Vikings to play for district championship and playoff spot
Friday’s home football game is a big one.
Not only is it senior night, but the Vikings will face off against Thompson Falls for the 7B district championship.
The game will be pivotal for post-season play. If Bigfork continues their winning streak, they’ll clinch their sixth straight district title, end up on the side of the playoff bracket head coach Todd Emslie would like to be on, and secure home field advantage for that first playoff game.
While Bigfork will likely still be in the playoffs if Thompson Falls wins, if the Bluehawks lose, Thompson Falls won’t make the playoffs at all.
The Vikings’ district record is 3-0, while Thompson Falls is 2-1.
“They are a scrappy team,” Emslie said of Thompson Falls. “They do some really nice things on offense and defense and they’ve got some tremendous athletes.”
Since their non-conference opener against Choteau, where they fell 28-21, the Vikings have dominated each game, winning by almost 40 points each time. Though the Vikes again won by a landslide last Friday, shutting out Eureka 47-0, Emslie said Thompson Falls is capable of beating anyone, and the Vikes have some things to work on.
“We need to eliminate some of the mistakes,” he said. “Cut down on turnovers and penalties.”
Last Friday Bigfork had nine penalties to Eureka’s six and three turnovers.
If they can clean those things up though, the outlook is good.
“We’re playing well,” Emslie said. “Josh (Sandry) looked fast against Eureka, hopefully he plays like that on Friday.”
Sandry scored four of Bigfork’s seven touchdowns against Eureka. He had 139 yards rushing, just behind Vinny Quirk, who had 148.
Bigfork started out quick in the game, racking up 20 points in the first quarter and another 20 in the second.
Sandry scored first for Bigfork on a 20 yard run. Quirk ran for 10 yards for the second touchdown and Tyler Piazzola intercepted a Eureka pass for the last Bigfork touchdown of the first quarter.
Sandry was instrumental in scoring Bigfork’s next 20 points. He started off the second quarter throwing a touchdown pass to Isaac Martel. He then ran for 17 yards and 20 yards for two more touchdowns, as well as scoring two of the extra point kicks, ending the half 40-0.
Quirk scored again for the Vikes toward the end of the third quarter for the final score of 47-0.
Total offensive yards: Bigfork 463, Eureka 191
Number of plays: Bigfork 45, Eureka 60
Total passing yards: Bigfork 125, Eureka 124
Yards rushing: Bigfork 338, Eureka 67
Yards receiving: Bigfork 125, Eureka 124
Turnovers: Bigfork 3, Eureka 4
Time of possession: Bigfork 20:12, Eureka 27:48