Left: Billy Hackett (74) and his teammates crashed through the offensive line and stopped the MIB runner in his tracks. Above: Ben Trepanier (77) escorted Andrew Miller down the field on this play. Trepanier took out an MIB defender with an excellent downfield block to give Miller more running room.
Andrew Miller ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the Vikings beat Mountain Iron-Buhl 28-12 to knock the Rangers out of Section 7 9-man playoffs in a game played last Tuesday night in Mountain Iron.
Connor Somnis intercepted a MIB pass on the first series, giving the Vikings the ball on the Rangers’ 43-yard line. However, the Vikings couldn’t get going and turned the ball over on downs.
The Vikings stopped MIB on the next series and got the ball on their 33. Joe Buffetta intercepted a Miller pass on a third and eight, taking the ball to the Vikings’ 48. Again the Vikings held and forced a punt, getting the ball on their 7. Two plays later the Vikings fumbled, and one play later MIB’s Dillon Drake took the ball in for a score and the Vikings trailed 6-0.
Miller responded on the next series with a long bomb to Jack Haussner who took it in to tie the score. Miller ran in the two-point conversion to give the Vikings an 8-6 lead.
The Vikings forced a Ranger fumble on the next series, recovering on the Rangers’ 10-yard line. Once gain it was Miller to Haussner and the Vikings now led 14-6.
Dillon Sjogren intercepted a Ryan Mogensen pass on the next series giving the ball back to the Vikings at the MIB 26-yard line. Miller took the ball across the line a few plays later on a nifty seven-yard run and the Vikings led 20-6.
Neither team scored in the third period, but Miller busted through the MIB line early in the fourth quarter and ran for 50 yards to score a TD. He also ran in the two-point conversion pushing the Vikings to a 28-6 margin.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr said Miller, Haussner, and Billy Hackett had great games. One advantage for the Vikings was that MIB had to key on the Vikings’ star running back Sam O’Phelan for much of the match. This led to openings for Miller, who hit five different players with passes and ran all over the MIB football field.
MIB scored a late touchdown, but the Vikings were in full control.
Sam O’Phelan (ball carrier) didn’t gain many yards in the playoff game against MIB because the MIB defense was geared to stop him. This, of course, opened the field up for the rest of the Vikings and led to a somewhat surprising win over the 5-3 Rangers.
The Vikings now take on Northwoods Saturday, October 29, at 2 p.m. in Cook.
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