Heartbreak in Missoula

Matt Unrau

After all the hoopla, after all the records and after all the history, the miraculous season for the Savage Horsemen is over. Like a beautiful dream that ended too soon the players walked off the field in that afternoon of Missoula with tears in their eyes and only memories of regular season wins to comfort them after a 7-28 loss to Loyola Sacred Heart.

As the clock ran out of time several Seniors openly cried as they walked back to the sideline. As the team filed into the locker room Quarterback Reiley Winebrenner, the vocal leader of the team, after composing himself implored his team to keep their heads up and congratulated them for playing tough. Coach Seth Pettit then addressed his players who sat numbly on the benches, physically and emotionally exhausted from the game.

“You’ve got nothing to hang your heads about. You just ran into a darn good football team. But, guess what, you’re a darn good football team too,” said Pettit. “That’s the problem with the playoffs. It’s got to end this way for somebody.”

For Senior Bryce Benson his first trip into the playoffs ended too soon.

“It sucks, I would’ve like to go further. But, we made the playoffs for the first time in 50 years and I guess you can’t be too picky,” said Benson.

An emotional Darin Anderson blamed himself for the loss. Even though he played his best game of the year bringing in a team-high 25 tackles, he injured his shoulder in the second half and said he had a hard time wrapping up the Loyola players.

“I feel really bad,” said a dejected Anderson. “I really feel like we could have went all the way.”

Anderson was one of a host of players on the team who suffered injuries. Perhaps the biggest injury was to Senior Dillon Fryxell who rolled an ankle the day before. Because of this, Fryxell only touched the ball three times on offense and the team missed an important component of their offense as they were only able to sustain one long drive during the first quarter.

Winebrenner ,playing in his last high school game couldn’t believe that it was over.

“It’s weird,” says Winebrenner. “I’ll never play high school football again. That’s the weirdest part. I’ll never suit up and go through practice with these guys for three months out of the year. I’ll never make the trip on the bus down to Plains. There’s all that stuff that I’ll never do.”

In the first half of the game, the Savage Horsemen indeed looked like a team of destiny. Even though they didn’t blow Loyola off the field, they were able to pound in a 3 yard touchdown run from Cody Hoff, and the team scrapped together a successful defensive effort limiting the Rams to 7 points. This included a touchdown catch by the Rams that was called back by an offside call and then led to a missed field goal.

In the second half, however, the injuries and the bigger Loyola players wore down Plains-Hot Springs.

“They were bigger. They were faster,” says Benson. But, you know we played them tough. We’d like to come out with a win, but we couldn’t pull it off.”

In the second half, the Rams never sprinted out to big rushes, but systematically killed the Savage Horsemen defense with five to seven yard runs.

“They just powered the ball, powered and powered the ball. They didn’t make mistakes,” says Winebrenner.

The Rams offensive line, outweighing the Savage Horsemen, effectively pushed back the Plains-Hot Springs defense and opened up running lanes for their running backs.

“Running up the gut was killing us,” says Benson. “They weren’t the biggest, but they were by far the best.”

Anderson agrees with Benson.

“They can hit,” said Anderson. “They hit hard, because they were so big. Hitting them sometimes was like hitting a brick wall. If they’re coming at you full steam, it’s hard to take them down.”

But, still, the Savage Horsemen had reason to smile in the locker room as Coach Pettit announced the all conference awards and a multitude of players made the list highlighted by all-state selections of Brian Green and Winebrenner.

And, of course, they still have the memories of the most successful season in the co-op’s history.

“We made history. We’ve done something we haven’t done in a long time. We played tough all the way through. That’s pretty much all you could ask for,” says Winebrenner.

They were bigger. They were faster, but you know we played them tough. We’d like to come out with a win, but couldn’t pull it off.

Running up the gut was killing us. We just couldn’t pull it together on defense.

They weren’t the biggest, but they were by far the best.

It sucks, I would’ve like to go further. But, we made the playoffs for the first time in 50 years and I guess you can’t be too picky.

That was a big part of it, but they came to play.

I feel really bad. I feel like we could have went all the way.

They can hit! They hit hard, because they were so big. Hitting them sometimes was like hitting a brick wall. If they’re coming at you full steam, it’s hard to take them down.

It’s weird. I’ll never play high school football again. That’s the weirdest part. I’ll never suit up and go through practice with these guys for three months out of the year. I’ll never make the trip on the bus down to Plains. There’s all that stuff that I’ll never do.”

They just powered the ball, powered and powered the ball. They didn’t make mistakes.”

They were tough. They were probably one of the best teams I’ve seen. They’re gonna make a run, just because they can run the ball and they don’t give much up.

We made history. We’ve done something we haven’t done in a long time. We played tough all the way through. That’s pretty much all you could ask for.