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Cody Haggard poses for his senior photo. (Niki Graham Photo)

by BRANDON HANSEN For the Leader
| November 13, 2025 12:00 AM

Polson High School senior Cody Haggard has been selected for one of the most prestigious honors in Native American athletics — a spot in the 2025 Native All-American Football Game, hosted by the Native American Athletic Foundation in partnership with the NFL and Minnesota Vikings. 

“Football has been a big part of my life,” Haggard said. “I’ve been playing tackle football since fourth grade, and I have been watching football since as early as I can remember. It’s a big part of my culture.”  

Haggard, a class valedictorian and multi-sport varsity athlete, is one of only seven Native American high school football players in the nation chosen to participate. He is also the only athlete from Montana to receive the honor this year. 

Haggard had to overcome a torn hamstring this year, which required rest and strength training since late August.  

“It’s pretty much fully healed,” Haggard said.  

The event will be held on Dec. 14, 2025, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis — home of the Minnesota Vikings. Leading up to the game, players will attend a multi-day training camp from Dec. 10 to 13, where they will work with coaches and former NFL players, including Ahman Green, Derek Fine, Levi Horn and Chase Johnson. 

During the camp, athletes will take part in position drills, leadership workshops, and community engagement activities. The event will also attract college and professional scouts, as well as receive national media coverage. 

“I think it’s important to represent my culture with like-minded people,” Haggard said. “I want to do it for all the people around here and represent them. I want to let other people know there is something special going on here in Polson.” 

Haggard, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has earned all-conference honors in football and baseball during his high school career. 

“I feel honored to represent my tribe and Polson itself,” Haggard said. “It’s a big opportunity to meet other people, and it will be a big learning experience.”  

Haggard also wanted to thank his coaches, including assistant coach Pat Danley, and his parents, Kari and Pat Haggard, for their support.  

To help make the trip possible, Haggard and his family are currently fundraising to cover travel and lodging expenses for the event. Supporters can contribute through his 2025 Native All-America Football Game Fundraiser, where Cody has shared his excitement about representing Polson, his state and Native Country on a national stage. 

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The Polson Pirate soccer team poses with their State Champion trophy on Nov. 1. (Bob Gunderson Photo)

by BRANDON HANSEN For the Leader
| November 6, 2025 1:00 AM

For years, Polson boys soccer has dreamed of reaching the mountaintop. On Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, that dream finally became reality. 

The Pirates played with purpose, defeating Whitefish 4–0 in the Class A state championship — the school’s first-ever boys soccer state title and one of the most complete performances in program history. 

For Whitefish (13-3), one of the most consistent programs in Montana soccer, it was their first shutout loss of the season, a testament to the Pirates’ preparation and execution.  

The Pirates struck quickly, sending an unmistakable message. In the 13th minute, Afton Hatch buried a shot off a free kick from Roman Sawyer to give Polson an early 1–0 lead. Just two minutes later, Truman Sawyer added to the tally, finishing a feed from Dion Lichtenberg to make it 2–0. 

Those two goals in quick succession put Whitefish on its heels. The Bulldogs, led by offensive standouts Kyler Jonson and Jack Oehlerich, entered the match having combined for 40 goals on the season — but found themselves stifled by a disciplined Pirate back line that clogged every passing lane and met every challenge with intensity. 

By halftime, it was becoming clear that Polson could achieve something special. 

The Bulldogs and Polson were playing more physically — some of the contact resembled gridiron hits — but Polson held strong. In the 45th minute, Hatch struck again, this time finishing off another setup from Lichtenberg to make it 3–0. The dagger came in the 65th minute when Roman Sawyer found the back of the net off a beautiful passing sequence — a primary assist from Lichtenberg and a secondary assist from Jackson Bontadelli — to close out the scoring at 4–0. 

Goalkeeper Maddox Bird was tested often but never broke. He recorded eight saves against nine on-frame shots. Defenders Brody Kline, Donovan Beeks, Archer Russell and Ruger Ellis were equally vital, along with midfielders Cruz Lies and Edgar Vejez-Pete combining for multiple crucial deflections that denied Whitefish’s best chances. 

Polson finished with 23 total shots, 17 on goal, compared to Whitefish’s 16 and 9. The Pirates also earned six corner kicks and committed only eight fouls, showing both aggression and discipline. 

Saturday’s result ended decades of near-misses for Polson boys soccer. The Pirates had reached the state championship match three times before — 2002, 2011 and 2018 — but this was the year everything came together. And it came against the team that had beaten them in those previous three appearances, Whitefish. 

While Whitefish relied heavily on two prolific strikers, Polson spread the wealth, with all four goals in the title match coming from different offensive sequences — a reflection of the team’s depth and chemistry. 

