dominating win over Wakefield the week before, we came into the Stanton game with high confidence in our abilities to win several games this season.
Stanton caught us off guard on the opening kickoff and recovered an on side kick. Stanton started a drive and,
after a Lincoln Thorell interception, we took over around the 30 yard line.
After a few pounding running plays, Mac Carlson found Kayton Anderson for a 15-yard scoring strike. The extra point from Carlson to Thorell was good and we were up 8-0. Stanton scored on their next drive, but failed to convert the point after attempt to leave us ahead 8-6 after the first quarter. The second quarter, we started to pound the ball down the field, but an unfortunate fumble recovered by
Stanton stalled the drive. We then held on defense to force a Stanton punt.
Powerful running was used on our next drive, ending with Kaleb Gardner powering the ball into the end zone from 3 yards out. The extra point toss from Carlson to Thorell was good to put us up 16-6. Once again our defense held strong to force another Stanton punt and we took over on offense at the 32 yard line. A couple big passes from Carlson to Anderson and Matthew Schindler
and a reverse to Gavin Nipp quickly put us near the red zone.
A few short plays then set up a
Carlson to Gardner 14-yard scoring strike. The extra point was no good, ending the first half with the Vikings leading 22-6. The third quarter found both teams struggling to find the end zone and
neither team would put points on the board. The fourth quarter saw Stanton start with some fire as they found the end zone on a long throw. The extra point was good and the score was then 22-14 Vikings leading.
After a great kickoff return by Schindler down to the 21 yard line we ended up turning the ball over on downs. Our defense held strong to get the ball back after stopping them on
fourth down. The offense took over at their 16 yard line.
A few short plays later, after a tough run by Schindler to put us at the 1 yard line, Carlson finished the drive, pushing the pile over the goal
line for the score. Another success- ful Carlson to Thorell pass made the score 30-14 Vikings.
A deep kickoff into the end zone by
Nipp set up a long field for Stanton's offense. A couple plays later Thorell
came up with his second interception of the game to seal the victory.
I was very pleased with how the guys played. They knew this was a big game with Stanton not wanting to start the year 0-2 and being state runner-ups last year, we knew they would not just give up.
Our guys handled the hype and the pressure of knowing most people con - sidered us the underdog, but we never thought that of ourselves in this game.
We knew we could compete with and even win against them, and how we have been practicing and working this year we were prepared to stand our ground and fight till the end.
We will get back to practice this week to prepare for Homer. This was a huge win for us but we wont get over confident. We will just get back to work to clean up a few things to make ourselves better.
