The Vikings handily put away Inglemoor’s junior varsity team 45-14 on Saturday at Inglemoor.
“Early on, we decided to keep the ball on the ground and out of the air. I think that was a good strategic move for us,” Coach Dennis Dahl said.
The Vikings jumped out to an early lead, capitalizing on the team’s running skills and scoring three touchdowns alone in the first quarter. Tyler Nigretto had a 36 yard run in the first quarter, scoring the Vikings’ first touchdown. Peter Anderson had a five yard run after a march down the field and he carried it into the endzone for the second touchdown of the day.
But while the Vikings were keeping low to the turf, Robbie Padbury, quarterback for the Vikings, did manage to do damage in the air, picking up 122 yards total in passing. At the end of the first quarter Padbury lobbed a 44 yard touchdown pass into Taylor Diepenbrock’s waiting arms.
In the second quarter, Michael Langworthy caught a 17 yard touchdown pass. Nigretto caught a 15 yard TD pass and then ran for 50 yards from a quarterback handoff to score a touchdown.
“We were at a standstill in the third quarter,” Dahl said. “I was playing some younger members and our defense was doing a good job of digging in. We weren’t able to put points on the board.”
But Inglemoor came out determined to score and they managed to get through the Viking defense with a counterplay in the fourth quarter. One of Inglemoor’s running backs got up in the hole and took the ball the distance of the field to score Inglemoor’s second and final touchdown.
The Vikings answered in kind. Nigretto caught a 29 yard pass in the fourth quarter and offensive coverage from Inglemoor floundered, trying to adjust to the Vikings’ changes in plays. Jacob Hansen, fullback, played second string quarterback after Padbury was hurt in the fourth quarter, and he threw a 29 yard touch down to Langworthy, putting a final garnish on a string of touchdowns for the Vikings.
“Inglemoor’s defense was good. They’re a JV team and they’re a younger team, but they are from a triple A school. They’re really good athletes, but they are younger than we are.”
The Vikings had only two penalties for 20 yards. Statistically, Nigretto had 13 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns. The second leading rusher for the Vikings was Langworthy with six carries for 55 yards. The Vikings had a total of 223 yards rushing while Inglemoor earned 163. In the first quarter Diepenbrock made two kicks and missed one on the third touchdown, while Padbury was three out of four for 76 yards and a touchdown.
“We played pretty well; everyone had a chance to play,” Dahl said. “We moved the ball effectively on the ground. I decided to keep the ball out of the air with such a nice lead in the first quarter. We ran the ball for first downs pretty effectively and why risk it?”
The Orcas Vikings play Friday night, Oct. 2 at 4:30 p.m. at Concrete. The Vikings are 2-2 and league games begin this weekend.
