Vikings football gets two big wins

PALOUSE - Winning a Homecoming football game always feels more important. For the Garfield-Palouse (Gar-Pal) Vikings, it was a necessity.

After falling to powerhouse teams Liberty Christian (6-0), Almira-Coulee-Hartline (5-1), Wilbur-Creston-Keller (6-0) and Pomeroy (6-0), the Vikings got their first win of the season, 50-16, for their Homecoming game against the Waitsburg Cardinals.

"It was major," said Gar-Pal coach Willy Woltering. "Going 0-4 is never fun. We were playing really good opponents, but it's never fun. It was huge because it was Homecoming and it was huge because we thought we could get that winNot to take anything away from Waitsburg, They're a good football team, but we thought we could get that win."

The Vikings scored early in the first quarter on a 17-yard touchdown run by junior running back Lane Collier. Gar-Pal added to its lead late in the opening quarter when junior running back Kaleb Kelnhofer blasted in a 1-yard touchdown run.

As time expired for the end of the quarter, Pfaff reached the end zone on a 9-yard run, but the play was called back for a holding penalty. That did not matter much as on the first play of the second quarter, Pfaff scored on a 19-yard touchdown run.

Later in the second quarter, Collier reached the end zone on a 24-yard touchdown run for the Vikings to take a 28-0 lead.

The shutout was stifled with two minutes remaining in the first half when Waitsburg junior quarterback Isa Reyes connected with junior running back Brenton Segraves for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Reyes scored the PAT run and the score was 28-8.

With 11 seconds remaining in the first half, Pfaff scrambled for a 40-yard touchdown run to give a halftime score of 36-8 in favor of the Vikings.

"The best part of our game was our running game," Pfaff said. "We could run almost whatever we wanted without a problem."

On the opening drive of the second half, Waitsburg freshman Koyen Fortune punched in a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals some life. The Vikings answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Collier to keep pace.

Late in the third quarter, Kelnhofer stripped the ball and recovered the fumble for Gar-Pal. Early in the fourth quarter, the Vikings defense made a big stop, pushing the runner back and forcing a fourth down. The Cardinals faked a punt, but again the Vikings defense came up big.

"Our defense played pretty solid," Woltering said. "Up until the game, we never had a team tackle all year. We had one guy making a tackle and our defense had been struggling. We stressed defense and finally tackled and tackled well. That was the difference."

With four minutes to go in the game, Reyes made a 49-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back JJ Gleason. The Vikings upped the ante with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff to Collier.

To end the game, Collier caught an interception and the Vikings won the match, 56-22.

"It was very important, especially since it's our first win of the year," said Gar-Pal senior quarterback Bryce Pfaff. "We really needed it."

After the Homecoming victory, the Vikings had a quick turnaround as they had to play a makeup game against the Dayton Bulldogs on Monday, Oct. 14.

The Vikings defeated the Bulldogs, 50-16, for the victory.

Early in the first quarter, Pfaff threw a touchdown pass to senior Macent Rardon to open the scoring. On the first offensive drive to Dayton, Gar-Pal senior Landon Orr got a quarterback sack and forced the Bulldogs to punt.

Later in the first quarter, Rardon scored again on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff and Kelnhofer scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. At the end of the opening quarter, Gar-Pal had taken a 22-0 lead.

"A couple guys were not very rested, Woltering said. The main guys that carry the ball a lot and the interior lineman were a little beat up, but we were alright. That quick turnover game, it's hard because football is a hard sport and the kids are sore when they wake up in the morning."

Early in the second quarter, Collier juked and jived his way to an 83-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs tried to get some momentum, but on a fourth-and-long, Orr blocked the pass.

Before the end of the second quarter, Collier caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff to give the Vikings a 36-0 lead at halftime.

"Our offense played pretty well against Dayton," Woltering said. "We had to do some different stuff because they were blitzing like none other. Some of our screens worked out well, which happens when facing screens."

On the opening drive of the second half, Collier made a 20-yard touchdown run. Late in the third quarter, Pfaff attempted a quarterback keeper, but fumbled the ball which trickled into the endzone and junior lineman Rowan Edwards came up with the ball, scoring a touchdown.

To start the fourth quarter, Woltering put his JV squad in after being up by 50 points. Dayton only had about 11 players fielded due to injuries and low numbers, so they kept their varsity team on the field.

Dayton stifled the would-be shutout and scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass to get on the scoreboard.

"Trying to get our younger guys in the fourth quarter was hard because they couldn't substitute anybody for a JV team. Me getting my guys in there ein the fourth quarter kinda took a pounding, but they stuck their nose in there and played well."

With four minutes left in the game, Dayton scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to give the final margin 50-16 in favor of the Vikings.

"Our offensive and defensive line did an awesome job and kept their noses to the grindstone," Woltering said. "Those guys are the heart and soul of our team."