For days leading up to Saturday’s game in Darrington, the forecast promised wind and rain in the foothills of the Cascades. The Orcas Vikings football team prepared for the worst.
As it turned out, it was the Vikings that was the storm rolling into the Logger’s home field.
Despite the forecast, the sun was shining brightly at kickoff over the snow capped peaks that surround Darrington.
The Loggers came out fired up to open the game, and the favored Vikings were leading by only 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Wingback Robbie Padbury scored from three yards out to provide the Vikings lead.
Orcas opened the game up in the second quarter with scores by Michael Langworthy on a 17-yard run and Aubrey Schermerhorn’s 2-yard dive for a 21-0 lead at the half.
Intensity and focus was the message that Coach Scott Harris delivered to the Vikings at halftime.
“In games like this it is important to play our game and learn,” he said. “It is about being disciplined and we are improving at that.”
The Vikings flexed their muscle in the third quarter as Jacob Hansen, Robbie Padbury and Eli Jones delivered touchdowns to effectively salt the win away. The Vikings led 42-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Josh Lawson contributed a touchdown on an 11-yard run to cap the scoring in the final period as the Vikings finished off the Loggers 48-0.
“Dan Briggs and Randall Boetger are guys that don’t get mentioned much but they really stepped up,” Harris said. “Randall led the team with 14 tackles and Dan did a very good job in his first full game as quarterback. Other statistical highlights included Rylan Date’s interception, Mike Langworthy’s 112 yards rushing while Padbury added 85 rushing yards. Devon Stanzione had eight tackles while Keenan Phalan added seven.”
The promised weather front arrived as the game ended. Viking fans and players scrambled to the parking lot for the long but satisfying journey back to the island.
The win sets up a highly anticipated clash between the 7-1 Concrete Lions (5-0 in league) and the Orcas Vikings who also bring a 7-1 record (4-1 in league) on Friday, Oct. 29 at Concrete.
“The last two games are playoff caliber games for us,” Harris said. “We have an opportunity to win the league title. We’re going to work hard this week to get ready for a very good Concrete team. It is another in a long line of traditional battles with Concrete. Their only loss was to a very good class 2A school early in the season. They are on a roll. We are really looking forward to a lot of fan support in Concrete Friday.”
