been a tumultuous season for the young Plains squad. Several key team members were suspended before season play began and COVID-19 has been a factor all season. The Horsemen’s first game of the season (in Philipsburg with Flint Creek), in fact, was cancelled due to the pandemic.

And assistant coaches George Sherwood and John Curry have both been unable to coach the last few weeks, although Curry was able to be on the sidelines Saturday. Sherwood was cleared to return Monday, Fultz said.

“I have kinda been coaching by myself the last week or two so it will be nice to have those guys back,” he said.

As for Saturday’s game with Clark Fork, Fultz said the Horsemen will field the best team they can, but that they will be down to about 11 players total. “It’s been a weird year,” he understated. “We have three starters out and will probably have only 11 players available. We will see how it goes Saturday.”