Upper left: Colin Everson (12) wrapped up the Barnum ball carrier while Jacob Schroeder, on one knee, gets ready to finish off the play. Above: With Colin Everson and Jacob Schroeder blocking, Viking quarterback Kale Boomer runs through a Barnum tackler’s grasp for a nice gain. Left: He’s not very big, but Mark Marxen is a great tackler. Here he slams a Barnum ball carrier into the turf.
Barnum came to Grand Marais with its 0-2 record last Friday night and ground out a win against the 2-0 Cook County High School Viking team in what would have appeared on paper to be a mismatch.
However, Barnum’s losses were close and came against Moose Lake and Cloquet, both much larger schools.
The first play set the tenor for the way the game was going to be officiated. After receiving the kick-off, the Vikings started the game on a 35-yard run by quarterback Kale Boomer. But the play was nullified by a late, late, late flag thrown by an official deep in the backfield who called holding on a Viking player.
The ball was marched back and the Vikings started out with a loss of 10 yards deep in Barnum territory. Still, the Vikings quickly moved down the field to score a touchdown and led 7-0 after Colin Everson made the point after kick.
Barnum’s quick running backs ran behind a big line and they methodically marched down the field, many times on inside traps for short but sure yardage. The Bombers scored a touchdown late in the first quarter and took an 8-7 lead after converting the two-point attempt.
As fast as the Vikings offense had started it stalled. Between losing the ball on fumbles and interceptions, the Vikings couldn’t sustain any offense in the second quarter, often too, stopped by penalties. Officials flagged the Vikings five times in the first half, and never threw a flag against Barnum. Not one all night, in fact.
Meanwhile Barnum scored a touchdown in the second quarter and failed to convert its extra point to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
Third quarter action was fast and furious. The Vikings stopped the Bombers on their first series, then moved the ball before losing it on a fumble at midfield. The Bombers took possession of the ball and scored a touchdown midway through the period, again failing to convert on their two-point extra points try and took a 20-7 lead.
But the Vikings took a short kick-off and behind the running of Peter Warren, Colin Everson, Brandon Marxen and Boomer, got the ball deep into Barnum territory.
Late in the third period on fourth down, Boomer took the ball on a quarterback draw and carried for what was clearly a first down to Barnum’s 14-yard line. However, the head linesman inexplicably picked up the ball and marched it back 2 yards (where he said Kale’s knees first hit the turf) and the Vikings ended up 6 inches short and turned the ball over on downs.
Although the Vikings never quit, the game was effectively over at that point.
Viking Head Coach Mitch Dorr gave Barnum credit, acknowledging that the Bombers have a big line, a good running game and hit hard on defense. They also never kicked the ball to Colin Everson, electing to take his return ability out of the equation, and turned the ball over once, only to regain it on the next play when the Vikings fumbled it right back to them.
When asked if Barnum’s defensive schemes stymied the Viking’s offense, Dorr said, “I don’t think schemes hurt us at all. Three fumbles, two that were lost, six penalties, and two bad interceptions really hurt us. I thought we stopped ourselves… four turnovers just killed us.”
And, said Dorr, “We had wide open receivers all night long. …we just missed them. Kale had practiced for one day last week because of a high ankle sprain and we could see his timing was off. That missed practice took a toll.”
Barnum ran tough all night, and Dorr said the defense will change. “We learned a lot on Friday and will make some adjustments with not only schemes, but personnel as well.
“In the long run, this could be an interesting game to look back on. We could use it as motivation.”
The Vikings have next week to heal up before facing East Central at East Central on September 28. Then the Vikings face Deer River at Deer River on October 5 before coming home to play Braham on October 12.
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