Above: Viking running back Rory Bakke crossed the goal line on this play to make the score 12-12. Bakke finished his night with 12 carries for 81 yards against a tough Silver Bay team. Left: Running hard, Josh Prom gets loose behind Ethan Sporn’s (34) block. Both are talented freshmen who start for the Vikings.
Although the Vikings were on the march, with 2:07 remaining and down 25-12, few would have given the local boys much of a chance to come back against a very good Silver Bay team. But this was Homecoming, and with the largest home crowd on hand for many years, the Vikings did everything they could to give their fans a reason to cheer and came one short play away from snatching victory away from the Mariners.
The last time the two teams met was in 2005. Since then, Silver Bay has played nine-man football while Cook County only made that transition from 11-man to nine-man this year.
Late in the first quarter the Mariners scored first after recovering a Viking fumble at about the Vikings’ 35-yard line. Silver Bay’s speedy quarterback Tanner Ketola ran for 15 yards and two plays later the Mariners’ star running back Michael Fischer ran in for a T.D. The extra point kick was wide left and the Vikings were down 6-0.
Midway through the second quarter Fischer got loose for a long run and the Mariners led 12-0 after again missing on the extra point attempt.
Using a nice mix of passes and runs, the Vikings used a hurry up offense just before halftime to make the score 12-6 on a Rory Bakke touchdown run of 3 yards. The Vikings’ extra point kick was no good.
Coming out of the locker room the Vikings received the second half kickoff and quickly marched down the field behind the running of Jack Wieben and Bakke, with Wieben running in from 5 yards out. Again, the Vikings extra point try was no good and the score was knotted 12-12.
Just when it looked like the Vikings were on fire and the Mariners were running out of gas, the tide again turned. The Mariners only needed two plays to score on a 52-yard touchdown run by Ketola. This time the extra point kick was good and the Mariners led 19-12.
Owen Anderson nearly took the ensuing kickoff to the house, getting stopped by the last man in his way on the Mariners’ 42-yard line and once again the Vikings were rolling on offense.
Viking quarterback Luke Johnson hit freshman wideout Josh Prom for a 10-yard gain that was wiped out because of holding. Johnson rushed for 7 yards and Bakke rushed for 10 yards on the next play, but again the ball came back due to a holding call. Bakke ran for 11 yards on the next play and Wieben gained 10 yards more on the following play to put the Vikings at the Mariners 15-yard line, but the Vikings’ offense stalled and the Mariners took over.
Once again the Mariners ran the ball up to about midfield before Fischer got loose and outran the Viking defenders from 50 yards out. Bakke blocked the extra point kick and the Vikings were down 25-12.
Both teams played offense between the 40-yard lines for much of the fourth quarter, and it looked like the game was going to end 25-12 until the Vikings again went to their hurry up offense with about 3:30 to go in the game.
Johnson found receivers open for short yardage plays and the Vikings worked in a nice mix of runs, finding the sidelines to stop the clock as they worked their way down the field with Johnson scoring on a short run with 2:06 to play. That set up an onside kick, one that Silver Bay expected, but the kick by Andrew Lashinski was perfect, traveling 10 yards before bouncing high into the air into the waiting arms of Rory Bakke.
With the crowd behind them and the Vikings hurry up offense giving the Mariners fits, Johnson completed a 9-yard pass to Anderson before freshman halfback Ethan Sporn made a sensational 35-yard catch with defenders all over him. Sporn caught the ball with one hand against his helmet, crashing to the ground still holding the ball against his helmet with one hand.
Johnson ran for 6 yards on the next play to take it to the Mariners’ 11-yard line. The Vikings picked up 2 yards more on a running play before airing it out again on the next three plays. On fourth down Johnson found Lashinski alone at about the Mariners’ 2-yard line and fired a pass that came hot off his hand and was a little bit high. Lashinski leaped up to make the catch but the ball caromed off his hands.
The Mariners took over and Ketola took two knees as the clock ticked to zero.
After the game Head Coach Mitch Dorr said, “You obviously want to finish the comeback, that goes without saying. I was extremely proud of how our guys continued to fight right to the very end.”
Two things that hurt the Vikings were penalties and turnovers. The Vikings amassed 10 penalties for 70 yards, “Way, way too many,” Dorr said.
And the team lost the ball twice on fumbles, “Both killed drives where we were moving the ball,” added Dorr.
Leo Johnson ended his night going 13-30 for 167 yards through the air and he rushed 57 yards on 11 carries. Jack Wieben rushed for 94 yards on 16 carries and Rory Bakke gained 81 yards on 12 carries. Dorr said he thought Bakke, “had the best game of career.”
Lashinski led the team on defense with 13 tackles, Bakke finished with 11, and Colton Thompson had 10 tackles.
The Vikings play their last game of the season [tonight] Friday, October 9 at home against Northeast Range. The game starts at 5 p.m.
Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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