Left: Owen Anderson caught nine balls for 204 yards to set a new CCHS record by a Viking receiver in the game against Mesabi East held Friday, October 10. Above: Will Lamb (7) tries to get his arms around the Mesabi East ball carrier while Travis Bradley (26) and Jamie Wick close in fast to assist on the tackle.
Sometimes you win even when you lose.
Such was the case for the Cook County Vikings when they faced off against the much larger (and appropriately named) Mesabi East Giants in the Vikings’ Homecoming game played at Lyle Anderson field on Friday, October 10, 2014.
With seven kids on the sidelines not playing for a variety of reasons—three out due to injury (Rory Bakke, Colton Thompson, and Riley Somnis) and others not playing because, as Head Coach Mitch Dorr explained, “We have three others not suiting up due to missing practices and lost one more due to a Minnesota High School League (MSHL) violation. That gives us eight kids on the bench that can play after our starting 11.”
The Giants meanwhile had more than 25 kids on the sidelines.
The game started off with Cook County receiving the ball on the kick off and Owen Anderson returning it to the Vikings’ 47-yard line. A great start.
Quarterback Leo Johnson completed his first pass of the night to Anderson to pick up 5 yards but the Vikings fumbled on the next play and the Giants recovered. Behind some great tackling the Vikings held Mesabi East on downs and made them punt.
Once again the Viking offense (who were pretty much the same players who played defense) took the field and Richie Furlong carried the ball for 5 yards on the Vikings’ first play from the line. But again the Vikings had a miscue that resulted in a turnover and Mesabi had the ball back.
Again, however, the Vikings held the Giants out of the end zone.
The teams went back and forth with Mesabi scoring late in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead. The Giants scored two more touchdowns and added one two-point conversion in the second quarter to go up 20-0 with less than 25 seconds to go to halftime.
A lot of fans left at that juncture which was too bad because this is when the game really started. Johnson, who threw one beautiful pass after another all night long, threw a deep ball to wide receiver Andy Farley that was in his mitts but was dropped.
With 19 seconds to go the Vikings ran the same play and this time Farley held onto the 37-yard pass, getting knocked out of bounds at the 27-yard line. With 9 seconds to go Johnson found Anderson in the end zone. The Vikings failed on the extra point try to go into the locker room down 20-6.
Mesabi took the kickoff to start the third quarter and ran it to their 37. The Giants used their big running back Zach Skelton to pound the ball inside behind the blocking of 6’4’’ 325-pound offensive guard Michael Green, marching the ball down the field to score a touchdown. The Giants made the extra point kick to go up 27-6.
Johnson and company came right back. The offensive line was outweighed by 30 to 100 pounds per man but still gave Johnson time to find his open receivers. Often that man was Owen Anderson, however Jack Wieben received a short throw in the end zone to make the score 27-12.
Viking kicker Andrew Lashinski nailed the extra point kick to make it 27-13.
Following the Viking kick-off the Giants started at their 34-yard line. Skelton and his teammates steadily ran the ball down the field, scoring a TD and the extra point to go up 34-13.
The Vikings took the kickoff to the 40 and ran a few running plays before Johnson hit Anderson with a long bomb that Anderson, who is also an excellent baseball player, used those centerfield skills to run down and make an incredibly acrobatic catch at the Giants’ 1-inch line. Johnson took the ball in on the next play to make it 34-19 after the Viking’ 2-point conversion failed.
An onside kick worked and the Vikings recovered the ball mid-field. Johnson wasted little time hitting Wieben with a 28-yard pass, which brought the ball to the Giants’ 38-yard line. On the next play Wieben took a handoff and ran for 10 yards. Johnson wasted little time going back to his favorite receiver in the end zone, but the frustrated Giants’ defender, who had a long night trying cover the elusive Anderson, was called for pass interference.
Johnson called Furlong’s number and he took it to the house to make it 34-25. Wieben ran in the 2-point conversion to make the score 34-27. Game on.
With 7:28 on the clock, the Giant’s coach Steve Grams called a time out and talked to his players, settling them down. Skelton continued to get his carries and scored the Giants’ final touchdown with 3:48 left. The Vikings nearly stripped him of the ball on one play, but the big back held on and for all intents and purposes the game was over.
With 2:27 to go Johnson completed one more long pass to Anderson but the Vikings couldn’t punch it in. The final score was 40-27, but it was a close and exciting game, one the Vikings should be proud of.
Vikings’ junior quarterback Leo Johnson ended his night completing 17 of 35 passes for 287 yards, a new school record. He also rushed for one touchdown.
Junior wide receiver Owen Anderson also set a school record, catching 9 balls for 204 yards. Owen scored one touchdown.
Andy Farley, who ran hard on every play, caught 4 balls for 68 yards. Jack Wieben had 6 carries for 56 yards and scored one touchdown and one 2-point conversion. Richie Furlong carried the ball 13 times for 49 yards and scored one touchdown.
On defense Frankie Miller—who plays center on offense and blocked much bigger players all night long—had 19 tackles. Owen Anderson ended his great night with 12 tackles.
“Our line gave us some great pass protection and Owen had a special night making some outstanding catches,” Dorr said. “I was very proud of our effort and how we stayed in the fight to the very end.”
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