The win was more than a championship, it was a statement of identity for Polson soccer. After years of building and believing, the Pirates finally stood alone atop Class A. 

State Championship Box Score 

Class A Boys State Championship – Nov. 1, 2025
Polson 4, Whitefish 0
At Polson
Whitefish — 0 | 0 — 0
Polson — 2 | 2 — 4 

Scoring summary
13’ – Polson: Afton Hatch (assist Roman Sawyer, free kick)
15’ – Polson: Truman Sawyer (assist Dion Lichtenberg)
45’ – Polson: Afton Hatch (assist Lichtenberg)
65’ – Polson: Roman Sawyer (assist Lichtenberg, secondary assist Jackson Bontadelli) 

Shots (on goal): Whitefish 16 (9), Polson 23 (17)
Saves: Whitefish 9, Polson (Bird) 8
Corner kicks: Whitefish 2, Polson 6
Fouls: Whitefish 12, Polson 8
Cards: Whitefish — Larkin (yellow), Rembaugh (yellow) 

By BRANDON HANSEN

For The Leader

Polson picked up a five-set rivalry victory over Ronan in Northwest A volleyball action on Tuesday, Oct. 10, winning by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 15-8.

Mckenna Hanson led Polson with 12 kills while Samantha Rensvold had 11. Avery Starr led the Pirates with 32 assists, while Julia Barnard had 25 digs.

Hanson also had 13 digs and three aces, while Carli Maley had three blocks. Starr had seven aces in the matchup.

Ronan was led by seven kills by Lauryn Buhr, Mckenna Corley, Maddy Illig, and Sierra Blood. Seattle Adams dished out 31 assists, while Buhr and Corley prowled the net with three blocks apiece.

Nevaeh Perez had two aces and 20 digs. Kailyn Marengo had 16 digs as well, while Blood had 10 digs.

In the second set, Ronan rallied from a 17-6 deficit against Polson to tie things at 19 apiece, before Polson was able to get an ace from Star and a tip from Maley.

Polson improved to 9-3 on the year and 8-2 in league play, while the Maidens fell to 6-7 on the year and 5-6 in the Northwest A.

BY BRANDON HANSEN

For The Leader

Polson got two touchdowns from Holden Emerson to pick up a key 29-26 Western A overtime victory over Whitefish on Thursday. The Pirates improved to 4-3 to keep their postseason hopes alive, with one home game against Hamilton left on the schedule.

Emerson got Polson on the board first during the home game, running the ball in from the two-yard line. Whitefish responded with a oneyard touchdown run by Carson Gulick and a 15-yard touchdown pass by Gulick to Dane Hunt for the 13-7 lead.

Polson took the lead again as Emerson punched it in the endzone from three yards out for the 14-12 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, Whitefish pulled ahead with another touchdown pass by Gulick to Mason Kelch from 11 yards out.

An 11-yard touchdown run from Uriah Ulutoa and a one-yard scoring run by Lucian Sawyer gave the Pirates a 26-20 led. A two-point conversion fail opened the door for Whitefish, which tied the game up in regulation with a twoyard touchdown run by Gulick.

Polson had a chance to end things before overtime as Tommy Sherry caught a long pass from Emerson, but the ensuing field goal attempt fell short of its school-record 33-yard distance.

Whitefish had the ball first but had its go-ahead field goal attempt tipped by Bordy Bulette and Cason Graham. Polson got the ball back, and Sawyer nailed a 23-yard game-winning field goal.

Polson finished with 147 yards on the ground, and Emerson passed for 204 yards on 9-of-20 passing. Emerson also rushed for 51 yards. Ulutoa had 15 rushes for 93 yards. Brock Henriksen caught four balls for 117 yards, Sherry caught two passes for 41 yards, and Graham grabbed two receptions for 38 yards.

Whitefish had 96 yards on the ground and 197 yards through the air. Brenden Griffin harassed the Bulldog offense, collecting three interceptions for the Pirates.

