Top: Viking quarterback Leo Johnson gets ready to drop back and throw a pass to Owen Anderson on this play. Left: Ethan Sporn (No. 34) isn’t very big but the freshman led all Viking tacklers in their game against the Ely Timberwolves. Above: Joining the fray, Frankie Miller (No. 22) put the finishing touches on this group tackle to take down a determined Ely ball carrier.
With 1:46 left in the first quarter the Vikings’ defense finally bent and gave up a touchdown to Ely’s slippery junior running back Josh Heiman, who scored from about 12 yards out. Heiman also ran in the two extra points and the Vikings trailed 8-0.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, Heiman was only warming up in the first quarter. He would score two more touchdowns in the second quarter as Ely raced to a 22-0 lead before Vikings’ quarterback Luke Johnson finally connected on a TD pass to Andrew Lashinski.
Lashinski’s extra point kick was good and the Vikings trailed 22-7 with 1:30 in the half. Instead of running out the clock Ely used a mix of runs and passes to advance the ball down the field and Heiman added his fourth touchdown of the half to lead Ely into the break 28-7.
Ely scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter before Johnson connected on a short touchdown pass to Jack Wieben. Lashinski’s kick was good and the Vikings trailed 42-14.
The Timberwolves scored one last TD and two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to go up 50-14. At that point the game clock was allowed to run non-stop and both teams put in some reserves. The Vikings put Josh Prom in at quarterback and the freshman moved the ball down the field on some nice quarterback runs and handoffs to his running backs Jack Wieben, Rory Bakke and Sam O’Phelan, before he found wide out Owen Anderson open in the end zone for a short touchdown pass with 1:44 on the play clock. Lashinski’s kick was good and the Vikings fell 50-21 to the 4-0 Ely Timberwolves.
One consolation for the Vikings is that 21 points are the most points put up against a stout Ely defense this season.
“I thought we played a great 10 minutes of football,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr. “After that, there were too many guys doing their own thing instead of focusing on their assignments within our team concept.”
On offense Sam O’Phelan led Viking rushers with 44 yards on 15 carries. Jack Wieben ran 28 yards on 5 carries and Rory Bakke had 19 yards on 11 carries. Ethan Sporn gained 2 yards on 7 carries; Josh Prom 1 yard on 5 carries; and Leo Johnson gained 2 yards on 2 carries.
While the Vikings had a tough time gaining yards on the ground, they did better through the air. Viking quarterback Leo Johnson threw for 124 yards. Owen Anderson had 5 catches for 84 yards, Andrew Lashinski 2 catches for 25 yards, and Jack Wieben 1 catch for 10 yards.
The Vikings gained 379 yards for the game while Ely netted 581 yards.
Freshman Ethan Sporn led Viking tacklers with 7 unassisted and 8 assisted tackles. Frankie Miller had 3 unassisted tackles and 11 assisted tackles while Rory Bakke had 4 unassisted and 8 assisted tackles. Owen Anderson finished with 3 unassisted and 8 assisted tackles and one fumble recovery and Jack Wieben had 4 assisted and 4 unassisted tackles. Riley Somnis finished with 6 assisted tackles, Leo Johnson 2 assisted and 3 unassisted tackles and Dylan Works had 4 assisted tackles while Jerod Spry had 1 unassisted tackle.
The Vikings’ record falls to 2-2 on the season. Next up is a trip to play Mountain Iron-Buhl on September 19. The Rangers are 3-1 on the season. Following that game the Vikings travel to play Cherry on September 25 before coming home to face North Shore rival Silver Bay October 2.
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