Vikings’defense punishes Red Devils with shutout
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NOXON — A relentless Vikings defense ganged up to shut out the Red Devils in Noxon Friday night.
Out of Charlo’s 116 tackles in the 26-0 Western C victory 98 were assisted tackles. Safety Chico Stipe led the Vikings with 21 tackles, six of which were solo tackles, and in what Charlo coach Mike Krahn said was his best defensive game, inside linebacker Kolten Andrews finished with 20 tackles, with four of them solo tackles.
“Those two (Stipe and Andrews) might have led the charge, but the other guys were there to make sure the ball carrier went down. Everybody had a hand in the win,” Krahn said.
In a “hard-hitting, hard-nosed game,” Krahn said that the game was a lot closer than the score showed. Noxon had two golden opportunities to make it even closer in the first half, but the Vikings’ defense remained calm and shut them down both times.
In the first quarter, the Red Devils returned a kickoff to the Vikings’ 30-yard line but couldn’t advance the ball any further. In the second quarter with the Vikings leading 14-0, the Red Devils recovered a fumble at the 20-yard line but turned it over on downs four plays later.
“Our defense got tested a little bit, but they rose to the occasion,” Krahn said.
Krahn likes to use the word poise and wants his defense to remain even-keeled and calm, even after giving up a big play. He said the biggest play is the one that’s happening.
“We’re there for four quarters. They stay in it for the long haul. The kids really take the message to heart...They regroup and play the next play. They don’t get rattled,” Krahn said.
Stipe and Austin Bauer each had an interception, with Stipe returning his 70 yards to make it 26-0 in the third quarter. The Vikings also forced three fumbles with Chris Hernandez-Kelley recovering two and Joel Lewis recovering one. Stipe, Ben Mittag and Cody Kobilansky each had a sack.
On the offensive side of the ball, Stipe had a hand in all four Viking touchdowns. He opened the scoring by connecting with Andrews for a 6-yard TD and added an 11-yard run to make it 14-0 in the first quarter. Stipe also rumbled for a 7-yard TD in the second quarter to give the Vikings a 20-0 lead going into the break.
Stipe went 12-for-18 for 108 yards in the air and rushed for 124 yards on 11 carries.
“He’s (Stipe) the type of kid that is going to be involved in everything, but he also has a real good supporting cast. If teams put all their effort in trying to stop him, we have Bauer, we have Tra, we have Kolton, that makes it tough to come up with a game plan,” Krahn said. “I’m glad I don’t have to do it.”
Tra Ludeman rushed for 50 yards on six carries and caught five passes for 40 yards. Andrews finished with 49 yards on six carries.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 5-0, with only one of the wins coming at home. They will finally get to play some home games. They host Lincoln this weekend and Philipsburg next weekend.
Summary
Charlo 26, Noxon 0
Charlo 14 6 6 0–26
Noxon 0 0 0 0–0
C - Kolton Andrews 6 pass from Chico Stipe (kick good)
C - Stipe 11 run (kick good)
C - Stipe 7 run (kick failed)
C - Stipe 70 interception return (run failed)
