Vikings ground Blue Hawks, Volleyball winning streak continues

FOOTBALL

The Vikings football squad dominated from the opening play in Thompson Falls Friday, pinning the Blue Hawks in their own end zone for a safety to begin a 65-6 rout.

Manny Baldi’s take down of Blue Hawks runner Elijah Ratliff in the Thompson Falls end zone put the first two points on the scoreboard for the Vikings, who added 28 more in the quarter to take a 30-6 lead after 12 minutes of play.

The Vikings added 14 more points in the second quarter to grab a 44-6 halftime lead before cruising to the win with a running clock in the second half.

“I’m proud of the kids and we played well,” head coach Jim Benn said about the win. “Tristen (Herd) was about as efficient as can be throwing the ball and the offense line is really coming together. The running backs also ran the ball well for us.”

Bigfork needed just 33 plays to amass 386 yards of total offense in the win while the Vikings defense held the Blue Hawks to just 196 yards in the contest.

The Vikings picked up 271 yards on the ground, led by Nick Walker’s 102 on six carries while Joseph Farrier finished with 92, Wyatt Johnson had 46 and Jackson Nelson ran for 24.

Walker picked up the majority of his yards on an 84-yard scoring run in the third quarter, the largest single-play gain by either team.

Farrier and Johnson each ran for two touchdowns while Walker and Nelson each had one

Quarterback Tristen Herd finished 4-5 passing for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also putting through all nine extra points for the Vikings.

Wyatt Johnson also threw a touchdown for the Vikings, turning a botched field goal attempt into a 5-yard scoring pass to Nick Walker in the fourth quarter.

Farrier’s one catch in the game was on a 67-yard scoring play while Elijah Thorness caught two passes for 12 yards and a touchdown. Isak Epperly had one reception for 18 yards.

Tyler Wickwire led the defensive effort for the Vikings with 5.5 tackles (four solo) while Baldi finished with five, including 2.5 tackles for a loss.

With the win, the top-ranked Vikings improve to 4-0 this season.

The Vikings will be on the road again Friday as they travel to Anaconda to face the 1-4 Copperheads.

VOLLEYBALL

The Valkyries pushed their regular-season winning streak to eight matches this season and 11 overall with sweeps of Troy and Eureka last week.

Bigfork has won 24 consecutive sets this season.

The Valkyries held Troy to single digits in all three sets in Bigfork Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Trojans 25-5, 25-9 and 25-6.

Zoey Albert led the Bigfork Attack with eight kills while Inga Turner added five, Ellie Jordt had three and Ava Davey and Piper Lee each had two.

Piper Linson led the team in assists with 11 while Jessa Newton added six and Tessa Troyer led in digs with four.

Newton led the Valkyries’ deadly serving attack with nine aces while Turner added eight and Davey finished with six.

Bigfork survived a close first set against Eureka Thursday before blowing out the Lady Lions in the final two sets to grab a 25-21, 25-9 and 25-6 victory.

Albert’s 12 kills led the way for Bigfork while Turner added eight.

Newton finished with 12 assists to lead the Valkyries while Linson added nine.

Troyer finished with 13 digs while Davey and Albert each added nine.

Albert served five aces in the win while Turner and Jordt added four each.

Turner finished with 2.5 blocks in the win while Lee had one and Davey assisted on another.

The Valkyries will travel to Thompson Falls Saturday and will be at Troy Oct. 5.

SOCCER

The Vikings and Valkyries both split their matches this week as both squads fell on the road at Whitefish Thursday before bouncing back with wins over Libby at home Saturday.

The Valkyries were tied with the Lady Bulldogs with five minutes remaining Thursday, but Whitefish scored twice in the closing minutes to pull away for the win.

Brynn Bagley scored Bigfork’s lone goal in the loss.

The Valkyries bounced back with an 8-0 thrashing of Libby at home Saturday as Ione Plummer recorded a hat trick with three goals, Piper Buzzell added two more and Paeten Gunlock, Braeden Gunlock and Bagley each added one.

The Vikings fought hard but fell 4-2 at Whitefish Thursday with goals from Levi Peterson and Jeremiah Pilskains.

The Vikings trailed Libby 3-2 at the half Saturday but rallied with three goals in the second half to earn a 5-3 victory.

Peterson and Pilskains each scored twice in the win while Landon Byerman added the other goal for the Vikings.

Both teams host Polson Thursday, travel to Columbia Falls Saturday and host Whitefish Oct. 5.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Vikings had the top Class B finish at the Thompson Falls Invitational last week, coming in fourth behind Class A Whitefish, Browning and Columbia Falls.

Jack Jensen had the fastest time for the Vikings, coming in seventh with a time of 17:53.15.

Bo Modderman was 17th, Sean Cotman was 20th, Ty Anderson was 35th, Noah Hamilton-Dixon was 44th, Colton Ballard was 55th and North Nollan was 74th.

Three runners were in action for the Valkyries as Tabitha Raymond was the second-fastest Class B runner, coming in 14th overall with a time of 23:17.65 while Erika Dowling was 22nd and Madeline Pomeroy was 82nd.