Vikings shut down Eagles

ST. JOHN — The Garfield-Palouse (Gar-Pal) Vikings pillaged the St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse (SJEL) Eagles on Friday, Oct. 18.

Gar-Pal led 38-6 by the end of the first quarter and defeated the Eagles, 76-14.

The Vikings opened the scoring when senior quarterback Bryce Pfaff connected with junior Kaleb Kelnhofer on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Gar-Pal then scored on a 75-yard touchdown run by junior running back Lane Collier.

Collier then caught an interception on the SJEL 46-yard line, setting up a 13-yard touchdown run by senior Macent Rardon.

After the Rardon touchdown, Eagles junior Brody Fleming ran in an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, putting SJEL on the board. Not to be outdone, Collier ran his own 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the next play.

With 1:30 to go in the opening quarter, Rardon caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff to give the Vikings a 38-6 lead.

Facing a fourth-and-long to start the second quarter, a bad snap by the Eagles allowed Gar-Pal senior lineman Landon Orr to recover the ball in the end zone for a safety. On the next drive, freshman running back Cooper Wells punched in a 5-yard touchdown run.

The Vikings succeeded on an onside kick at midfield, taking over on offense. That set up a 21-yard touchdown run by Pfaff on a quarterback keeper with Brody Pfaff getting the PAT run.

With 3:30 left in the first half, a blocked punt allowed Gar-Pal freshman lineman Lincoln Pfaff to recover the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

At halftime, the Vikings led, 62-6.

With the clock running, halfway through the third quarter the Eagles struck again on a 22-yard run by Fleming. On the first play after the kickoff, Wells ran in a 52-yard touchdown run, with Riley Pfaff catching the PAT pass from Wells.

In the final quarter, Gar-Pal sophomore Cooper Parzuchowski added a 12-yard touchdown run to give the final score of 76-14 for the Vikings.

Gar-Pal improves to 3-4 on the season, having won its last three games. Next up the Vikings will finish the regular season by taking on the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25.