Above: Blocking is everything in football. Here Sam O’Phelan (12), Dylan Works (54), and Frankie Miller (22) did a great job of protecting quarterback Leo Johnson (15) against North Woods defenders. Left: All year Andrew Lashinski has done a great job of punting the ball and kicking extra points for the Vikings. Lashinski even converted a 37-yard field goal. Frankie Miller snaps the ball to Leo Johnson who is holding for the extra point kick, which was good.
With just a few seconds left on the game clock and North Woods ready to run the last play of the game from the Vikings’ one-inch line, the Vikings needed to dig down deeper than they have all season to preserve their improbable one point lead and hold off the vaunted North Woods Grizzlies’ running attack.
And they also needed some luck.
The Vikings avenged an opening season loss to the North Woods Grizzlies by beating them 15-14 in a heart-stopping Section 7 semifinal nine-man game played in Cook on Saturday, October 17.
North Woods beat Cook County 28-7 in the Vikings’ first game of the year. It was the Vikings’ first time competing in nine-man football after leaving the ranks of 11-man at the conclusion of last season. Besides playing with fewer men, the rules are also different and the field is narrower, so it was expected to take some time to adjust. Plus North Woods had gone to state the year before, so the Vikings knew that first game was going to be a baptism by fire, and it was.
After winning the opening coin toss in the rematch, the Vikings elected to kick-off. The Grizzlies used five straight running plays of 7 yards or longer to score, three of those runs came off the heels of lightning-quick Justin Nelson who weaved his way through Viking defenders from 20 yards out to score the game’s first six points. The two-point conversion try failed, but with less than three minutes off the game clock, it looked like it might be a long day for the Vikings.
But six points was all the Vikings were giving up until midway through the fourth quarter. That’s when Grizzlies’ quarterback Tate Olson found George Bibeau open and hit him with a 26-yard pass to make it 12-0. What looked like the final dagger in the Vikings’ heart came when Olson found Darnell Googleye for the 2-point conversion. At that point, with the Vikings showing little offense all day, it looked like the Viking season was over as they trailed 14-0.
But this is where experience came into play. The Vikings were in a similar situation against Silver Bay two weeks ago and charged back to nearly win the game with three minutes to play. With five minutes to play, the Vikings needed to find that offense and find it quick, and they did.
Throughout the game Vikings’ senior quarterback Leo Johnson had been having trouble throwing over the tall Grizzlies’ linemen, but when they needed Johnson the most he found his passing rhythm.
With five minutes to play Johnson hit Rory Bakke for a 9-yard pass; Jack Wieben for a short gain; Josh Prom caught a ball and Bakke again caught a ball to bring the Vikings to the North Woods’ 13-yard line. At that point Johnson hit Owen Anderson with a 13-yard pass for the Vikings’ first score. Johnson ran the ball in for the Vikings’ two-point conversion and the Vikings were down 14-8.
Following the Vikings’ kick North Woods needed only one long running play by Nelson to take a 20-8 lead. But wait. The play was called back because of a holding call. The Vikings stopped the Grizzlies and got the ball back deep in their territory, a place they had been playing from for most of the game.
Once again Johnson took to the air and, mixing it up, completing balls to Anderson, Lashinski, and Bakke. As the clock wound down to one minute to play, Jack Wieben ran the ball across the goal line from one yard out. Andrew Lashinski converted the extra point to give the Vikings’ their first lead.
With one minute to go, North Woods got the ball back and Tate Olson found two receivers open for long gains. With 30 seconds to play the Grizzlies’ receiver dropped a sure touchdown pass from the 15-yard line, and with 7 seconds left and the Grizzlies on the Vikings’ 7-yard line, Nelson ran to the Vikings’ one-inch line where a cadre of Viking tacklers stopped him. To most it looked like the game clock had reached zero, but the referees said there was still one tick left, time enough for one play.
With Viking fans holding their breath, Olson took the snap and fumbled it, ending the game and sealing the win for the jubilant Vikings. It was the fifth fumble of the game for the Grizzlies.
Leading the way on offense was Leo Johnson, going 13-28 for 148 yards through the air. Rory Bakke rushed for 92 yards on 21 carries and caught three balls for 24 yards. Jack Weiben gained 57 yards on 18 carries and caught one ball for 9 yards. Owen Anderson had six catches for 100 yards and Andrew Lashinski had one catch for 5 yards and Josh Prom, two catches for 10 yards.
Frankie Miller came up huge for the Vikings on defense. He had 10 unassisted and 12 assisted tackles for 22 total. Rory Bakke had 12 tackles, Andrew Lashinski 9, Dylan Works 8, Owen Anderson 7, Leo Johnson 6, Ethan Sporn 5, Colton Thompson 4, Jack Wieben 3, Billy Hackett 2, Colton Furlong 2, and Josh Prom 1.
“Frankie Miller came up big for us, 22 total tackles in the biggest of games,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr. “He had a special, special game and he has a heart that just won’t quit.
“Rory Bakke was also huge with 8 unassisted tackles and 4 more assisted tackles. I also thought Dylan Works probably had the best game of his high school career. He was active and quick inside and played a tremendous game,” said Coach Dorr.
Works recovered two of the Grizzlies’ fumbles, with Leo Johnson picking up one, Bakke one and Billy Hackett recovering one.
“Over all,” said Coach Dorr, “It was a total team win, played by young men who love the game and love each other. As a coaching staff, we feel that this was a total team win. From a huge tackle by Colton Furlong on a punt fake, to the extra point by Andrew Lashinski, to all the bench players that helped prepare us for this game. A total team win.”
Coach Dorr also had great things to say about his staff. “I thought both Coach Carpenter and Coach Prom were really on their game all day long. They were really sharp on the sidelines and put our young men in places to succeed. I can’t say enough about their preparation and game day planning. They are both very special coaches.”
The Vikings now face Ely for the Section championship and the right to go to the State Tournament. The game will be played at 4 p.m. in Esko on Friday, October 23.
Ely is 10-0 this year. They beat Mountain Iron-Buhl 57-6 in their semi-final section game played Saturday, October 17. Earlier this year Ely beat Cook County 50-21. Ely has only given up 54 points for the whole season, a 5.4 per game average, while they averaged 51.3 points per game. The Vikings scored nearly half of those points against Ely, and if the team plays like it did against North Woods, it could turn out differently than the first game.
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