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This one could go down as the one that got away from the Horsemen.

Expecting to play the Tigers in Darby Saturday in another competitive Western C football game, the Plains Horsemen instead came out flat, had two of their key players get injured early on and were surprised by the homestanding Tigers 54-6.

Now 1-2 in Western C 8-Man action, coach Eddie Fultz and his wounded Horsemen host 3-0 Arlee in a must-win kind of a situation this Friday.

“It will really be an uphill climb to get in the playoffs if we lose this game,” Fultz said. “I hate to say it is a must-win game for us but it is very important. It will be interesting to see how we respond.”

Although the score from Darby was deceptive – it was only 12-6 Darby late in the first half – Fultz said the Horsemen did not seem ready to play that day. “We didn’t get off the bus, seemed like we kind of took the game for granted,” he said, “and then we had two our most important players get injured right off the bat.”

Starters Jacob Peterson and Malachi Paulsen both went down and out of the game with leg injuries. Peterson, who’s injury was to a knee, and Paulsen, who sprained an ankle quite severely, are listed as “doubtful,” and “questionable,” respectively, by their coach for playing this week against Arlee.

To top things off, Darby went with a totally new offense against Plains, catching the hobbled Horsemen by surprise with the revamped attack.

“They ran a spread passing attack and we weren’t prepared for that,” Fultz said. “And you have to give Darby some credit, they came out ready to play and took us out of our game.”

Still, the Horsemen hung tough through much of the first half and closed to within 12-6 when Orion Pry-Hyde scored Plains’ only touchdown with less than a minute left in the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Horsemen, the Tigers promptly took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to go up 18-6.

Plains nearly scored with a hook-and-ladder play right before halftime but couldn’t reach the end zone again the rest of the game after that, falling just short of the goal line on the trick play.

Fultz said there is a sense of urgency with the game against Arlee Friday. “This will be as big of a game as we have had since I have been here,” he said. “Arlee is a good team (the Warriors defeated Seeley-Swan 64-16 last week) and we will have to adapt, especially if we have to go without Jacob and Malachi.”