There was very little standing around on the Vikings’ first day of football practice, but in certain moments Head Coach Mitch Dorr would stop the action and address his players, explaining a new drill or his expectations. The Vikings have 10 days to prepare for their first 9-man game, which will be played at home on Saturday, August 22 at 2 p.m.
Brian Larsen
Cook County High School Football Head Coach Mitch Dorr welcomed about 30 boys to the first day of Viking football practice on a warm, sometime rainy, sometime sunny Monday, August 10. The young men wore helmets, T-shirts and shorts, but didn’t dress in pads and uniforms for their first day of conditioning.
With only 10 days before their first game, the Vikings will be heading into new territory this season, playing 9-man football for the first time.
Dorr is excited about the prospects. With fewer students in school, the Viking roster was getting smaller and smaller and a change to 9-man will allow the Vikings—winless in their last two seasons—a chance to become competitive again.
During the summer many of this year’s starters took part in a summer camp at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and got to play in several scrimmages, looking good in those encounters, said Dorr.
The field of play is smaller in 9-man. The field is 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. Kickoffs are done from the 20-yard line instead of the 30-yard line. Typically there are four men in the backfield: a quarterback, fullback, a tailback and a fourth player who can play wide receiver or tight end, and five on the line, with the outside linemen allowed to catch passes. A common defense usually is four defensive linemen, three linebackers, and two defensive backs.
Expect action to be fast and furious. Nine-man games tend to be high scoring with fast players finding plenty of running room and any number of trick plays being pulled from a coach’s playbook.
Although the Vikings didn’t win last year, the combination of quarterback Luke Johnson throwing to wideout Owen Anderson proved to be reliable and at times spectacular.
The record setting duo are seniors this year and are joined by fellow seniors Frankie Miller, Rory Bakke, Jack Wieben, Jerod Spry, Dylan Works, Colton Thompson, and Noah Roth.
Juniors who will contribute are Cole Dahlberg, Will Lamb, Sam O’Phelan, Jack Viren, Jeffrey Pelletier and Thomas Rankin.
Coach Dorr also has a talented group of sophomores who will fight for playing time. They include Colton Furlong, Andrew Miller, Dillon Sjogren, Ben Trepanier, Levi Sheils, Cameron Roy, Connor Somnis, Billy Hackett, Ethan Sporn, Jack Haussner, Mikey Burton and Riley Somnis. Two freshmen, Ethan Sporn and Josh Prom will round out the squad.
The Vikings’ first game will be played at home on Saturday, August 22 against North Woods. The Vikings’ second game will be played against Carlton at Carlton on August 28.
Leave a Reply