At Polson POLSON 29, WHITEFISH 26 (OT) Whitefish – 13 – 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 – 26 Polson – 7 – 7 – 0 – 12 – 3 – 29 SCORING SUMMARY P — Holden Emerson 2-yard run (Lucian Sawyer kick) W — Carson Gulick 1-yard run (kick failed) W — Dane Hunt 15-yard pass from Gulick (Ryder Barinowski kick) P — Emerson 3-yard run

(Sawyer kick) W — Mason Kelch 11-yard pass from Gulick (pass failed) P — Uriah Ulutoa 11-yard run (Sawyer kick) P — Sawyer 1-yard run (pass failed) W — Gulick 2-yard run (Barinowski kick) P — Sawyer 23-yard FG GAME STATS Rushing: Whitefish 29-87 (Gulick 19-61, Cole Moses 6-24, Hunt 1-9, Brady Howke 1-9, Riley Zetooney 2-2), Polson 39-147 (Ho.Emerson 21-51, Ulutoa 15-93, Henriksen 3-3). Passing – Whitefish (Gulick 2237-197-3), Polson (Ho.Emerson 9-20-2041). Receiving – Whitefish 21-189 (Kelch 4-73, Carson Krack 3-34, Hunt 6-46, Jesse Burrough 4-35, Howke 2-12), Polson 9-198 (Brock Henriksen 4-117, Tommy Sherry 2-41, Cason Graham 2-38,Cody Haggard 1-

LANCE HARTZLER Missoulian Lance.Hartzler@406mtsports.com Oct 13, 2021

MISSOULA — Polson Pirates star quarterback Jarrett Wilson has recorded some eye-popping passing numbers this year, but last week against Havre, the junior slinger did something different that wowed both his head coach and fans in attendance.
On the first play of a drive, third-year Pirates head coach Kaden Glinsmann and his staff called a deep pass play to try to catch the Havre defense off guard. That makes sense considering the Pirates run a shorter passing scheme centered around Wilson’s accuracy — 72% at the moment — and the speedy wideouts who flank him in the offense.vrd line, Wilson dropped back and immediately noticed the blown pass coverage. He slid to his left around a rusher and blew past the rest of the Havre defense for a season-best 80-yard touchdown run.
“I saw a hole and they were in man coverage and thought that I would get, I don’t know, at least 10 yards,” Wilson said Monday during an interview. “I wasn’t really thinking I would get 80, which was exhausting honestly. … I was so tired and, like, oh my gosh I hadn’t ran that far since track season.”
The game ended with a 42-14 Polson win as Wilson threw for 301 yards and five TDs to keep the Pirates undefeated at 7-0.
Playing the way Polson does, with the high volume of throws, the scramble drills are bound to come. So the team does practice it, but not as much after doing it “a ton” last season, only brushing up on it during the fall camp because of the eight upperclassmen who returned at receiver.
Glinsmann embraces Wilson extending plays. He trusts the young quarterback, who is disciplined about those freelance plays in a way some slingers might not be. Wilson doesn’t really look to run, with 35 carries on the season — the burst against Havre excluded. He looks to get the ball to a deep group of receivers when he breaks out of the pocket and eludes tackles.
“We’re thinking we are coaching this high school kid, so we are teaching him these high school-type football situations. Instead, he is next level,” Glinsmann said. “He is thinking about ‘I wouldn’t slide there because it wasn’t this exact right situation’ or ‘I wouldn’t take off because it wasn’t this situation.’ … He is just thinking leaps and bounds ahead to even where we would as a staff.”
Glinsmann called Wilson’s football IQ through the roof and his accuracy uncanny, and the stats back his claim up. Wilson has thrown for 34 touchdowns, zero interceptions, 2,087 yards on 347.8 yards per game and has a QB rating of 144.3 — a perfect passer rating is 158.3 — and he has been as close to perfect as a quarterback in a pass-heavy offense can be. He leads 11-Man football, regardless of class according to stats compiled on MaxPreps.com, in passing touchdowns, yards, yards per game and is the only QB with at least 100 passes thrown without an interception.
It’s safe to say the junior, in his second year starting as the Pirates QB, is in the middle of a massive breakout season.
“He is just one of those special, once-in-a lifetime type guys that you get coming through a program. We are just so fortunate to have him and thankfully have him for another year.” Glinsmann said.
If you ask Wilson about his talent he is soft spoken and humble. He knows what he is doing but gives credit to his coaches and teammates.
“I don’t know about that,” Wilson said about his coach’s comments about his abilities. “He is just hyping me up, maybe a little too much. … I’m not just better, but our team is a lot better too. Our coaches do a good job of easing our offense to spread the ball out. It makes it a lot harder on defense when they have to worry about several guys catching the ball, not just one guy. I have a good relationship with all of them, we are all really good friends, and we’ve worked hard together starting in my sophomore year and from then our relationship has just grown.”
This season, five Pirates have caught at least 15 passes, and a trio of seniors have caught at least 31 to give the team a three-headed attack at the top of the depth chart. Colton Graham has 38 receptions, 648 yards and nine TDs, Xavier Fisher has 33 catches for 448 and eight touchdowns, and Robert Perez has 31 snags for 433 yard and five scores.
Football in the family
Wilson is a triplet, with his two brothers, Trent and Colter, manning the defense at linebacker. But the football bloodlines go even further for the trio.
Their eldest brother Tanner Wilson — who was a quarterback for the Montana Grizzlies in 2017 and 18 before leaving the team in spring 2019 — was a star for Polson, leading the Pirates to their most recent winning season in 2016 when the squad went 7-3 and won the Northwest A title playing under their dad, former Missoula Big Sky QB Scott Wilson.
“Everybody grew up around football,” Scott said Wednesday. “ … Growing up, the triplets had football, whether it was practice, going to games, following big brother around, all of those things.”
While Scott, now an MHSA assistant director, never coached Jarrett, Trent or Colter at the high school level, the former Big Sky player and at one point coach will impart some advice to his sons.
“He is still just as much as a head coach as he has always been,” Jarret said. “I never had him as my head coach, but he is still giving me pointers.”
Pirates resurgence
The last time Polson was this good was in fact when a Wilson was the quarterback. Things have come full circle so to say.
Jarret led the team to a 4-5 record last season as a sophomore, and now the team has exploded with newfound dominance.
The Pirates are in the middle of their best season, even better than Tanner’s 2016 team, since going 9-1 in 2012. The current edition of the Pirates are 7-0 with two games left against Browning and No. 5 Whitefish (7-0) in the regular-season finale in Whitefish.
The Pirates have outscored opponents 307-48, with the closest game coming against Columbia Falls, which ended as a 37-0 shutout in favor of Polson.

