Vikings defeat Plains

The Vikings football team showed just how far they have come from last season as they annihilated Plains-Hot Springs 42-7 Friday night in Hot Springs in the team's first conference game of the season.

"We just jumped all over them and they never really had a chance," said Todd Emslie, Bigfork High School head football coach.

Last year when these two District 7B teams met Bigfork earned its first football victory in 28 games over the span of four seasons with a 35-29 win in overtime.

On Friday, though, it was all Bigfork.

Senior Travis Knoll racked up 166 yards rushing on 12 carries. Senior quarterback Christian Ker threw for 100 yards. The Vikings combined to tally 221 rushing yards.

For the second week in a row, a running clock was used starting in the second quarter due to Bigfork having a 35-point advantage.

To have it two weeks in a row in the second quarter is pretty dominating," Emslie said. "Our guys had huge stats, but if we ever had a complete game it would be interesting to see how we would do."

Bigfork junior Cody Dopps put Bigfork on the board first with a touchdown in the minute and a half of play following a fumble recovery. Rookie kicker Dillon Charlebois, a junior, got the extra point. In fact, Charlebois had his first perfect game from the loneliest place in football as he went six-for-six for the Vikings' extra points.

Knoll picked up his first touchdown of the game off a 7-yard run. Junior Connor Coleman took his turn next and caught 30-yard pass from Ker that he took into the end zone. Ker connected with junior Ian Lorang on a 6-yard pass for the team's fourth consecutive touchdown at the start of the second quarter.

Knoll was responsible for the next two touchdowns, the first of which was on a 60-yard run that put the score at 35-0 in the second quarter and sent into play a running clock for the remainder of the game. Knoll also scored the team's final touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run in the third quarter.

Emslie credits his offensive line for the team's ability to find the end zone six times in three quarters of fast-paced, running-clock play.

"It was another dominating performance by the offensive line," he said. "They were making some holes big enough that I could have fit through there. I can't say enough about them. Really the more confidence they get, and if we can hold onto the football, we are going to be tough to beat."

Not only is the Viking offense making a statement on the field this season, areas where the team was weak last year and at the start of the season are improving as well.

"Our tackling is looking better. Every week we're looking better," Emslie said. "We won in turnovers again this week too. We only had one."

The Horsemen, which had nine seniors on the roster, finally got on the board in the fourth quarter with a touchdown by Trevor Bras following a 2-yard pass from Carson Lilja.

"Our defense looked very good again. That's two weeks in a row now," Emslie said.

Dopps led the defensive effort in tackles with four and he assisted with four others.

Coleman had two and four assists, sophomore Colter Trent assisted with five tackles and had one solo and senior Kenji Sagami had three tackles and one assist.

In addition to nearly holding the Horsemen scoreless, the Bigfork defense was also able to cause two fumbles

The Vikes had solid performances from their usual standout players, but the team is also developing its depth as other players are rising to the occasion and go-to-guys are shinning in new ways.

"Colson McCoard made the most of every play he was in," Emslie said. "He made some crushing blocks for Travis Knoll offensively, and he made some great, great plays on defense. He got an interception and he was in there on special teams and did some good things for us. I was really impressed. Connor Coleman had a great game, especially on defense — The side of the ball that you don't get a lot of stats on. He got to the quarterback a lot of times. That's huge. When you can get to the quarterback and get him to start thinking about the defense rather than what he is doing on the offense, then you're winning. Cody Dopps had a nice game. He did well on offense, but also on special teams."

Plains-Hot Springs had an earlier opportunity to keep from being shut out, but missed a 33-yard field goal attempt with five minutes left in the first quarter.

At 7 p.m. tomorrow, Sept. 24, the Vikings host 7B rivals Eureka (Lincoln County High School).

Last year, the Lions, Horsemen and Vikes finished the season in a three-way tie for first place.

With just two playoff spots given to District 7B, Bigfork was deemed the team to not advance based on the conference's tiebreaker rule that states whichever team lost by the most points to the other two teams doesn't move on.

The Vikings fell 62-26 to Eureka in their second conference game of the season last year.

"Eureka is going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait for Friday," Emslie said. "We have a lot of work to do this week. They are 2-1 (overall) just like we are. The only way we can judge Eureka is that they are 2-1 right now. Also they played Loyola and we played Loyola. They lost 28-0 and we lost 61-34."

Read about how the Vikes did against the Lions online at www.bigforkeagle.com.

Junior Varsity

The junior varsity Vikings football team snagged a 20-14 win in overtime Monday night in a home game with Plains-Hot Springs.

Bigfork was first to get on the scoreboard and held a 6-0 lead until midway through the third quarter when Plains scored a touchdown and had a successful two-point conversion to take the lead.

Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter — first was Bigfork, which followed it with a two-point conversion play that made it into the end zone, and then Plains, which was unsuccessful in its extra-point attempt.

However, with less than five seconds left on the clock, Plains intercepted a long Bigfork pass and took the ball back down the field toward its end zone. Bigfork sophomore Chris Landon sped down the field and, with one quick swoop, tackled the opponent to the ground as regulation time ran out.

High school football overtime rules give each team an equal opportunity for possession of the ball. Each team swaps turns until one team scores and gets a stop.

Plains had the first possession and was unsuccessful.

When it was Bigfork's turn, the Vikings moved the ball down the field in two short plays before sophomore Austin Jordt caught the game-winning pass in the end zone.

"They played tough," said Ken Sharr, Bigfork's junior varsity football coach. "They bent a bit on defense, but they didn't break. Offensively we were able to sustain a few drives."

Sharr said that the young Vikes' ability to keep drives going was one of their greatest improvements from their game last week.

Also, the boys are getting more comfortable in their positions, as are the coaches.

"Us coaches are getting better at knowing where our strengths are and at utilizing our players in the best ways."

Next Monday the JV Vikes will play Lincoln County's JV team in Eureka.