As expected, the Barnum Bombers were a challenge for the Cook County Vikings on Friday, September 10. Above: Dylan Quaife runs through a couple of tacklers to pick up valuable yards against the Barnum Bombers. Note the expression of the Barnum player on the field. Quaife had the Bombers expressing frustration for much of the game. Left: Trevor Pehrson and Dylan Quaife converge on a Barnum ball carrier early in the game. Both teams played solid football, mixing in some pass plays with hard running and solid defense. Barnum ended up winning 14-6 but the Vikes played well in a tough loss.
The Barnum Bombers met the Cook County High School Vikings last Friday night in what was expected to be a close match-up, and fans weren’t disappointed.
With the score at 6-6 following the first half, the Bombers converted a third down on a questionable facemask call midway through the third quarter. Instead of punting, the Bombers received 15 yards and a first down. Two plays later they punched the ball in and then scored two points on the conversion.
The Vikings showed great poise on the next series of plays, marching the ball down the field on a half dozen plays, the last one a nice pass from quarterback Kale Boomer to Mike Sjogren for a touchdown. But the play came back on a holding call and the Vikings failed to score the rest of the contest.
“The story of the game was being inside the 20-yard line four times and not getting any points out of those four drives,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr.
“Miscues and seven penalties really hurt us. While some calls were definitely questionable, we need to improve in that area,” Dorr said.
Sophomore Peter Warren had an outstanding game for the defense, leading with 15 total tackles.
“Dylan Quaife had a great all around game. Offensively he ran hard, picking up 67 yards on 112 carries and had three big runs called back on offensive holding calls,” Dorr said adding, “Defensively, Dylan had 11 tackles, three of which were for losses. He also averaged 44 yards per punt, and had two big punts that he landed inside the 5-yard line.”
Sophomore Quarterback Kale Boomer also played well, said Dorr, “Kale threw the ball very well, even though stats don’t necessarily reflect that. Boomer was six of 16 for 110 yards and one touchdown. We had three dropped passes and one touchdown pass called back on a penalty.”
The coach also praised senior Stein Jacobsen. “Jacobsen came in and did a nice job as he had six tackles from his defensive tackle position.”
With an 0-2 start for the season, the Vikings might have a tendency to hold their heads down a bit, but their coach and fans have seen a lot of promise in this team.
“For a young team, we stayed in the fight and played hard. I was proud of our effort. Now we just need to keep improving,” said Dorr.
At press time the Vikings were set to host Mesabi East Friday night, Sept. 17 at Anderson Field. The next home game will be Friday, Sept. 24 against Ely. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.
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