MISSOULA — Polson’s softball players hung their heads as they stared down at the left field grass on Frenchtown’s No. 3 softball field on an overcast, windy Saturday afternoon.

They had just ended a game without a win for the first time this season. They didn’t lose either, but the looks on the players’ faces sure made it seem like the Class A Pirates had lost when they finished in a 2-2 tie with Class B/C Mission-Arlee-Charlo in an extra-inning game.

Polson dropped to a still-impressive 11-0-1, a record that many teams around the state would love to have midway through the season. As they clapped their hands to break the postgame meeting, coach Jami Hanson had left them with a message that this was a result that should be beneficial going forward for the team that’s widely considered the state title favorite in Class A.

“That’s exactly what we needed,” Hanson said. “You’ve got to have that adversity in games every once in a while because that’s the only thing that makes you better. You want those games because you don’t want to get to state and then get in your first dogfight and not know how to handle it. We can learn from this.”

Polson isn’t expecting to only get to state; the Pirates believe they’re capable of winning state. They nearly did that in 2019, finishing as the State A runner-up while being powered by a large contingent of sophomores and being led by Hanson, who was in his first season replacing Larry Smith, who had led the Pirates to seven state titles in 31 years. They were hoping to make a return trip to the title game in 2020 before the pandemic canceled the season.

This spring, the Pirates have back one junior and four seniors who played big roles in the 2019 state tournament when they were underclassmen. That experience gives them a leg up on some of their competition, who lack similar numbers of returning starters, let alone that many players with any previous varsity experience, because of the long layoff since the last season.

“The expectations are high again. Absolutely,” Hanson said, noting that he anticipates both his team and MAC to end the year with titles. “We expect big things. These girls have done a lot of work to put themselves in this position.”

The Pirates have steamrolled their competition by outscoring them 189-17 through 12 games. They already own a 13-0 win last week over Frenchtown, the leader in the Southwest A, and an 18-6 win Friday over Lewistown, the presumptive champ in the Northeast A.

They also have a 10-2 win over Columbia Falls and a 12-0 victory against Libby, the two teams that were expected to be their toughest competition in their conference. The only other Class A team without a loss is Laurel, the leader in the Southeast A.

“I strongly believe that softball on our side of the state is tough. Really tough,” Hanson said. “We just haven’t seen a pitcher like (MAC’s Kooper) Page, who spins the ball really well. We needed a game like this because we haven’t gotten to see stuff like that yet.”

Polson is powered by five seniors in Josie Caye, SaVanna Carpentier, Kobbey Smith, Lexy Orien and Mossy Kauley. Caye was an all-state shortstop in 2019, Carpentier and Smith were all-conference honorable mention picks, and Orien started in the 2019 state tournament.

Polson also has the pitching prowess with junior Katelyne Druyvestein, who’s been the team’s ace after she was second-team all-conference in 2019. She’s started all 12 games and has allowed just 10 runs on 30 hits while striking out 84 compared to 15 walks. The two runs she allowed against MAC were both unearned as a two-out error led to them ending the game in a tie.

