Vikes dominate Conrad

The final score of Friday night's football game in Bigfork was 48-6, and, yes, the Vikings won the contest over the Conrad Cowboys.

It is also true that the Bigfork boys' performance forced a running clock to be used, in accordance with the mercy rule, starting in the second quarter. All this took place while playing a team that beat Bigfork 44-28 last year in a game that also took place during the second week of play.

For some, it may be hard to imagine that the Bigfork football team has come this far, but for the 53 boys and their coaches who manned the sidelines at the start of the team's first home game Friday, this is the result of a lot of hard work and dedication. The payoff was obvious, though, in more than just a nice final score.

"You guys looked like you had fun out there tonight," said Bigfork head coach Todd Emslie, to his team huddled around him on the field after the game. "Let's keep that going."

The fun is definitely a good reward for the boys, many of whom spent years struggling to find enjoyment in the sport as they gained a reputation as the perennial underdogs. Now though, the goals are ones that no one would have imagined three or four years ago would have ever have been set, or even achieved.

"Do you guys see where you are headed?" Emslie asked his team later in the huddle.

They answered without hesitation, "To state."

"You took a big step in getting there tonight," Emslie told them. "You played four quarters of good football tonight."

Emslie's words were not only encouraging, but they were true.

The Vikings' route began with a touchdown by senior running back Travis Knoll, who took the ball in on a 45-yard run. Junior Dillon Charlebois attempted the extra point, but missed.

Conrad (0-2) answered quickly with a touchdown by Ben Moerkerke off a 21-yard pass from Joe Ries. The kick for the extra point was no good, and the game was tied at six apiece. The Cowboys would not score again, though.

The Vikings, on the other hand, were just getting warmed up. Knoll took a 77-yard kickoff return into the end zone. Charlebois' extra point kick sailed safely through the posts.

"Dillon missed the first one and then he got into a rhythm and made the rest (five)," Emslie said. "He has some varsity experience under his belt now and it shows. Last week in Loyola he looked pretty nervous out there, but he's definitely past that now. Not only was he nailing his extra points, but his kick offs were solid too. To the crowd it may not have looked like he was getting them out there very far, but he was putting them directionally right where we wanted him to."

Charlebois had eight kickoffs that totaled 302 yards, with the long being a 60-yard boot.

Knoll, whose speed made him virtually unstoppable to Conrad's defense, took in his third touchdown of the night on a 6-yard run. Charlebois' kick was good for an additional point.

"Travis is just a special football player," Emslie said. "The thing is, I think he's just now starting to see what his potential really is."

Next on the board for the Vikes was junior Connor Coleman, who caught a 10-yard pass from senior quarterback Christian Ker. The duo of Coleman and Ker had the following touchdown as well. This time off a 33-yard pass.

With 34 points on Bigforks' side of the scoreboard and just six points on the Cowboys', the first quarter ended.

"Our offensive line and defensive line pretty much dominated the football game," Emslie said.

Midway through the second quarter Ker pushed his way into the end zone with the ball and, with Charlebois' extra-point kick, took the Vikes' lead to 35 points and the game into a running clock scenario.

"Christian Ker handled the game really well," Emslie said. "He was only four-of-six for 61 yards with two touchdowns, but he controlled the game very well for us. He had great leadership out there."

Time slipped away quickly and no additional points were scored before the end of the second quarter.

In the locker room at halftime, Emslie and his staff stressed the importance of keeping the level of play up and not allowing a repeat of the previous week's game against Missoula Loyola (2-0), in which Bigfork allowed a 34-point tie game at the end of the third quarter to turn into a 61-34 loss.

"We're better than giving up 61 points like we did in Loyola," Emslie said. "We know that. I don't think Loyola knows that and the rest of the state doesn't know that. I'm fine with that though. We're right where we want to be right now."

Knoll, who tallied a total of 122 yards rushing during the game, got in one last touchdown in the third quarter off of a 36-yard run. The Vikes were unable to score again, but they kept their defense strong as the Cowboys attempted to pick up the speed and aggressiveness to compensate for the non-stop game clock.

"Our tackling was better this game," Emslie said of an area which has been hurting the Vikes for the past few seasons. "It started to get contagious out there. We started having fun with it and just went with it."

Junior Cody Dopps was the team's leading tackler with five take-downs of his own and two assists. Coleman was credited with three-and-a-half and one assist and sophomore Blake Weimer had three and two assists.

In addition to his defensive effort, Dopps was Bigfork's second biggest contributor in rushing yards, next to Knoll, with 50 yards including a long of 31. Coleman led in receiving with 43 yards in two catches, including a grab from 33-yards out.

The defense not only tackled better, but they also capitalized on the Conrad's offensive mistakes on multiple occasions, including a 21-yard fumble recovery by senior James Vale.

Bigfork's offense shined at taking care of the ball as well, again an area in which the team was not known for excelling in during past seasons.

However, on Friday the team had zero turnovers.

"We played about as good as we can play," Emslie said. "It was just a great game."

The teams split possession time nearly evenly, in fact Conrad had the ball one minute longer than Bigfork. However, it was apparent which team used their minutes the best.

As a team the Vikes had 204 rushing yards and held Conrad to just 24.

Bigfork tallied a total of 265 yards of total offense to Conrad's 119. The Vikes forced and recovered two fumbles on the Cowboys, while never fumbling themselves.

Up next for the Vikings is a trip to play against Plains — a team that will undoubtedly be out for some revenge of its own after Bigfork earned its first win in more than three seasons against them last year with a 35-29 overtime victory.

"From what we've seen, it looks like they're running a similar offense to last year, but they do have a new coach," Emslie said. "We just need to continue from where we left off last Friday and keep working hard."

The game, which has a 7 p.m. kickoff tomorrow, Sept. 17, will be the first league game of the season for Bigfork (1-1 overall).

RESULTS

Conrad 6 0 0 0 – 6

Bigfork 34 7 7 0 – 48

B – Travis Knoll 45 run (kick failed)

C – Ben Moerkerke 21 pass from Joe Ries (kick failed)

B – Knoll 77 kickoff return (Dillon Charlebois kick)

B – Knoll 6 run (Charlebois kick)

B – Connor Coleman 10 pass from Christian Ker (Charlebois kick)

B – Coleman 33 pass from Ker (Charlebois kick)

B – Ker 1 run (Charlebois kick)

B – Knoll 36 run (Charlebois kick)