Vikings clip Horsemen, 54-14

The Bigfork Vikings accumulated 482 yards of total offense and never punted in rolling to a 54-14 victory over Plains on Friday.

The Vikings, 6-0, are preparing for a big game with 5-2 Eureka, which will likely decide the district championship.

“We didn’t get off to a great start,” BHS coach Todd Emslie said. “They’ve got a couple decent linemen and a good back. He (James Rulison) took it to the house on a counter.”

He was referring to runningback James Rulison, who ripped off a 79-yard touchdown run shortly after the Vikings scored on a one-yard TD run by Boyd Rieke.

In a sign of a continuing problem, the Vikes missed their PAT kick attempt. The Horsemen converted for two points on a pass from Ryan Ovitt to Trent Bruoillette to take an 8-6 lead.

The lead would be shortlived, however, as Bigfork came back to score on a 23-yard pass from Josh Sandry to tight end Cameron Nissen. The PAT kick failed once again, but Bigfork had the lead for good, 12-8.

The Vikes scored four more times before halftime to take a commanding 40-8 lead. Vinny Quirk scored on a 2-yard run, and Rieke followed that with two 2-yard scoring runs before he caught a 17-yard TD pass from Sandry. The Vikes went for two on all four of those scores, converting twice on Sandry’s passes to Quirk and Nissen. Two runs failed.

Quirk and Christian Ruiz added scoring runs of seven and three yards in the second half. Sandry’s PAT kicks were good.

Plains finally scored again on four-yard pass from Ovitt to Alec Cole. The conversion run failed.

All told, Bigfork racked up 269 yards rushing, led by Rieke’s 140 yards on 16 attempts. Quirk added 63 yards on nine totes.

Sandry completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 213 yards. Nissen had four catches for 94 yards.

Defensively, the Vikings were led by Quirk’s 6.5 tackles. Tyler Iverson had six tackles and 1.5 sacks, while Aaron Luna contributed with 4.5 tackles.

Plains totaled 217 yards on the ground on 35 attempts. However, the Horsemen completed only three of 16 pass attempts and threw two interceptions, picks by Jonathan Landen and Isaac Martel.

Emslie said he continues to be impressed with Sandry and his growth at quarterback.

“Aside from that one run the defense played solid,” he said.

The kicking game is a different story, however. “I’m ready to line up and got for two,” Emslie joked. “We’ve got to be able to kick a field goal if we need it.” Sandry’s range extends to at least 40 yards, but “it’s not a successful unit. It’s one of our weaknesses,” he said, referring to snaps and blocking.

Eureka on Friday

Looking ahead, Emslie said Friday should be a great game.

The Lions are well-balanced offensively and have a young, big offensive line. They run a spread offense with some pistol formations that feature shotgun snaps. Quarterback Austin Perez can throw, Emslie said, and they have two decent runningbacks: Cole Jankovsky and Trent Vaughn.

Bigfork was ranked third in the state last week. Eureka nipped Troy 24-23.