Vikings starting steady
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CHARLO – After a dominating regular season and a heartbreak that just missed a State run last year, the Vikings have their eyes set on the prize.
The Vikings have come out of the gate with a mission and so far have shown to be executing their plan with two overpowering wins to kick off the 2014 season. Head Coach Mike Krahn knows this may be a challenge after losing six starting seniors last year, but takes this challenge with optimism and is taking the bull by the horns to ensure victory.
“We graduated six seniors last year including a couple of all-staters and in eight-man, that’s big,” Krahn said. “We had some big shoes to fill and that was kind of a concern. We knew we had kids coming back to fill those, but you never know until you get into a game situation. So far they have been working hard and have performed really well. They’ve done a nice job.”
On Friday the Vikings hosted Victor, downing the Pirates 48-6.
Quarterback Michael Delaney started on the field with 8-11 in passing for 146 yards with two touchdowns and also ran the ball to the end zone to score carrying five times for 32 yards. Delaney also sparked defensively, snagging an interception.
In the second quarter Delaney suffered an injury that prevented him from a second half start. Sophomore Trent Dennison took over and completed three of five passing attempts.
“ (Dennison) came in and did a nice job for us,” Krahn said. “It’s always a hard thing to do, to be thrown in, especially as quarterback. That’s sort of a high stress position.”
Junior Jade Smith led the team in defense, tackling 11 Pirates and chipping in a blocked pass.
Kobe Cox caught the ball six times for 82 yards adding a touchdown for his team.
“Overall I was really pleased. In the past we’ve always had to beat Victor in the fourth quarter but this time we beat them in the first,” Krahn said. “We expected a hard battle but this time we overwhelmed them. I was really pleased that our kids came out focused and ready to go.”
As for the rest of the season, Krahn said goals have been set in place but the team is pacing themselves.
“We always have high expectations. I try not to look too far ahead. We just set some goals, like with our conference. Our conference is probably one of the toughest in the state, if not the toughest, just because there’s a lot of parody,” he said. “You’ve got to show up every night to play or any team can knock off another team.”
Winning their conference is the number-one goal to ensure they get postseason home field advantage, especially considering their game will be mostly played on the road with only three scheduled home games for the regular season.
Krahn believes that if the Vikings can stay healthy and “keep the injuries” away, they can compete for a postseason run that rivals past seasons.
“We can’t always have those expectations, but I think that they are realistic,” he said. “If we keep improving and stay healthy that would be the key.”
The Vikings will head to Seeley-Swan Sept. 19.
Stats and players of the game are posted each week at www.maxpreps.com.
Results
Charlo 40 8 0 0 – 48
Victor 0 6 0 0 – 6
