Vikings can clinch conference title, win at home

CHARLO — Charlo High School quarterback Landers Smith vividly recalls the ramifications of traveling 617 miles one way in last season’s 66-52 quarter-final road loss to the hands of Fairview.

Smith estimated the trip was approximately a 12-hour, one-way bus trip to Fairview and said the “long bumpy ride” to last year’s game was a “motivating factor” to his team’s quest to gain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as one of the top-seeded teams this year.

“The trip was really long,” Smith said. “A couple of my teammates were really sick on the bus ride and everyone was sore from sitting down in those seats with all of the stuff going throughout our heads while traveling for three days. We took our time getting over there and after the game, we came straight home.”

Long bus rides are the reality Montana Class C 8-man football teams have to accept in the playoffs. For the Vikings, playing football on the road is a fate they can avoid if they defeat Twin Bridges Friday at Charlo High School.

With a victory, Charlo can clinch their conference title. It will ensure two home games and allow them the luxury of resting several players in the team’s Oct. 24 season-finale against arch-rival Arlee at Charlo High School.

“(Traveling to Fairview) really motivated us to work a little harder, come together and put in some work on and off the field,” Smith said. “Our team put in a lot of time in the weight room in the off-season. It really made us want to fight a little tougher. We don’t want to have to travel anywhere and want to play at Halgren Field.”

The conference logistics have now changed with the Vikings’ arch-rival Arlee falling to Twin Bridges 47-16 Friday. This simplifies Charlo’s scenario: defeat Twin Bridges and capture the conference crown.

“This would be a huge deal (if we win) because Arlee always seems to play their best game against us,” Charlo RB Jared Doty said.

Doty admits his team isn’t that familiar with the Falcons this year because this is the first season they transitioned into Charlo’s conference.

“Every conference game it seems like everyone plays a different style of football,” Doty said. “With Twin coming from a different conference, they are going to play a little differently than some of the teams that have been in our conference. They pass the ball a lot more than Victor did, they are strong up the middle, can run the ball, and have a good passing defense. They are a pretty well-rounded team and can do a little bit of everything.”

Doty and the rest of his Vikings hope they don’t have to go on the road to Twin Bridges, which would be a 219 mile, one-way road trip.

“It would be nice especially because Twin is so far away for us and it would be a pretty good bus trip,” Doty said. “I would rather be sitting home nice and relaxed, and I think anyone would like to play a home playoff game. It is always nice to play at home because we have a nice fan base and the students are there. It’s a great atmosphere and it really helps to have a home game, for sure.”

Vikings’ coach Mike Krahn said the game has a “playoff atmosphere” because a conference championship and two potential home games are on the line for Charlo.

Krahn also said it’s a playoff feel because of the lack of familiarity with playing Twin Bridges.

“Coach Peterson and I were talking about this game on a bus road trip and it has a playoff feel because we haven’t played them because they were in another conference,” Krahn said. “I don’t know a lot about them and I am not very familiar with the kids. It’s a team that we haven’t played in a long time.”

At the beginning of the season, Krahn is asked to pick in a preseason coaches poll who he think will win the conference and he isn’t allowed to pick his team. Krahn selected Twin Bridges even with the state runner-up Arlee Warriors in the same conference. The Warriors graduated several players from last season’s team.

“They weren’t in our division last year in the South and they were perennial playoff teams,” Krahn said. “They won a state championship a few years ago and they have a tradition of good football. When Twin defeated Arlee, that really changed the dynamics (of our conference). They handled Arlee pretty handily and we’ve kept a good eye on Twin. Last year, they were in the semifinals and they have a good chunk of those kids back. Early in the season, they lost two games and had some injury problems. Now, they have all of those guys back and since they returned, they have just handled everybody.”

Students of the game

Jared Doty and his Viking teammates have created a culture of football in and out of the classroom.

“I’ve already taken some time this weekend to watch film of Twin play,” Doty said. “We will sit there and study film all day and pretty much watch a whole game. The key to winning is to be well prepared for the upcoming game. During the football season, I’ll be sitting in class and we will be talking about football. We talk about it all of the time. I was just looking at the state bracket and seeing who we might have to play against if we won conference. We are constantly talking about what we can do even if the coach isn’t around, and how much we need to practice and get ready for the upcoming game.”

Krahn said the upcoming game will feature a team similar in size and strength to Victor.

“They are a good-sized team and their quarterback is in a position of leadership and has been there in big games,” Krahn said. “Their tight end/nose guard is 6-foot-6, 235 pounds.”

Because of the Twin Bridges tight end’s height, he is a good target that not only gets lot of targets but also can draw a lot of penalties.

“He’s a real big kid and likes to bring a lot of pressure with their LB and that always makes it tough,” Krahn said. “They usually get the ball passed off quickly and are a little more conservative but when you gamble (on defense), they like to take big risks.”

Krahn said on offense the Falcons are capable of spreading the football around.

Victor matched Twin Bridges size because their offense was predicated predominately on the run, it makes their match up much more challenging, according to Krahn.

“Whoever controls the offensive and defensive line of scrimmage will be a pretty big deal,” Krahn said. “I think at this point, Victor had its challenges. We knew we had to stop them because they are very good at what they do but we could operate a run-heavy package against them. Twin is going to be much tougher and our defense can’t sell out to one or the other. We have to be very disciplined with a sound defense and tackling.”

Bringing a title home

For Doty, bringing a championship title home would mean a lot to him and his teammates.

“Ever since I was really into football and I got into junior high, I had big dreams of winning a state championship,” Doty said. “It’s a huge deal and it would be such a huge deal to the entire community of Charlo, and to all of us it would be so crazy. It would be kind of breaking the ice for Charlo football and maybe it wouldn’t be so long between titles for us to win it again. Because it is my senior year, it would mean the world to get another banner up there for the 2016-2017 season.”

Smith said, in order to get to the goal, they just have to pay attention to the fundamentals for the rest of the regular and post season.

“We gotta really come out with a tough mind set and come out being fast, physical, and execute,” Smith said. “We have to poise and really have to work hard, study up on that film, have a good game plan, and read the offenses and defense. We have to protect the football and just play safe.”