A run-and-gun shootout didn’t go the way that the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings had envisioned last Thursday night.
The Vikings suffered their first loss of the season at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field as they dropped a wild 35-28 affair to the Tommy Douglas Tigers.
“It was pretty much a back and forth game all the way through,” Vikings head coach Mike Humenny said. “I think in the first half we were both putting up points and the defences were having trouble slowing them down, even though I think both teams knew what to expect from one another.
“Ultimately, what it came down to in the second half was our inability to control the football. We fumbled twice at pretty crucial times in the third and fourth quarters and we also racked up a ton of penalty yards that proved costly. Those are both things that we can correct going forward, but it’s tough to take when it happens in a pretty close game like the one we were in.”
Both of this turnovers came on long drives for the Vikings as they were working their way into the Tigers red zone and had a chance to put more points on the scoreboard.
“One of them came on a botched exchange between the quarterback and one of our running backs, and the other turnover came when we had a runner fighting for extra yards and they stripped the ball out of his hands,” Humenny said.
“Preventing turnovers was something that we talked about in the pre-game, so it’s disappointing when those things happen, especially with how well we were moving the ball down the field. With that said, I’m glad we’re working through some of those kinks here in our third game of the season instead of having it happen in the playoffs.”
Despite the loss, Humenny was pleased with how well the Vikings were able to use their rushing attack against the Tigers.
“We’re going to make a few adjustments with the offensive line but we moved the ball well with our ground game once again,” Humenny said. “We’ve added a few extra play action plays to counter some of the things the other defences are doing to slow us down, so you’ll some extra wrinkles added to our playbook going forward.”
The 2-1 Vikings will look to get back to their winning ways Thursday in Saskatoon as they’ll take on the defending 3A provincial champion Bishop J. Mahoney Saint at 5:15 p.m.
“They have a really good third year starting quarterback that can beat you with his arms and his legs, and they have some really good receivers,” Humenny said.
“The defence has had some changes from last year with players moving on, but they are a really well coached team and it’ll be another big test for us.”
