SASKATOON - The North Battleford Comprehensive High School Senior Vikings' season came to an end Wednesday night at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
The Vikings lost their quarter-final playoff game 45-14 to Saskatoon's Tommy Douglas Tigers.
"We tried to stick with our game plan and the execution failed us today," said Vikings head coach James Sommerfeld.
After the Vikings were forced into a turnover on downs on their first drive, the Tigers used the run game to get into the end zone. The Tigers' drive, which started at the Vikings' 52-yard line, was capped off by Chayse Wiggins' 19-yard touchdown.
Tommy Douglas forced the Vikings to punt again on their next drive. Wiggins continued to hurt the Vikings' defence as he broke off two runs of over 25 yards, the second being a 25-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 14-0.
On the Vikings' next play from scrimmage, Tigers defensive back Dylan Hoppe picked off Vikings quarterback Landon Aimoe. Tommy Douglas quarterback Josh Websdale connected with Wiggins on a 22-yard screen pass. The play set up a 26-yard field goal for the Tigers to give them a 17-0 lead.
The Vikings punted again on their next drive. Websdale used his feet to get the Tigers into scoring position before he finished off the drive with a five-yard touchdown.
Another turnover by the Vikings gave the ball back quickly to the Tigers. Wiggins gained 46 yards rushing and receiving on the drive, including an 18-yard touchdown run to make it 31-0.
Prior to the end of the first half, the Tigers tacked on another touchdown. Ethan Funk took over at quarterback for Tommy Douglas and threw for 54 yards on the drive. Websdale plunged into the end zone with 1:13 left in the second quarter, making it a 38-0 game at the half.
"I think our kids got a little excited and forgot at times what their job was," said Sommerfeld. "[Tommy Douglas] did a really good job of exploiting that."
The Vikings gained some momentum in the second half. On the Tigers' first drive of the third quarter, Maddy Windler intercepted Websdale and returned the ball to the Tigers' 23-yard line. Tailback Dylan Schaefer, who was held in check by the Tommy Douglas defence for most of the first half, broke off a 12-yard run to get to Vikings near the end zone. After a short rushing gain by Schaefer and an incomplete pass, Aimoe found Taryn Kotchorek near the back of the end zone to get the Vikings on the board.
"In the second half, we kind of settled in," Sommerfeld said. "Maybe [we had] some nerves and started to do what we did. But it was too little, too late as the saying goes."
Both teams exchanged scoreless drives until the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Vikings started at their own 35-yard line and were led down the field by Aimoe and Schaefer. On a second-and-10 play from the Tigers' 37-yard line, Aimoe connected with Kotchorek on a catch-and-run touchdown pass.
Near the end of the fourth, the Tigers forced the Vikings to turn the ball over on downs. Websdale added a seven-yard touchdown to make it a 45-14 game.
With 1:50 left to play, the Vikings began to drive the ball down the field. They resorted to some trickery on their final drive. Aimoe took the snap and threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Matthew Dutton, who then threw a pass downfield to Jayden Nachtegaele for a 52-yard touchdown. However, the touchdown was called back due to an unnecessary roughness penalty.
"We figured at this point in the season that much down, we could give it a shot," said Sommerfeld. "Let 'em have a little fun at the end as the time was ticking down."
The Vikings were unable to get into the end zone before time expired to make the final 45-14. Sommerfeld said the team's "offensive power" will be back next season as they are returning much of their offensive line, quarterback and tailback.
"Basically we'll try to build offensively on what we've done and try to replace some of the defensive starters, some of the key guys that we're losing and do it all over again."
