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Sarnia, ON -
For the third time the Northern Vikings will try and
capture the Western Bowl, after a 41-17 victory over
the Assumption College Lions from Brantford Saturday
afternoon at Northern.
Northern
has been to the Bowl twice before and has come up on
the wrong end twice. The last being two years ago in
a 10-0 loss to Mother Theresa. But Saturday's
dominating performance gives the Vikings the
confidence they need heading into a quick turn
around game on Tuesday.
"We said
as a coaching staff, if we are going to win then we
hope we get nobody hurt," said Vikings coach Craig
Davies. "Right now I don't think anybody got hurt.
We got to be ready to go."
Previous
injuries included starting quarterback John
Ravenhorst who says he is 95% healthy and ready for
Tuesday's game in Toronto.
"We had
this game goal all year," said Ravenhorst. "It was
always nice to win cities, but our goal all year was
to make it to the Western Bowl and be the first team
out of Sarnia to win it."
Ravenhorst
opened up the first quarter scoring with a 55 yard
catch and run to Jawon Burns. After the extra point,
and an added point on the kickoff through the
endzone, the Vikings lead 8-0. The Lions would add a
field goal before the end of the quarter, but the
Viking defence stepped up for the stops in the red
zone.
Ravenhorst
continued in the second quarter, spotting Paul Kaija
for a 30 yard pass to get inside the five, where he
would finish it off with a quarterback keeper up the
middle for a 15-3 Viking lead.
On the
Vikings next possession, Tyler Annett would break
out for a 70 yard touchdown run, only for it to be
called back to the 35 with a penalty. The Vikings
would still keep driving, as Curtis Robichaud would
catch a 15 yard pass, bringing the Vikings back
inside the five. But a fumble would put an end to
the drive, and would miss out on adding extra points
before half time.
In the
second half, Robichaud would start with three first
down runs to set up a 25 yard field goal by Alasdair
Coy, as the Vikings lead by fifteen. On the Lions
next possession they would be forced to punt, where
the snap would be fumbled and the Vikings would take
over on the Lions 46 yard line.
And it
would only take Robichaud one play to find the
endzone, as the running back broke free for a 46
yard touchdown run for the touchdown. The Vikings
would get the extra point, while also scoring again
on a kickoff through the endzone for a 26-3 lead.
Assumption
College could not seem to get anything going, as the
Viking defence again forced another two-and-punt
situation, getting the ball on the 51 yard line.
In the
fourth quarter, Tyler Annett would break free on the
second play of the drive for a 50 yard touchdown as
the Vikings lead 33-4.
On the
ensuing drive by the Lions, the Vikings defence
would come up with its biggest play of the game, as
Jordan Huzevka would pick off a pass at the line of
scrimmage and run it back 30 yards for the
touchdown, adding the second Vikings touchdown of
the quarter in under 20 seconds.
Assumption
would finally start to find success through the air,
as Austin Sault would find Emmett Putt for a 55 yard
touchdown pass to make it a 41-10 game. Sault would
throw for a second touchdown pass to Tyson Leeb,
making it 41-17, but that is as close as the Lions
would come, as the Vikings go on to SWOSSAA
semi-final victory.
"Great
game, kids played well, and it was all them," said
Davies. "The reason we are successful is because our
kids 100% buy in. I couldn't be happier."
The
Vikings didn't have a full scouting report on the
Lions, so Davies left it up to his offence to beat
their defence, and visa-versa. And with a short turn
around to the Western Bowl, the Vikings find
themselves in a similar situation heading to Toronto
against the Lucas Vikings. But Davies is expecting
his team to be physical, just like they have been
all season.
"We will
give everything we have and we will see what
happens."
The
Western Bowl goes Tuesday at 5:00pm in Toronto at
the Rogers Centre.
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