The Nickerson Panthers came to Lindsborg and left with a hard fought 15-12 victory over Smoky Valley. The Panthers opened the scoring in the 2nd Quarter after forcing a Smoky Valley fumble deep in Panther territory at the 2- yard line. Nickerson then proceeded to go 98 yards in 5 plays ending with a 60 yard scamper by Jarin Gomez. The PAT kick was good and Nickerson led 7-0.

The Vikings responded on the very next drive by driving 77 yards on 11 plays culminating in a 10 yard pass from Jake Lucas to Bruster Bengtson on 4th down. The Vikings failed to capitalize on the PAT. The third quarter was highlighted by a couple of turnovers by Nickerson and the first failures on 4th down by the Vikings and neither team was able to find the end zone.

In the 4th quarter the Vikings were finally able to score on a 4 play 29 yard drive with 8:57 left on a 25 yard run by Andrew Peters. The PAT again failed and the Vikings led 12-7. Nickerson responded immediately and quickly as they took only 1:40 off the clock on a 6 play 64 yard drive ending in a 17 yard QB draw by Tre Garcia and a 2 point PAT run by Noah Salazar and the Panthers led 15-12.

The Vikings were able to move the ball across the 5o yard line on their final drive but were stopped on downs. Nickerson ran out the clock and escaped with a 15-12 victory.

The Vikings were led by Trey Kennedy on the ground with 18 carries for 98 yards while Kort Sjogren rushed for 59 yards on 14 carries. Jake Lucas also threw for 62 yards and 1 touchdown.

Nickerson moves to 1-2 while the Vikings drop to 1-2 on the young season. Next up for Smoky Valley is Hesston at Hesston next Friday.