Vikings knocked out of playoffs in blowout

For those that were there it was an unimaginable scenario, and for those that were not it was somewhat incomprehensible, but regardless the reality of the situation is that the Vikings lost out of the 2011 playoffs with a 42-0 loss at the hands of Malta on Saturday.

The Vikings, who hosted the quarterfinal game, were riding a home win-streak of 15 consecutive games. They’re only two losses the past two seasons were in their home-openers on the road in nonconference games. And, they were the defending Class B State Football Champions. But none of that could earn them a win on Saturday, or even a single point.

“We were playing a pretty good team,” said Bigfork head football coach Todd Emslie. “You have to give Malta credit.”

Things looked hopeful for Bigfork in the beginning. Despite Malta’s clear size advantage, the Vikings were able to shut down the Mustangs adamantly during the first few possessions. However, the Vikings weren’t making any offensive headway either.

Malta finally broke the scoreless game up with a touchdown by Jade Olson. A 31-yard run into the end zone and a successful extra-point kick by Dalton Brookie put Malta up 7-0 with 5:31 left in the first quarter.

Bigfork’s scoring machine, senior running back Cody Dopps, tried to answer back more than a few times, but Malta’s defense keyed in on him and took him down time after time.

“I feel like I could’ve helped the team a lot more than I did,” Dopps said. “I feel like I hurt them more than helped them.”

In part, Dopps is referring to the two fumbles he had. Additionally, Dopps, who averaged 146.5 yards rushing this season garnered just 82 yards with 21 carries this game. He caught three passes for a total of just five yards. Even that was a far cry from his season average of 28.1.

Olson made it into the end zone for Malta for his second time of the afternoon with 10:26 left in the first half.

He put in his third touchdown of the game with 3:27 remaining before halftime. They were off of a 3-yard run and a 1-yard run, respectively. Brookie’s extra-point attempts were both good and the Mustangs held a 21-0 lead.

At that point, the Vikings found some momentum and worked their way toward the end zone. They nearly got on the board, but lost a fumble on the Malta 2-yard line with 20 seconds left.

“We felt like we had a real good chance to punch one in right before the half,” Emslie said. “To go into the half 21-7 and then get the ball back would’ve been a pretty good deal for us, or at least best case scenario at that point.”

Just one week earlier the Vikings went into halftime down 20-0 and came away with a win. The question circling the Bigfork stadium was, “Would they do it again?”

The Vikings gave some effort in that direction at first, but a fourth Malta touchdown midway through the third quarter took what wind was left out of their sails. This time Olson had run it in from 13 yards out with 8:10 left in the third quarter. Brookie’s who didn’t miss a single extra-point kick all day, made it a 28-0 game.

“I think that once we got down a few touchdowns we just lost hope and everyone gave up,” said senior Connor Coleman. “I think the fact that they are an undefeated team, and how well they have been doing all year, was kind of implanted into all of the kids’ heads.”

Coleman was Bigfork’s leading receiver Saturday with three catches for a total of 30 yards.

As hope among the Vikings dwindled Olson added his fifth and final touchdown to his team’s score off a 3-yard run.

“They were big and they didn’t make mistakes,” Coleman said of his opponents on Saturday. “I think that most of the mistakes we made we caused ourselves, but they caused a lot too.”

In addition to Dopps’ two fumbles, senior Colter Mahlum and junior Austin Jordt each threw an interception while taking turns serving as the Vikings’ quarterback.

“Four turnovers is a lot for us in a game,” Emslie said. “And four turnovers in a game against a team like Malta is pretty insurmountable.”

The Mustangs took in one final touchdown in the fourth quarter. Logan Messerly ran one in for his team from 16 yards out.

Malta, which is now 10-0, finished the game with 337 yards of total offense. Bigfork, which finishes the season 8-2, tallied just 182 — 113 rushing, 69 passing.

“They were ready to go. We weren’t expecting them to fire off the ball as fast as they did,” Dopps said. “We were ready to go in our minds. We were pumped up and we wanted to play. I just don’t think we were ready for that caliber of team.”

Despite the season-ending loss, Emslie has been reminding his team that they all need to look at the big picture.

“One game doesn’t define a season or a career for any of those boys,” he said. “I’m really proud of the team, especially the seniors. They’ve had great careers. The seniors have won three district titles in a row and I’m hoping the underclassmen learned a lot from the seniors this year.”

One thing that the underclassmen have clearly seen over the past few years is how to go from an underdog to a champion. The players in this year’s senior class went their entire freshman season without a win. Their sophomore year the Vikings broke a 28-game losing streak to go on to be co-district champions. Last year, as juniors that took the District 7B Title outright and won the Class B State Football Championship.

“It was a good season. We kept the program going with the season we had,” Dopps said. “We gave the underclassmen the confidence to keep the winning seasons alive rather than the losing seasons.”

And, even after a tough loss the players on the Vikings football team have a strong bond.

“I would never want to play on any other team,” Coleman said. “If I had to pick a team it would be this one. I grew up with almost all of the kids on the team and I’ve known them since I was little...It feels like we did (have a bad season) right now, but we’ll see the point eventually.”

Their coach fully agrees.

“There’s a lot of teams that would like to finish the season 8-2 and to just be there (in the playoffs),” Emslie said. “It’s disappointing. It’s disappointing for everyone, but you have to put it in perspective.”