Bring on Fairview

CHARLO — The Charlo Vikings’ football program will now face its biggest test of the season and it’s a rematch of their only loss of the season.

The Vikings’ will face Fairview, a team that defeated them in the opening week of the season 54-52 in Cascade, which is half the distance for both teams, in the quarterfinal of Class C 8-man football tournament Saturday at 1 p.m. at Charlo High School football Stadium.

“Earlier this season, we played Fairview and with under a minute left, we went down and scored,” Vikings’ Coach Mike Krahn said. “With 40 seconds left on the clock, I thought to myself, ‘wow, we might have scored too quickly.’ They had a nice return down to midfield and they scored right at the end to win it.”

In the last couple of seasons, the Warriors have been a formidable opponent for the Vikings and a hurdle Charlo has yet to overcome. The Vikings have lost every game against Fairview in the last couple of seasons.

“We played them three times in the last four years,” Krahn said. “We’ve played them twice in the playoffs and once this year in non-conference. We have had to travel over there twice and we’ve had some epic battles. Their schemes, their kids, and their coaches for some reason are similar to our style and it usually makes for a good game. They have a good program, they have a lot of tradition, and it should be a great game.”

This time the Vikings will have one clear-cut advantage that will help them in their quest to dethrone the Warriors. For the first time in now the third time these two teams have met each other in the post-season, Fairview will be making the 617-mile drive to Charlo. According to Krahn, being able to stay at home is a “huge advantage.”

“It’s a big deal because it’s so disruptive to your routine and our kids won’t have to be in a bus for 12 hours,” Krahn said. “Even though Fairview will spend two nights in a hotel, just eating and finding places to practice can be so disruptive to your routine. You also have to bring another van full of football equipment and have some place to put your bags.”

Krahn said though high school kids generally are “excited” to travel, it also wears on them because of the lack of experience of traveling.

“Practicing (on the road) is generally not as efficient and you are limited in what you can do,” Krahn said. “It’ll be nice for us to be in our routine and sleep in our own beds. It seems like even though it’s a playoff game, it feels like just another home game. It helps us out enough that it can make a difference in our kid’s focus on the game because we don’t have to worry about where we stay, eat and where we are going the next three days.”

Krahn said he expects a multitude of different looks from the Warriors’ offensive scheme.

“They are going to run a lot, and pass and run,” Krahn said. “They do a lot of motion and they have a mobile QB that is really similar to us. With Fairview, you just can’t concentrate on one thing. We have to stop their run game but they aren’t one-dimensional. They have really good speed and they are a little bigger than us. Again, they are really multi-faceted so it’s hard to be able to concentrate on one thing.”

Because of the familiarity both teams have with each other, it makes watching film “easier,” according to Krahn.

“Very seldom do you get to play a team twice in a year,” Krahn said. “It just doesn’t work out that way and we haven’t gotten to play anyone twice (in a season). When you play someone twice, you are hoping for a chance to come back and get another shot at them. When you watch a team on film and are looking at them only on film, sometimes teams aren’t as big as they look on film. In this game, we will know exactly what these kids can do.”

Vikings’ safety Tyson Petticrew vividly recalls playing and covering the Warriors in his first-ever high school football game of his career. Petticrew, who has played football since junior high, said the first game for him covering WR Pat Hardy, a 6-foot, 2 inch wide receiver and another Fairview wideout close to 6 feet, 5 inches tall was an “experience” for Petticrew, who stands at 5 feet, 11 inches.

“It was intimidating and I got first quarter jitters,” Petticrew said. “Their receivers are really tall and the way you have to beat them is beat them to a spot. If you beat them to their spot, you can deflect a pass or intercept the ball. It’s hard matching up against Hardy. He’s quick, athletic and can even jump higher than the player that is 6 foot, 5 inches in my opinion. He’s hard to match up against because of his speed.”

Petticrew said he and his Vikings’ teammates are “pretty confident,” headed into this game with Fairview.

“We knew we were probably going to see them again this season,” Petticrew said. “We’ve been working for this the whole season and hopefully, we are prepared to get the job done and move on in these playoffs. This will be the toughest game of the season. We know Fairview better than we know anyone in Class C and it will be an amazing atmosphere. It’s going to be a crazy game.”

Petticrew said he is also motivated this season by other factors outside of the football field. Petticrew said he and his Vikings’ teammates are also playing for Brett Krantz, who passed away in a car accident last season.

“We have a banner hanging up on our fence with our stickers and we make designs with them that says “No. 51” on it,” Petticrew said. “Brett would have wanted us to play as hard as we could to make it. He would have wanted us to win a state championship and his memory has given us an even bigger reason to play.”

Petticrew said he and his teammates have had discussions about carrying on his teammate’s memory.

“We have talked about it because we were all really good friends and everyone got along with him,” Petticrew said. “I got together with Landers Smith and Brady Fryberger, and we discussed this season was going to be for him. That is our ultimate goal of winning the state championship because that is what he would have wanted.”

Petticrew feels this game is going to be a high drama, intense battle from the opening kickoff.

“This is going to be a high intensity game,” Petticrew said. “I looked at all of the other match ups in Class AA, A, B, and C. Charlo and Fairview is one of the top match ups in the state to watch. We know Fairview isn’t going to roll over for us and this game will be just like Cascade. The team that is better-conditioned will probably win and I think we condition harder than anyone in the state. We have to be ready for this game.”

Zane Haflinger said he felt the familiarity with Fairview will be an “equalizer.”

“It’s really nice to know what they do, how they play, and what their tendencies are,” Haflinger said. “The way they line and stuff like that, we know what they are going to do.”

Haflinger said he felt his team “gained confidence” from playing them the first time.

“It was a good first game to know where we are at (at the start of the season),” Haflinger said. “I think we found out we can pay these guys (at the end of the first game).”

Haflinger said he felt his team needed to make a “statement” early in the contest.

“We have to be more physical, play fast, hit them back, and know what they going to do,” Haflinger said. “They are going to come at us and they going to play. We just gotta keep in between the tackles, gang tackle, fight pressure against their guards, and make sure every time they run the ball they can’t go anywhere.”