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Vikings finish season 5-2; lock up first place in 3A

Oct 20, 2017 | 10:03 AM

The Marion Graham Falcons were the first team to score in Thursday’s regular season finale between them and the North Battleford Comprehensive senior Vikings, but that elation didn’t last long.

After the opening field goal by the Falcons, it was almost exclusively the Vikings who found the endzone the rest of the way.

Four first half touchdowns from quarterback Damon Dutton allowed the Vikings to roll to a 42-10 win at home over the Falcons to finish the regular season with a 5-2 record, which — barring a miracle — will lock up first place in the 3A division in the Saskatoon league for North Battleford.

“Unless something really crazy happens…[we’ve] solidified our spot atop 3A,” Vikings head coach Mike Humenny said after the blowout win. “A regular season championship is something to be [proud of] for our guys. We’re pretty happy about that. Something we haven’t done. Just some of these Grade 12s, [it’s] a credit to them.”

Humenny said the fact the Vikings were up against a team they had a history with may have played a part in the result.

“We talked to our guys about Marion Graham being a team that has ended our season a few times in the past, so I think our guys kind of took that as a challenge,” he said. “Especially our Grade 12s that have been around. But [I’m] really happy with our guys.”

The Vikings came into the game wanting to run the ball, like they have all season long, thanks to Grade 11 star J.T. Lamb.

Lamb entered Thursday’s action with 12 rushing touchdowns on the season and 955 rushing yards, by far the most in the league in both categories.

But the game plan changed.

“Give credit to Marion Graham. They played us tough in the first quarter,” Humenny said. “But then once again our quarterback Damon Dutton, he’s been doing it all season long, he came to the sidelines and he saw a few things.”

After Dutton and the coaching staff made adjustments, the Vikings responded with a late first quarter 75-yard touchdown to Presley Peterson. In the second, Peterson caught two more touchdowns passes, while Dutton also connected with Zach Wolfe on a 19-yard score.

Lamb added a touchdown for good measure.

All of a sudden, it was 35-3 for North Battleford at the half.

“Now that [Dutton’s] in Grade 12, he’s got a full grasp of what we’re trying to do,” Humenny said. “But I think more importantly, he’s seeing how things are fitting together, where we’re running one play to set up another and he’s thinking three plays ahead of the play that we’re running.

“And then Presley Peterson, I’ll tell you what, that guy — he sat out with an ankle injury for a couple games this year — but he’s the leading receiver in the league and he was on fire tonight again. He makes difficult catches look routine and he’s got the ability to take it to the house after that. Those two guys made some good adjustments and once you get up by a few scores — I’m not saying it’s easy — but then you can extend your playbook a little bit more.”  

Peterson and Dutton stole the spotlight, but Humenny made the point that it was an entire team effort.

“None of [Dutton’s throws] happen unless we’ve got a group of receivers that can make it golden as well,” Humenny said. “And I thought our guys protected really well all night; our offensive line. So full credit to the offence, all 12 guys on the field at all times.”

With a shutout last week and just three points given up by the starters on Thursday (the lead allowed them to let some juniors play in the second half), the defensive effort speaks for itself.

The Vikings playoff opponent won’t be known until this weekend, after all team’s have completed their schedule following Friday night play.

But the playoff opener will be played in Saskatoon on Thursday, Oct. 26, at either 5:15 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11