Left: Viking running back Sam O’Phelan had a big game against Mountain Iron-Buhl last week, rushing for 224 yards on 18 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Above: Coach Mike Prom and Coach Mitch Dorr (right) talk to Frankie Miller (No. 22) and Leo Johnson (No. 15) about what they would like to see from the Vikings’ offense.
The Cook County High School Vikings took the long ride to Mountain Iron- Buhl (MIB) and came away with a 50-0 shut out of the Rangers.
Mesabi lost starting quarterback Jaylon Holmes to a high ankle sprain on the first series and it was all Cook County from that point in the Hall of Fame game. Holmes was originally the team’s back up, but the Rangers lost their starter, Archie Winans, to an injury in the first game of the season.
With senior quarterback Leo Johnson at the helm for three and a half quarters, the Vikings’ offense broke out and scored 42 points. Sam O’Phelan led Viking rushers with 224 yards on 18 carries, scoring three touchdowns in the process. Freshman Ethan Sporn also rushed for 35 yards on six carries and scored two touchdowns.
“Offensively we moved the ball well after a slow start,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr. “Our offensive line really played well as we rushed for 394 yards as a team, averaging 7.1 yards per carry,” Coach Dorr said.
But as good as the Vikings were on offense, they might have been better on defense. “Defensively we really played well. We held Mountain Iron to 75 yards of total offense and had three take-aways on defense,” said Coach Dorr.
Frankie Miller led the defense with 11 tackles, three for losses. Jack Wieben finished with 8 tackles, four for losses. Sporn also finished with 7 tackles and had one interception in the contest. No other stats were available at press time.
By the start of the third quarter, Coach Dorr was sending in substitutes, giving younger players a chance to play. The substitutes, however, didn’t let down and the Vikings held onto the shutout of the 3-2 Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers.
The Vikings traveled to Cherry this weekend to play the winless Tigers and then play North Shore rival Silver Bay on October 2 at home for the Vikings’ Homecoming game.
Leave a Reply