Perfect ending
Vikings defeat Drummond to clinch conference title and earn home field advantage throughout playoffs
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DRUMMOND — As to be expected, the white road jerseys of the Charlo Vikings were filthy with grass and dirt stains after pulling away from the Trojans in the second half in a battle of Western C unbeatens. But it’s ok; they’ll have more than a year to get them clean.
The Vikings’ 38-14 statement win on the Trojans’ turf Thursday not only clinched the Western C Conference title, it also gave them home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and in Class C football it is definitely an advantage. The Vikings can now cross off towns like Wibaux (645 miles away), Savage (647 miles away), and Denton (311 miles away), just to name a few.
“We get to put the travel jerseys away when we get home and we don’t have to take them out again, so that’s exciting. That’s a big deal. We get to stay in our own beds and play on our own field,” Charlo coach Mike Krahn said. “When we looked at the schedule, when it came out at the beginning of the year and we only had three home games we just kind of just said to ourselves we got to get in the playoffs and get some more home games.”
The Vikings used a pair of long touchdown catches by Austin Bauer on quick slants in the second half to pull away from the defending state champs and realize a goal they been picturing since training in the weight room this summer.
After a pair of Viking fumbles kept the game close in the first half, Viking quarterback Chico Stipe hit Bauer in stride in the middle of the field on a second-and-8 from Drummond’s 38-yard line with a little more than a minute to play in the third quarter. Bauer made one little move to make his defender miss and was off to the races to give the Vikings a 22-6 lead.
The two used the same play to close out the game. With time running out and the Vikings facing a third-and-10 at the Trojans’ 35-yard line, instead of playing it safe, Viking offensive coordinator Jim Petersen dialed up the pass play and Bauer went untouched into the end zone to give the Vikings a 38-14 lead with less than two minutes to play in the game.
“It’s huge. It’s the biggest win ever. It’s definitely huge,” said Bauer, who finished with 77 yards on three receptions. “It was smashmouth football. It was tough on both sides...We came out and played hard and they did too, but we came out on top.”
Both teams did have to fight for every yard, but the Vikings never blinked and never backed down against the Class C powerhouse.
“They didn’t give it to us, we took it. A big game for them is nothing. Their kids have all played in them and we knew we didn’t mean a lot to them. Not that they took us lightly, but this is their turf, they’ve been here, they expect to be here,” Krahn said. “You know we really had it in our minds that we were going to come out and start fast and keep it going until the fourth quarter.”
The Vikings did get off to a fast start thanks to one of their unsung heroes. After a holding call stalled the Vikes’ second possession and they had to punt, Trojan Darius Pool fumbled the punt at his own 5-yard line and Viking deep snapper Joel Lewis was there to pounce on the ball. Viking sophomore Tra Ludeman took it in the end zone two plays later and scored the two-point conversion on the exact same play to give the Vikings a 8-0 lead with 3:18 left in opening quarter.
Lewis, a senior lineman, stopped Drummond’s next drive with a sack and was one of the “Hogs” that created the creases for the Viking backs to rush for 316 yards.
Though the Trojans have one five of the last seven state championships, Lewis said he didn’t give much thought to Drummond’s dynasty.
“To be honest it was just step eight, but it’s nice to beat Drummond. It sends a message to the rest of the state to go undefeated,” said Lewis, adding that now the 8-0 Vikings only have four more goals to cross off of their preseason list of 12.
After Lewis’ sack ended the Trojans’ drive, the Vikings gave the ball right back to them when Stipe and Ludeman failed to connect on a lateral at the Vikings’ 19. The Trojans took advantage of the short field and made it 8-6 less than 30 seconds into the second quarter.
Another fumble killed the Vikings’ next drive at the Trojans’ 8-yard line. Krahn said his team never got rattled and didn’t let the turnovers get them down.
The Vikings responded by driving 65 yards in 10 plays and scoring on a 6-yard end-of-round by Stipe to give the Vikings a 14-6 lead with 1:29 left in the half. The Vikings got the ball back and were just a shoestring tackle away from taking a two-touchdown lead into the second half.
After Bauer’s first touchdown, the Trojans’ narrowed the lead to 22-14 at 8:32 in the fourth quarter on their only sustained scoring drive of the game. Bauer gave the Vikings a short field on their next drive by returning the kickoff to their 38-yard line. The Vikings capitalized with Stipe scoring on a 10-yard run to give the Vikings a 30-14 lead with only 5:36 remaining.
On a night where yards were hard fought for, Stipe’s athletic ability was on display. Even with the Trojan’s keying on him, the senior finished with 210 yards on 28 carries, averaging 7.5 yards a carry. He also threw for 106 yards with two TDs and no interception on 10 for 18 passes.
But it wasn’t a one-man show. Ludeman rushed for 65 yards on 10 carries and Andrews rushed for 41 yards on eight carries.
The Vikings defense would bend, but it wouldn’t break in the second half. They ended a 13-play Drummond drive to start the second half by forcing them to turn it over on downs and Ludeman ended another Drummond drive by intercepting the ball at the Vikings’ 12-yard line.
“They had to earn it,” Krahn said of the Trojans’ offense. “The defense was stingy, they made them eat up some clock and work for everything and in a game like this that’s all you can ask for.”
Summary
Charlo 38, Drummond 14
Charlo86816–38
Drummond06816–14
C - Tra Ludeman 2 run (Ludeman run)
D - Mac Bignell 3 run (pass failed)
C - Chico Stipe 2 run (run failed)
C - Austin Bauer 35 pass from Stipe (Ludeman run)
D - Bignell 2 run (Bryan Mannix run)
C - Stipe 10 run (Bauer pass from Stipe)
C - Bauer 35 pass from Stipe (Bauer pass from Stipe)