“She’s a really good pitcher, moves the ball around, has a nice curve, her rise ball is really nasty,” MAC coach Shane Reum said after the tie. “She’s a really seasoned pitcher and has a really good defense behind her as well. They’re just an all-around solid team.”

The Pirates will now test themselves by playing up a classification against Class AA teams Glacier and Flathead on Tuesday and Thursday. It’ll also be a chance for them to see how they bounce back from not winning a game as they continue preparing themselves for the state tournament May 27-29.

Northern A

Boys Soccer

First team

Austin Luper, sr., Polson*

Honorable mention

Kaden Nelson, jr., Polson

*Indicates all-state selection

Girls

Second team

Grace Hobbs, sr., Polson; Sophia Moderie, jr., Polson; Tia Mercer, so., Polson.

Honorable mention

Autumn Burland, sr., Polson

Portions of an article BY JOHN HEGLIE Special for the Leader

The Mission Valley reaped a pair of all-staters when senior Ellie Thiel and freshman Hunter Emerson of Polson placed among the top 15 at the two-day Class A state golf tournament Thursday and Friday at the Butte Country Club.

Thiel improved her second day score by seven strokes to move up three spots from tied 14th after first-day action. Emerson and fellow Pirate Torrin Ellis were initially tied at 24th after first-day action with dual 87s. But Emerson shaved 10 strokes off his firstday tally to leapfrog up the leaderboard 11 spots and finish 13th.

Emerson’s 10-stroke improvement tied for thirdbest second-day

recovery with Johnny Nix of Whitefish among the boys field, behind a 17-stroke leap by Kaden Hardin of Miles City and 15-stroke surge by Bryce Hayes of Livingston.

Polson’s Ellis and Carson Hupka and Carly Garrick were models of consistency. Hupka and Ellis turned in duplicate scores over the course of both days, while Garrick was within one stroke of her preceding day tally.

Thiel tied for 10th in 2018 for all-conference kudos at the Western A Divisional her sophomore season, and finished tied for eighth last year for all-state honors. The seasoned senior put together a complementary set to close out her prep postseason finales with her all-state flourish, coupled with her preceding sixth-place finish at divisionals for all-conference acknowledgement.

Portions of an article by JOHN HEGLIE Special for the Leader

Almost a dozen Western A football players from Polson and Ronan were acknowledged with postseason honors for their athletic performances on the gridiron this past fall. Polson had seven named to the honors list: two allstaters, four second-team noms and an honorable mention. All-state accolades for the Polson Pirates went to sophomore southpaw signal- caller Jarrett Wilson and junior receiver Colton Graham. The tandem rewrote the school record book for passing and receiving yardage, appended their names among statewide top 10 lists, and were nationally ranked among the upper echelon of teams posting the MaxPreps. 

Wilson broke the school passing record twice in the same season: his season opener debut on the road at Columbia Falls, and a 500-yard performance at home against Butte Central. His over 3,100 passing yards vaulted him into second place among the all-time Class A list for season passing along with appending his name multiple times to the top tier list for single- game yardage, according to Class A statistician Brian A. Reed.

Graham set the school reception record in the season opener against the Wildcats and almost broke the record again at home against Butte Central — if not for adownfield holding infraction that reduced his net gain. Graham’s 1,000 yard-plus season was tops among Class A receivers and was accomplished despite not seeing action in two games.

Second-team junior Xavier Fisher was the second leading receiver for the Pirates. According to Reed, Fisher’s eclipsing of 200 receiving yards against Butte Central in conjunction with comparable yardage by Graham was the first time two receivers had caught passes for over the double- century mark in the same game.

Second-team junior defensive end Braunson Henriksen was a second leading tackler on the team, recovered a fumble while forcing three others, and regularly brought havoc to the backfield.

Second-team sophomore linebacker Trent Wilson was the leading tackler for the Pirates with 79 total tackles. His defensive portfolio this past season included a pick-6, a blocked PAT and a fumble recovery.

Second-team senior jack-of-all-trades Boston Goode did a little bit of everything for the Pirates: backfield rusher, complimentary receiver and punter. In the secondary he recorded four interceptions, at least four pass deflections and was third leading tackler among the team. Goode culminates his prep career with more than 1,200 total yards of offense, factoring in his sophomore season filling in as quarterback. This was the second all-conference acknowledgement for Goode, an honorable mention punter last season.

Senior center Ethan Cunningham was conferred with honorable mention recognition for his crucial role in anchoring the offensive line.

2020 WESTERN A football postseason honors

POLSON – (A-S): Jarrett Wilson QB, Colton Graham WR; (2ND-TM): Xavier Fisher WR, Braunson Henriksen DE, Trent Wilson OLB, Boston Goode S; (HM): Ethan Cunningham C.