It was not a close game Friday night as the high-flying Marion Graham Falcons completely shut down the North Battleford Comprehensive Vikings.
The Vikings were beaten 29-0 in a game in which most of the points were scored in the first half.
Quarterback Kjell Graupe couldn't get anything going, and despite occasional signs of life on offence by players like Daniel Charabin, Landin Olson, Keegan Horrell, who had 48 rushing yards, and a few others, the Vikings offence was about as cold as the near-freezing temperatures at game time.
In the first quarter, the Falcons' Tanner Rhode scored an early touchdown that made it 7-0. Later, a long run down the field by Evan Snook set up a Calum Jardine quarterback sneak from the 2 yard line to make it 14-0.
At the end of the quarter the Falcons also had the good fortune to pick off the Vikings after pinning the Vikes deep in their own end. That set up an easy Tanner Rhode touchdown to begin the second period and make it 21-0.
A late touchdown by the Falcons made it 27-0 but they also tried a two-point conversion attempt, which failed. That was the score after one half of play.
The Vikings had a chance to score some points in the third quarter when they had the Falcons pinned deep, but after going two-and-out from the 14-yard line the Vikings attempted a field goal, which missed to the left and was run out of the end zone.
That was pretty much the ball game at that point. The Vikings later conceded a safety to make it a 29-0 final score.
Still, Vikings coach Jamie Sommerfeld could point to some positives on the defensive side of the ball.
"The defence actually played very well today. They held them to the least amount of points that Marion Graham has scored all year."
Sommerfeld said their goal was to give them a shutout in the second half, and the Vikings almost achieved that, falling short by only two points in that frame.
But he was disappointed by the big "zero" on the scoreboard from the offense.
"We had some good plays, but we have to be smarter and know the game a little bit better than we do right now," said Sommerfeld.
Partly to blame is the fact that the Vikings have a very young roster on offence. Sommerfeld says they have only two Grade 12s on offence.
"We've got close to seven Grade 10s starting to offence. Because of that I'm still proud of them, but they're young and learning the game," said Sommerfeld.
With so many young players on offence, Sommerfeld could point to a very bright future for the team. "The next couple of years is going to be amazing."
The immediate future, however, comes down to a trip toSaskatoon for a game against Evan Hardy this Thursday in what will be a must-win game for the 2-3 Vikings.
"We have to beat them to secure third place," said Sommerfeld. The Vikings also must win by at least seven points after losing their previous matchup to the team.
The coach feels the team outplayed Evan Hardy in their previous loss to them, but stressed the importance of winning that game. "We need to win out from here to set ourselves up for playoffs."
