Above: Sam O’Phelan’s quick burst of speed on this play sent him past the front line of MIB and into the secondary for a long gain. Connor Somnis (83) threw a nice block for O’Phelan to help clear the way. Left: “Catch me if you can!” No one caught Andrew Miller as he ran for the backbreaking touchdown against MIB during the Homecoming game.
Homecoming is always a big game for the Vikings and this year was no exception as the Vikings hosted the favorite 4-0 Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB) Rangers.
The 1-3 Vikings knew they had their work cut out for them, and things were even more challenging because their best defensive player middle linebacker Ethan Sporn was on the sidelines with an injury. Sporn is also one of the team’s top offensive players at running back, so his loss was of great concern on both sides of the ball.
“Ethan is day-to-day with a back injury. We aren’t rushing him back into action,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr.
But even without Sporn the team got off to a great start, controlling the ball on offense with their ground game, scoring early, and their defense came up big. Really big and the boys in blue came away with a 26-8 victory.
Andrew Miller, said Coach Dorr, “had a great game running the ball for us. He was physical. Sam O’Phelan also ran hard. Together, they set the tone for us.”
Early in the second quarter with the Vikings up 14-8, Miller broke through the line and ran for about a 60-yard touchdown. The two-point try failed, but the Vikings would never look back, scoring one more touchdown while holding the MIB offense scoreless the rest of the way. Sophomore quarterback Josh Prom had a great game for the Vikings, and, along with Miller and O’Phelan, kept the MIB defense at bay with his fast feet and passing.
Billy Hackett, an offensive guard, and defensive tackle, had his best game yet in a Viking uniform, ending with more than a dozen tackles and was a disruptive force all night long, playing from sideline to sideline in pursuit of ball carriers.
“Billy played tremendously. He was everywhere on defense and he just filled up the stat sheet,” said Dorr.
Rob Hackett was standing on the sidelines with his father, William, “Bill” Hackett. On the field, Rob’s son Billy was having a great day on the field. On one play, a regular play, Billy pushed through the line and caused the MIB running back to bounce to the outside where he was tackled.
“Billy just crushed the kid trying to block him, sending him down to the ground,” said Rob Hackett ,“But when the whistle blew he reached down and helped him up. My father looked at me and said, ‘There. That’s what high school sports are supposed to be about, playing hard but playing with sportsmanship.’”
“Coming from my father, that made me so proud. Billy plays hard until the play is done, but when the play is finished, he also cares and respects the player across from him,” said Rob Hackett.
That’s a hallmark of a Mitch Dorr team. The kids play hard and physical, they play to win, but they won’t cheat to get a victory and win or lose, you shake hands with your opponent.
Dorr acknowledged the win against Mountain Iron- Buhl was big for his young team. But he knows that the kids can’t let up, and with that he was pushing them hard in practice on Wednesday, just two days before the game against Isle. During the wind sprint drill he admonished them to run harder. “Do you think Isle isn’t running hard right now? Do you think their big running back is going to care about this win? Convince me you care. Show me you care!”
And with that the players ran about 20 wind sprints, each working as hard as they could. Coach didn’t smile until they were through. But he did smile.
At press time the Vikings faced Isle at home on Friday, October 7 at 7 p.m. The team will play away at Silver Bay on October 14 and then play its last game of the season on October 19 at Northeast Range.
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