On a calm, beautiful fall evening, the Smoky Valley Vikings took care of business on the gridiron, beating the Russell Broncos 35-0.
Although the Vikings stalled on their first drive, they forced a three-and-out and got the ball back late into the first quarter. With the opportunity to take the lead, the Vikings sliced and diced their way into the endzone, which ended with a Trystan Stambaugh 22-yard touchdown run. Justice Autry ran in the point after to give the Vikings the 8-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, Stambaugh continued his fine night with a 24-yard touchdown sprint, pushing the lead out to 14-0 for the Vikings. It didn’t take long for the Vikings to get the ball back as Nolan Dauer stepped in front of a pass from Andrew Roth. Justice “Meerkat” Autry jetted into the endzone the very next play for an impressive 44-yard scamper.
However, the Vikings were not done yet. Led by quarterback Karson Phil, the Vikings saw a chance to push the lead even further just before half. Phil completed a beautiful deep pass down the sideline to Autry, which set the ball all the way down to the 10-yard line for Smoky Valley. Just two plays later, Phil punched in the final touchdown of the half. After a failed two point conversion, the Vikings settled for 28-0 lead going into halftime.
The Vikings defense was stout all night, holding the Broncos to just 80 total yards. To cap off the night, Kade Blanchat joined the scoring party and ran one from five-yards out. Trevor Jones used his strong leg to knock in the point after try. This would prove to be the final nail in the coffin, as the Vikings would eventually run the clock out with the final score of 35-0.
Smoky Valley used an incredibly strong run game to post a total of 298-yards rushing, 71-yards through the air for a total of 369 yards of offense. The Vikings also won the turnover battle, forcing a fumble and an interception, and avoided any turnovers on the night.
The Vikings will continue their season next week as the first round of playoffs are set to begin.
