The Smoky Valley Vikings travelled to Riley County for the first round of 3A football matchups on Friday night. Coming into the game, the Vikings were 3-5 and the Falcons were 6-1.
The Riley County offense got off to a hot start, only needing 3 plays and a 48 yard touchdown pass from Conner Holle to Trey Harmison. They added another two points on a pass from Holle to Bryan Hopper, and just like that, the Falcons had an 8-0 lead.
It didn’t take long to add to their total, as the Vikings fumbled the following kickoff, which was recovered, and taken into the end zone, by Zak Zeller. The Falcons followed with another Holle pass on the point after, this time to Harmison, to extend their lead to 18-0.
The Viking offense could not get things rolling, and was forced to punt on the next possession. On the first play, after a short punt from Trystan Stambaugh, Nic Allen got his big night started on a 54 yard touchdown run. Another successful 2-point conversion led to a 24-0 lead by the Falcons.
The Smoky Valley offense finally got things rolling with an 11 play – 56 yard drive, capped off by a 4 yard touchdown run, as well as a successful 2 point run, by Jake Lucas. With the score at 24-8, the Falcons took to another dominant second quarter.
The Riley County offense scored 3 separate times in the quarter: a 56 yard pass from Holle to Harmison, a 10 yard run from Nic Allen, and another run from Nic Allen, this time for 28 yards. The Vikings put up a heck of a fight in the second half, but it wasn’t near enough to make a comeback. The Falcons put it in the end zone only one time in the second half, on a 4 play – 75 yard drive, finished off with a 13 yard touchdown run by Nic Allen, his fourth of the night.
The Vikings racked up the rushing yards in the second half, but only came away with one score to show for it. Jake Lucas put it in the end zone with 10:07 left in the game, finishing off an 11 play – 72 yard drive. The final score in this contest was 55-16.
The Vikings finish their season at 3-6, while the Riley County Falcons move on with a 7-1 record.
The Falcons will take on a Scott City team that beat the Vikings by 1, just a few weeks ago.
Scott will have to make the long trip to Riley County, to take on the tough Falcon offense next Friday.
