The Friday night, Sept. 13 game against the Cherry Tigers played on the Mountain Iron Astroturf was a teeter-totter affair, with the Vikings coming up just short, losing 30-28 in an action-packed game.
Cherry led 8-0 after the first quarter. Early in the second the Viking took over on downs at their 44-yard line and worked their way down the field. Adam Dorr hooked up with Vaughn Swindlehurst through the air for 20 yards; two runs by Aram Falter and a short, tough run by Jonathan Huskey brought the ball to the Cherry 15. On the next play Dorr faked a hand-off to Falter and threw a touchdown pass to Jordon Porter. Adam was stopped on a run for the two-point conversion, and the Vikings trailed 8-6.
On the ensuing kickoff to the 28, the Cherry return man carried to the Vikings’ 48 before being stopped. Cherry quarterback Caple used the first offensive play to throw a long pass, which was picked off by Masen McKeever. Masen ran the ball to the Cherry 43 yard line before he was tackled.
Masen didn’t get any rest, lining up as a wide receiver. He was sent deep on the Vikings’ first play, catching a beautifully thrown ball by senior quarterback Adam Dorr, and the Vikings led 12-8. Falter ran in the two-point conversion and the Vikings led 14-8.
The Vikings’ lead didn’t last long. Following the kickoff Cherry started at their 28. A long pass from Caple to Brian Peterson brought the ball to the Vikings’ 45. Running around the right side on a power sweep with a host of blockers ahead of him, Caple carried the ball to the Viking one-yard line. He scampered in for a TD on the next play. Cherry ran in the two-point conversion to take the l6-14 lead.
On the Vikings’ next offensive series Falter ran for no gain, there was an offside and an incomplete pass to set up a punt, and Cherry was back on offense at their 45 with 3:35 to go in the half.
Running out of the shotgun, Caple ran to the Vikings’ 27. The Tigers used four more running plays by three different runners to score a touchdown, and Caple passed for the two-point conversion. Cherry was up 24-14 with 1:48 to play in the half.
The Vikings took over on offense at their 40 with time winding down. A dropped pass and a loss of four on a run set up third down and 14. Porter caught a long pass from Dorr and was tackled at the Cherry 25, with the wind getting knocked out of him on the play. The Vikings had back-to-back false starts, a dropped pass, and Dorr was sacked to end the series and the half.
Cherry received the second half kickoff and using mostly running plays with Bo Berry, their fullback carrying, slowly worked their way down the field. By now both teams had players cramping and each team was collecting a flurry of penalties for false starts.
Cherry moved the ball to the Vikings’ 15 and was looking to score. Bo Berry ran six yards to the Viking nine-yard line, where he was stripped of the ball.
Isaiah Deschampe recovered the fumble and ran it to the Vikings’ 20 yard line, giving the Vikings another chance on offense. However, on the ensuing offensive series the Vikings picked up two yards, lost six yards on a sack, and a pass was dropped leading to a punt.
Cherry took over at their 44 yard line and used two long running plays to score, the last play coming off of the legs of Caple, who sprinted in from 37 yards out. They failed on the two-point conversion. The Vikings were down 30-14.
With time running out in the third quarter the Vikings went for it on two fourth downs and gained first downs on each. Porter caught a 12-yard pass to bring it to the Cherry 20, and three runs by Aram Falter led to pay dirt and the Vikings were down 30-20. Once again, the Vikings failed to convert their two-point conversion.
During the fourth quarter the Cherry Tigers used an 18-play drive to use up almost the entire clock. With 3:16 to go the Cherry fullback fumbled at the Vikings’ six-yard line, and the Vikings recovered the ball.
Wasting no time, Adam Dorr threw to Jonathan Huskey for a 36-yard gain. Two incomplete passes followed, and a third down screen pass to Huskey resulted in a loss of five. On fourth down Masen McKeever came back to make a nice catch on an underthrown ball to give the Vikings a first down at the Cherry 47. Falter carried to pick up 13 more yards on the next play. Adam had a pass knocked down and then took a 12-yard sack when three Cherry defenders busted through the line and gang tackled him. Huskey made a nice catch on the next play to bring the ball back to the Cherry 30. On fourth down Caple knocked away a pass thrown to Isaiah Deschampe and Cherry took over on downs.
The Vikings thwarted the Tigers on their next three offensive plays and for the first time all night Cherry was forced to punt from deep in their own territory. The hike sailed over the punter’s head and the Vikings recovered the ball at the Tigers’ seven yard line. Adam Dorr faked a hand-off to Falter and carried the ball into the end zone with 41 seconds on the clock. Falter ran for the two-point conversion.
Cherry recovered the on-side kick and left the field two plays later with a 30-28 victory.
The Vikings hope to pick up their first win of the season against the Ely Timberwolves tonight at home, playing on the Lyle Anderson field. The game starts at 7 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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