COOLING OFF THE DEVILS

Vikings thump Noxon 42-6, Tra Ludeman scores five touchdowns

CHARLO - Following back-to-back losses to Superior and Lincoln early in the season, the Charlo Vikings had their collective backs against the wall. Simply speaking, they needed to win out to reach the postseason.

Well, their work is almost complete.

Despite a bit of a sluggish start, the Vikings upended Noxon 42-6 on Friday, Oct. 14, to move within one game of the playoffs. With a win against Seeley-Swan on Wednesday, Oct. 19 (results not available prior to press), the Vikings will be playoff-bound.

Late in the first quarter, Tra Ludeman rumbled in from 53 yards out to get Charlo on the board, 6-0. In the middle of the second, Ludeman found the end zone from 41 yards out for a 14-0 lead. Ludeman finished with 209 yards on 17 carries and added 67 yards on 6-for-11 throwing the ball.

Noxon responded with a touchdown run of their own to cut the lead to 14-6, but Ludeman found Stephen Delaney on a 15-yard pass to spot Charlo to a 20-6 edge at halftime.

The Vikings turned it up on both sides of the ball after halftime, beginning with a 24-yard touchdown run by Ludeman less than a minute into the third quarter, who then added a 2-yard score later in the quarter, giving Charlo a big 34-6 lead going into the fourth.

"We focused and worked on our intensity in the second half," head coach Mike Krahn said. "More than anything, we were just going through the motions [in the first half]. We needed to step up our intensity and we did."

The defense continued its strong play into the fourth quarter, capped by a 14-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jacen Petersen, which gave the Vikings their final points.

"The main thing is [Noxon] runs a double-wing with a lot of ball fakes," Krahn said. "We didn't get caught up watching them, we got to our assigned areas. The key was being disciplined."

"Noxon had 10 kids," Krahn added. "They were game, played hard and gave us a battle. They have good players who came to play. I respected how hard they played."

Should Charlo have defeated Seeley-Swan on Wednesday, they'll open the playoffs on Oct. 29 and will be ready for whoever awaits them.

"At this point in the season, we've seen everything teams will run at us, so we should be prepared," Krahn said.