Vikings get past Missoula Loyola in Senior Night gridiron faceoff

Like in life, sometimes with sports it’s business and sometimes it’s personal.

The Vikings didn’t need a win over District 6B’s Missoula Loyola on Friday to help them in their hunt to defend their District 7B title, but the 21-12 victory they picked up felt pretty good just the same.

“It was a good test,” said Bigfork head football coach Todd Emslie. “Loyola is a very good football team. It was good for us to have a game like that, and that was also a full game for the seniors on senior night.”

Bigfork stepped out with the lead, which the Vikes never surrendered, in the first quarter when senior Dillon Charlebois made a 32-yard field goal to put his team up 3-0. That was the only score of the opening period.

The Vikes added to their score in the second quarter when senior quarterback Colter Mahlum found classmate Ryan Hayes open downfield and hit him with a 42-yard pass.

“Ryan Hayes got his first varsity touchdown on a good pass route and a good throw from Colter Mahlum with good blocking up front,” Emslie said. “It was just a good play all around. That’s what happens when you have 11 players all working together.”

Charlebois missed his extra-point kick.

The missed point did not end up costing the Vikes, though, who continued to show they could score in a multitude of scenarios.

With a 9-0 lead at halftime, the Vikings and their opponents struggled to finish their drives.

“I think both teams left some points out there,” Emslie said. “I think it’s great to come out of a game like that knowing that our kids were able to persevere through it.”

Neither team was earning many first downs, and scoring attempts were replaced with turnovers. Then, Bigfork junior Blake Weimer broke the silence. He intercepted the ball from Loyola and ran it in 26 yards for a touchdown.

“The defense played well,” Emslie said. “We came up with some key turnovers, which really helped, and of course Blake Weimer came up with a pick 6.”

The Rams finally put some points on the board in the fourth quarter with a touchdown on a 2-yard run.

Bigfork refused to take that lying down, though, and senior Cody Dopps used the next possession to take the ball to the end zone from 55 yards out.

Loyola put in one last touchdown with a little more than two minutes left on the clock, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Vikes.

Dopps led his team in rushing with 111 yards on 20 carries. Mahlum was six-of-10 for 88 yards. In addition to Hayes’ touchdown catch, senior Connor Coleman stood out among the team’s receivers with a 43-yard catch.

Overall, Bigfork had 281 yards of total offense, which was 40 yards more than the Rams.

“We had a good offensive game plan against Loyola,” Emslie said. “Coach Jake Hill works hard putting those together week in and week out.”

The Vikes travel to Eureka to take on Lincoln County on Friday for their last game of the regular season. The Lions beat Thompson Falls on Friday 48-0.

 “Next week is going to be a pretty similar game,” Emslie said. “Eureka is a good football team too. It’s going to be a 7B showdown. That game has a lot at stake. Not just the outright district championship, but the right to host the first-round game (which will be against the wild card team that will be from either the West or the North depending on tiebreaker rules).”

With so much riding on Friday’s game, Emslie said the team will have to perform well physically and mentally.

“We’re looking forward to having our seniors be positive leaders this week,” Emslie said.