There have been times in recent years where the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings football team have been on the wrong end of lopsided scores.
Those past results are what made Thursday’s night performance even more memorable.
The Vikings scored 38 points in the opening quarter and never let up as they cruised to a dominant 65-0 victory over the Mount Royal Mustangs of Saskatoon at Beaver Lions Stadium.
“I’ve been coaching here for seven years and we’ve been on the opposite side of those games,” Vikings head coach Mike Humenny said. “It’s been a process for us to get to this point and I reminded that to the guys in this game.
“We’re really happy with our efforts and we can’t argue with how we played. I told the guys that if we came out of the gates with a physical game, everything else would take care of itself, and we did that tonight.”
The win moved the Vikings to 3-0 for the season and has them currently at the top of the 3A Division standings in the Saskatoon league.
Despite that success, Humenny was quick to point out the Vikings toughest tests were still ahead of them.
“This isn’t to disparage our three opponents so far, but the way our schedule is set up we have a much more difficult second half,” Humenny said. “We still have to play Marion Graham, Evan Hardy and Bishop J Mahoney in the next few weeks, and that’s something we’ve stressed to our players.
“It could have been the opposite though and we could have been having a 0-3 record instead of being 0-3. It’s good to have the confidence that comes with those wins as we battle for playoff seeding. We’re right where want to be, but there’s plenty of work still to come.”
Zach Wolfe reached the end zone three times in the lopsided win. He had a 42-yard touchdown run, caught a 59-yard pass from Damon Dutton and also had an 80-yard kickoff return for a score.
Dutton, who was four-for-five through the air for 162 yards in limited work, also threw a 78-yard touchdown strike to Presley Peterson.
Jesse Sankey, Jack Reid and Cole Abbot also found the end zone on rushing plays. Cain Witzaney had a 43-yard punt return for a score and Dawson Lehman had a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“We were able to get every person in uniform out on the field in this game,” Humenny said. “We had three separate defensive units out there along with our backups on offence, and our leaders have done a good job of giving them good looks in practice but also in providing support while on the sidelines.”
“The offensive linemen that haven’t played much yet did a good job of helping out our backfield, and one of our defensive units that we call ‘The Young Guns’ played really well. Those are all Grade 11 guys and we anticipate many of them to be starters on the team next year.”
The Vikings will make their first trip to Saskatoon next Thursday afternoon when they take on the 1-2 Marion Graham Falcons in a 3:30 p.m. contest at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
