Above: Head coach Mitch Dorr and his assistant coaches Pat Eliasen and Bryan Carpenter had little to worry about in the game against Deer River. The Vikings’ defense was stifling and the offense has never played better than they did against the Warriors. Left: With Richie Furlong clearing a path for him, Colin Everson had little trouble breaking away for a nice gain on this carry. Everson rushed for five touchdowns against Deer River and played great on defense.
By the time Colin Everson got done running last Friday night the Deer River Warriors might have thought there were two of him. Maybe even three.
The bus ride to Deer River is long, and Deer River, a 2A school, has a great tradition of putting tough-minded, wellcoached football teams on the field.
But all of that went south for the Warriors on Friday night, October 5 when Cook County showed up.
Cook County kicked off to start the game and after the Warrior return man took it to the 37-yard line the Vikings stopped them in three plays for no gain. The Deer River punter could only boot the ball about 20 yards and the Vikings started near midfield.
Peter Warren took the first hand-off and ran 37 yards. Everson took the next two carries and ran for 7 yards then slipped into the end zone on a 6-yard dash. Warren crashed over the line for the two-point conversion and the Vikings were up 8-0 with less then four minutes off of the game clock.
Once again the Warriors got another fine kick-off return and started at their 35-yard line, and once again it was 3 plays for little or no yardage and they had to punt. This time the ball traveled to the Vikings’ 39-yard line. Warren nearly took the first down carry to the house, getting tripped up after gaining 13 yards and no one left to beat. Jacob Schroeder took the next carry and raced around the left end for 13 more yards and then Everson took the next hand-off and wove his way down field for a 35-yard touchdown. Warren again ran in the two-point conversion and the Vikings were up 16-0.
Deer River’s Aaron Droughts again made a great kick-off return, taking it to the 45-yard line before being brought down by Richie Furlong, the last Viking player in his way. And again the Vikings’ defense stepped up. Viking linebacker Kale Boomer sacked the quarterback for a 5-yard loss and Dakota Sorlie made a great stop before Deer River finally completed a 9-yard pass play. Still, they were 5 yards short of first down and once again had to punt.
This time the Vikings started at their 29-yard line. The next play showed the finesse of Viking quarterback Kale Boomer. Viking announcers Dick Dorr and Norman Moe said that Mark Marxen received the hand-off, went up the middle and fumbled the ball. After some confusion on the field it was apparent that Marxen never got the ball. Boomer faked the handoff, Marxen sold the carry and fake fumble and Boomer trotted around the end and waltzed 72 yards for an easy touchdown. Boomer carried for the twopoint conversion and the score was 24-0.
Great defense once again completely shut down Deer River as their quarterback Darren Lafla was forced to pass. The pass was working as well as the run for the Warriors and they punted to the Vikings’ 15-yard line.
The next series of plays went like this: Warren ran for 9 yards, Boomer carried for 6 yards and then Everson carried for 15 yards and fumbled. But the way things were going for the Vikings, they recovered the fumble and gained 5 more yards on the play. Warren again carried and after being hit in a pile of would-be tacklers, bounced outside and was racing for the end zone. However, the referees blew the play dead, not that it mattered. On the next play Boomer broke two tackles and gained 12 yards and then Everson caught a screen pass from Boomer and behind some great blocking raced 22 yards for another touchdown. The Vikings failed to convert on their two-point play and the score was 30-0 at the start of the second quarter.
Everson would run two more touchdowns in the second quarter, one for 25 yards and one for 62 yards. He also made two extra point kicks. Boomer ended the first half of scoring with a 16-yard dash into the end zone and Everson’s extra-point kick was good. The Vikings went into the locker room up 50-0. They would score again in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Everson and again his extra point kick was good.
Deer River would score its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 43-yard run by Aaron Draughts.
For the game the Vikings gained 21 first downs and held Deer River to 2 first downs.
The Vikings’ offensive player of the game was Colin Everson who rushed 13 times for 225 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught a 21 yard touchdown pass for his sixth touchdown of the game.
Kale Boomer was named defensive player of the week. Kale had 11 tackles, two for a loss and an interception.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr said, “I have a lot of respect for Deer River’s program. They were really missing their starting running back/linebacker who tore his ACL last week.
“Our young guys played a lot better this week and I thought our coaching staff did a great job of mixing it up with more experienced players.
“Freshman Rory Bakke came in and ran hard from his halfback position,” Dorr said.
Three players gained over 100 yards on the ground, Kale, Colin and Peter. The team rushed for 599 yards and Viking ball carriers averaged 10.7 yards per carry.
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