Charlo stumbles in Sheridan

SHERIDAN — The Charlo football team got themselves into a hole that was tough to get out of.

The Vikings lost 34-20 to Sheridan last Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the Class C football playoffs.

After the first quarter, the Vikings were down 6-0. That deficit increased after the second to 22-0.

“We played tough,” head coach Steve Love said. “We had a rotten second quarter. We dug a hole and couldn’t get ourselves out.”

During halftime, Love got his team on the right track. He talked about the character his team had.

“They have a lot of pride,” Love said. “It would have been really easy to roll over.”

The Vikings responded and scored a 20-point touch down in the second half.

Freshman Tra Ludeman put the Vikings on the board with a 14-yard run. He also scored on the two-point conversion.

Sheridan punched one in with nine seconds left in the third but the fourth was all Charlo.

Senior Jame Petersen caught a 64-yard pass from junior Chico Stipe.

“He was everywhere all day long,” Love said. “He had a great game.”

Ninety seconds later, junior Austin Bauer caught a 27-yard pass from Stipe.

Charlo ran out of time as they tried to make up the last 14 points.

Stipe threw 10 passes for 162 yards. Senior Chance Firestone caught four for 54 yards, Bauer caught two for 28 yards and Petersen caught three for 73.

Charlo rushed the ball 39 times for 182 yards. Stipe had 21 carries for 116 yards.

The Vikings  had a record year, going 7-1 in the regular season.

Charlo’s only regular-season loss came at the hands of powerhouse Drummond with a 41-19 score.

Entering the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, the Vikings dispelled Power-Dutton/Brady in the first round 16-8.