Like all good games, this one came down to the wire.
The Vikings were facing Mountain Iron-Buhl for the second time this season. On October 12 the Vikings shut out the Rangers 22-0 at home, but the game was closer than the final score indicated. On Friday, November 2, the two teams met again at Esko to see who would win the Section 7 nine-man championship and advance to play Stephen-Argyle (11-0) on November 10 in Bemidji in the nineman state quarterfinals.
The Vikings won the coin toss and elected to kick off, and the Rangers started at their 37-yard line. Playing fast in and out of the huddle, MIB senior quarterback Joe Buffetta ran for back-to-back first downs.
On his second carry, the Ranger quarterback scampered through the Vikings for 37 yards, bringing the ball down to the Vikings’ 16-yard line. Buffetta handed off on the next play to Jericho Peterson who was stopped at the Viking six-yard line by Jack Haussner. But on the next play Buffetta ran around the right end for a touchdown. He also ran in for the two-point conversion.
The Vikings were down 8-0 and not quite two-minutes were gone in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for the Vikings to get on the scoreboard. Following the kickoff, the Vikings started at their 35. Senior Viking quarterback Josh Prom led the team on a 12-play drive that included a Viking penalty and a bad snap recovered for lost yardage.
Despite the setbacks, the Vikings kept working. Running out of the pistol Prom did most of the work carrying the ball, making consistent 4- to 7-yard gains per carry. Andrew Miller made a nice 10-yard run to take the ball to the Ranger two-yard line and after two runs by Prom – the second one he carried into the end zone – the score was 8-6.
The two-point conversion attempt failed, and the Vikings trailed 8-6 with seven minutes left to play in the first quarter.
Great defense by the Vikings kept MIB out of the end zone on the next series as once again Buffetta was able to get free for a long gain of 29 yards. Like Prom, Buffetta did most of his team’s running, gaining consistent six, seven yards on most runs. With the ball at the Viking four-yard line Tristen Bockovich stopped Buffetta for a one-yard loss.
On the next two plays, the Rangers were only able to bring the ball to the three-yard line. On fourth down a wall of Viking defenders trapped and took down Dillon Drake at the 11-yard line for a loss and the Vikings took over from there.
After a short run by Prom, he hit Andrew Miler with a pass and Miller took the ball for a 37-yard gain. Prom was sacked on a third down play for a loss near midfield, and the Vikings punted with time running out of the first quarter.
The Vikings had a great chance to score in the second quarter. Following another long drive, the Vikings had the ball on the Ranger 14 yard line and only a “silly millimeter” to go, as WTIP announcer Norman Moe stated, but the Vikings were stopped on a fourth down run by a stout MIB defense.
That stoppage might have been the play of the game. With Buffetta running out of the pistol, pretty much the same offense the Vikings were using, he carried for gains of five yards, seven yards, and 74 yards as he raced to another touchdown. The Vikings would stop the extra point conversion attempt, but the Rangers would go into the locker room up 14-6 and take that momentum with them.
Andrew Miller, who had a brilliant game, had one miscue. After taking the second half kick-off, he fumbled the ball, and MIB recovered at the 38 yard line. Despite two hits for losses, one by Kennan Hingos and one by Miller, the Rangers were able to convert a fourth and 16 with Buffetta completing a pass to Jericho Peterson who rumbled to the Viking five to give the Rangers a first down. Dillon Drake scored on a five-yard run, and the Vikings trailed 20-6 with 7:40 to play in the third quarter.
Miller and Prom steadily ran through the MIB defense on the Vikings’ next offensive series, and Prom connected with Jack Haussner on an 11-yard pass for a touchdown. Once again the Vikings failed to score on their two-point conversion and trailed 20-12 as the third quarter ended.
It was back and forth between the two teams in the fourth quarter. Buffetta used all of the clock that he could when MIB had the ball, and the Vikings went to the air late in the fourth quarter. With 2:06 to play, Prom hit Miller with a 30-yard strike to bring the ball to the MIB 15 yard line.
Prom threw incomplete on first down and ran for a one-yard gain on second down. He passed the ball to Miller who was stopped at the 10-yard line.
On fourth down the Vikings called timeout. There were 1:47 on the game clock and the team was out of timeouts. The Vikings needed five yards for a first down, but more importantly, they needed 10 yards for a touchdown.
Prom, who had already run for more than 150 yards in the game, got the call to carry the ball. He was stopped for a one-yard gain, and MIB took over and ran the clock out, ending the Vikings’ season with an 8-2 record.
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