Vikes battle but fall to Loyola

The Vikings' voyage to take on Missoula Loyola started better than most expected, but in the end, the fatigued and injured Bigfork football team let up in the fourth quarter and was sent home with a 61-34 defeat.

"It was one of those games where the final score doesn't really tell the whole story of the game," said Todd Emslie, Bigfork's head football coach.

Bigfork was first to score Friday night in Missoula on a 24-yard run by senior Travis Knoll. By the end of the first quarter, Knoll had picked up another touchdown, this time with a 52-yard run. Junior newcomer Dillon Charlebois kicked both extra-points.

However, with each Bigfork touchdown Loyola answered with one of its own. The Rams missed one extra-point, though, and trailed 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Knoll kept the lead for Bigfork with his third touchdown of the night — a 72-yard run into the end zone. Loyola fired back with a 41-yard pass play for a touchdown. It was the second time that night Hughes, a sophomore brought in to replace senior Thomas Mitzel who was struggling at quarterback, had made a pass that earned his team six points. He was also responsible for his team's first touchdown of the night, a 19-yard catch by Maelan Arciello.

Then it was time for the Vikes to show what they could do with their passing game. Senior quarterback Christian Ker hit junior Ian Lorang with a 17-yard pass for the team's fourth touchdown of the night, against the team it lost 49-9 to last year.

"Our line did a great job," Emslie said of his team's success. "Ian Lorang had a good game."

Loyola wasn't going to give up, though. Hughes got Janssen a 51-yard pass for the Rams' fourth touchdown of the night and the teams finished the first half tied at 28 apiece.

Continuing with gusto, the Vikes were again the first team to score in the new quarter. Junior Cody Dopps ran in a 23-yard play. Charlebois missed the extra point and the Vikes' score stood at 34 and never moved again.

Meanwhile, Loyola tied the game up by the end of the third with a run for a touchdown and a missed extra point attempt of its own.

"The wheels just came off in the fourth quarter," Emslie said. "We had a lot of guys that were banged up by the end of the game."

It was then that Bigfork showed its lack of experience, as many of those players who are typically leaned on in clutch situations struggled with injuries, including Knoll who was sitting out with severe cramping.

"He struggled with that last year and I don't know what we can do about it," Emslie said of Knoll.

The Rams took the ball to the end zone four times in the final frame. First with a 30-yard pass play from Hughes to Janssen. Then Shiloh Kerr ran it in three times for a touchdowns of 1, 26 and 4 yards.

"First of all, they are a great football team and a tough opponent," Emslie said of the Rams. "Also, we were at a point where we were getting banged up pretty bad and we needed someone to step up and it just didn't happen."

A handful of players made contributions in the final period attempting to fill in where there were voids, but overall the momentum had stopped. Dopps was able to run the ball for a total of 83-yards in the second half, but struggled with keeping control of the ball.

"There was a lot that we can build on," Emslie said. "It was a non-conference game and we had a lot of young kids on the field that got some good varsity experience. I think they did well. We played three quarters of really good football. I keep saying it over and over, but Loyola is good."

The Vikings host their first home game of the season tomorrow, Sept. 10, when Conrad comes to visit, which has been the focus of Emslie's practices this week.

"We just have to turn around and get ready for Conrad," Emslie said. "We're going to do a lot of tackling. We have to tackle better. We missed a lot of tackles. That's kind of a theme from last year. We're going to work hard this week and we're going to get into shape. We were pretty tired out there in Missoula."

Friday's game time has been changed from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

RESULTS

Bigfork 14 14 6 0 34

Loyola 13 15 6 27 61

Scoring plays

Bigfork: Knoll 24-yard rush.

Loyola: Arciello 19-yard pass from Hughes.

Bigfork: Knoll 52-yard rush.

Loyola: Hughes 34-yard rush.

Bigfork: Knoll 72-yard rush.

Loyola: Haller 41-yard pass from Hughes.

Bigfork: Lorang 17-yard pass from Ker.

Loyola: Janssen 51-yard pass from Hughes.

Bigfork: Dopps 23-yard rush.

Loyola: Kerr 18-yard rush.

Loyola: Janssen 30-yard pass from Hughes.

Loyola: Kerr 1-yard rush.

Loyola: Kerr 26-yard rush.

Loyola: Kerr 4-yard rush.