The Cook County Vikings football team got it done! They successfully pulled their season back from the brink of disaster with three solid games to end the season. After an injuryplagued 0-5 start, the Vikings finally got healthy and have begun playing much better down the stretch.
The healthy stretch started with a close 30-26 loss to Barnum at Barnum in a game that showed the Vikings could compete with the better teams in the league (Barnum is the #2 seed in the playoffs), followed by a 27-10 win over Carlton in the Vikings final home game and a 34-6 thumping of the Ely Timberwolves in the regular season finale at Ely on Thursday, October 22. That win sent the Vikings into the playoffs on a nice roll.
The #6-seeded Vikings were set to play the #3-seeded Ogilvie Lions at Ogilvie before press time on Tuesday, October 27 to open the 2009 Section 7A Playoffs.
Against Carlton, the Vikings defense kept the Bulldogs off the score board in the second half and held Ely from scoring until the final minute of the third quarter, so over the past six quarters the Vikings have only given up six points.
Above: The Vikings head to the defensive line at Ely. Cook County Vikings defeated the Ely Timberwolves, 34-6 on October 22.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr said of the defense in the Ely game, “Our defense controlled the game from the start. We had seven sacks and a defensive touchdown that gave us momentum. Peter Warren (just a freshman) was great on defense with nine key tackles.”
Posting seven quarterback sacks is a great day for any defense at any level of play from the pros on down. Picking up sacks for the Vikings were Trevor Pehrson and Mike Austin with two apiece and Dylan Quaife, Darryl Hansen and Clay Johnson with one each.
Leading the Vikings defense in tackles was Kipp Sande with 14; Dylan Anderson and Warren with nine each; Rude and Quaife with eight each; Cody Anderson with seven; and Pehrson with six.
The Vikings’ special teams play also had a banner night against Ely as Coach Dorr took note of saying, “Our special teams were great! We had a blocked punt, a touchdown after a bad punt snap and a 72-yard kickoff return.”
Mike Austin (left) and Trevor Pehrson each picked up two quarterback sacks in the game against the Ely Timberwolves.
The Vikings’ special teams got the Ely game started with a bang when Brock Hommerding returned the opening kickoff 72 yards to Ely’s 22-yard line, but the Vikings offense couldn’t get on track and the ball went over on downs.
The rest of the first quarter was spent playing in the Timberwolves’ end of the field until the Vikings’ special teams came through with another big play. Ely was forced to punt from their 40-yard line. An errant snap sailed over the punter’s head, forcing him to retreat to retrieve the ball. Dylan Quaife, who was coming on the rush, knocked the ball loose and Alex Senty picked up the loose ball at the seven and ran it in for the touchdown! Senty added the extra point and the Vikings led 7-0 with 31 seconds left in the first.
After the Vikings kickoff, the Timberwolves ran two plays, fumbled and Jacob Rude recovered for the Vikings at Ely’s 44. The Vikings took advantage of the turnover and marched to a touchdown with freshman quarterback Kale Boomer scoring on a one-yard keeper. The kick was good by Senty and the Vikings led 14-0 with 9:09 to go in the second.
Ely’s next possession went three and out with a quarterback sack, which allowed for another great Vikings’ special teams play. This time Quaife rushed the punter and
blocked the kick! The Timberwolves recovered at their 11-yard line and it took only oneplayfor Sande to run up the middle for a Vikings touchdown. The kick was good by Senty and the Vikings led 21-0 with 6:53 to go in the second.
The Timberwolves’ next possession came to an end with another Vikings sack of the quarterback and a punt that James Groth fair caught at the Vikings’ 43.
Starting in great field position, Groth got the ball on a reverse pitch that went for 22 yards before he was knocked out of bounds at the Timberwolves’ 35.
The drive started with a big play and it ended with a big play when Sande (who was the Vikings’ leading rusher with 100 yards) scored for the second time on a 21-yard run. This time Sande went untouched until he ran over a would-be tackler at the two and into the end zone with 1:40 left in the second quarter. A penalty on the Vikings put them back five yards on the extra point attempt and Senty’s kick was blocked, so the score remained 27-0 Vikings going into the halftime break.
The Vikings’ only scoring chance of the third quarter ended when Groth had a pass bounce off his hands in the end zone for an interception. The Timberwolves took over on their 20 and marched the length of the field for their only touchdown with 56 seconds left in the third. The two-point conversion was stopped by the Vikings and the quarter came to an end with the Vikings leading 27-6.
The Vikings final touchdown of the game came at the 10:00 mark of the fourth on a 22-yard pass play from Boomer to Quaife in which Quaife jumped, caught the ball over the top of the defender at the two-yard line and then continued into the end zone. The kick by Senty was good, making the final score 34-6 Vikings.
Fittingly, the Vikings defense put an exclamation point on the Vikings’ victory by making a gang tackle for a quarterback sack on the game’s final play!
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