Far left: Viking quarterback Kale Boomer broke through both of these would-be tacklers to gain 8 yards on this play against Barnum. Boomer had an outstanding year for the Vikings and was named Polar League Offensive Player of the Year by coaches (More on that next week).
A tough first half of football led to defeat for the Cook County High School Vikings against the Barnum Bombers in the Section 7A championship game played on Thursday, November 1 at Public School Stadium in Duluth.
Earlier in the season the Bombers beat CCHS 30-6, so the Vikings were happy to have the rematch. But Barnum’s quick-strike offense and tenacious defense once again won the day.
After winning the coin toss the Vikings elected to kickoff. The kick went out of bounds and Barnum started on their 35-yard line and ran one play for 7 yards before Daniel Warpula broke two arm tackles and raced 58 yards for Barnum’s first touchdown. Warpula carried the ball over the goal line on the 2-point conversion and with one minute gone the Vikings trailed 8-0.
Barnum kicked and stayed with the formula they used in the first game against the Vikings. They never kicked the ball deep enough for Kale Boomer or Colin Everson to make a great return.
Above: Viking players hold up their runner-up Section 7A trophy after losing to a very good Barnum team.
The Vikings recovered the kick on their 35-yard line and on the first play fumbled, then recovered, losing 5 yards on the play. Second down was more of the same as the Vikings again fumbled the ball. This time Barnum recovered it on the Vikings 29-yard line.
A great defensive stand forced the Bombers to lose the ball on downs.
On subsequent plays, Vikings’ running back Peter Warren carried for 4 yards, lost 4 yards and carried for no gain, again and again running into a swarming Barnum defense.
The Vikings punted to Barnum’s 26-yard line and on the first play Barnum was called for holding and faced 1st and 15. Some standout defense by the Vikings held Barnum and again they had to punt.
The punt was short and Everson returned it to Barnum’s 36-yard line, but again Barnum’s rugged defense held the Vikings in check and, playing with a short field, the Vikings’ Thomas Anderson punted to Barnum’s oneyard line. Two plays later the Bombers fumbled and the Vikings recovered on the 12-yard line. Everson carried for 5 yards and Warren carried it to the 1-yard line before Everson punched it over to make the score 8-6.
Left: When Kale wasn’t running wild, Viking back Colin Everson was racing up the field for big yardage.
The Vikings wouldn’t score on their 2-point conversion attempt, a theme that presented itself twice more and hurt the Vikings’ chances when they couldn’t convert the two-point conversions.
Early in the second quarter Barnum took the kickoff to the 41-yard line and on the first play quarterback Zac Carlson threw a 59-yard strike to a wide-open Colton Selix who raced into the end zone to make the score 14-6. Warpula ran in the two-point conversion and the Vikings trailed 16-6.
The Vikings used 11 plays, which featured some hard-nosed running by Warren to get the ball down the field and deep into Barnum territory before Boomer scooted into the end zone from a couple yards out. Again the 2-point conversion failed and the Vikings trailed 16-12.
Once again Barnum started in good field position after returning the Vikings’ kick to its 40-yard line. And once again Warpula found a hole and blew by Viking tacklers on his way to a 60-yard touchdown run. This time the quarterback ran in the 2-point conversion and the score was 24-12. Barnum scored one more touchdown in the half and went into the locker room up 30-12.
The Vikings shut down Barnum completely in the second half, but yards were hard to come by. Colin Everson found the end zone in the third quarter and the Vikings were down 30-18.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Vikings marched down the field to the Bomber goal line. Had they scored with more than five minutes left to play, the game might have ended in their favor. But Barnum stopped them on the 6-inch line when Boomer failed to cross the goal line on a fourth down carry. Barnum took over and ran the clock out.
Barnum faces Section 8 winner Mahnomen at noon on Saturday, November 10 at Public School Stadium.
After the game Head Coach Mitch Dorr said, “Barnum played very well and they really made us work hard for every yard. We just didn’t make enough big plays that we are used to making. We played a tremendous second half, which is a testament to the character of our young men. We gave a gallant fight in the second half but just came up short.”
Dorr commented on his outgoing seniors, saying, “This year’s senior group was a special group of young men. Some of them started playing varsity as freshman. They gave a lot to this program and we are really proud of the young men that they have become.”
The Vikings outgoing seniors are Colin Everson, Kale Boomer, Luke Fenwick, Mark Marxen, Bradley VanDoren, Peter Warren, Dakota Sorlie, Clay Johnson, and Justin Goldstein.
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