Vikings run over Eagles in first round of playoffs

Charlo High School Vikings coach Mike Krahn admitted to being concerned when his Vikings began the opening minutes of the Class C, 8-man playoffs against No. 3 seeded Joilet in Saturday afternoon’s contest at Charlo High School.

Though Joliet entered the game as the No. 3 seeded underdog against Charlo in the first round of the Class C, 8-man playoffs, they began the first round establishing early momentum.

The Eagles utilized their size and strength, two tactical advantages they had over the Vikings, to score on a methodical drive that consumed nearly five minutes and culminated in a touchdown.

Joliet QB Taylor Rowlison connected with WR Ryan Olson on an 18-yard touchdown pass and after Olson converted on a successful 2-point conversion attempt and gave them an 8-0 advantage with 7:45 to play in the first quarter, it gave Krahn more reason to be concerned.

“They came out and marched right down the field and scored,” Krahn said. “Then, we turned the ball over but we were able to hold them out of the end zone. Holding them from another score was the turning point of the game because if they scored again, we knew we would have a real dogfight on our hands. Joliet was bigger than us but it seemed like as the game went on, they got a little tired.”

The Vikings failed to answer the Eagles at the conclusion of the first quarter and they ended up trailing Joilet 8-0.

“We prepared for the whole game to be a dogfight,” Krahn said. “Sometimes during a game, you don’t know how a team will respond. They might have first-time jitters, especially when you are dealing with a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs in a long time.”

The Vikings eventually won 68-38 after a 38-point second quarter scoring avalanche took away momentum from an upstart Eagles’ team.

Krahn said he felt like there was one turning point in the game. He attributed the Vikings’ success to his team’s big-game experience. In the last two years, Charlo has played top-rated teams in big games including Belt, Ennis, Fairview twice, and Joliet all in meaningful contests. This big-game experience his team has developed over the last couple of years has made a difference in overcoming adversity, Krahn said.

“Being in big game situations isn’t new for us except for the freshman on our team,” Krahn said. “I think it helps that we know how to prepare mentally and for the long haul. Our team knows not to let their emotions get the best of them and I think that is what might have happened to Joliet once they settled into the game. I was surprised that they became down like they did and I think, eventually, we were able to use our scheme to our advantage. We were able to get our kids into the open field and that was a big deal. We were able to take advantage of that with our formations and we just wore them down.”

The Vikings quarterback and co-captain Landers Smith took over the game in the second half and permanently shifted the balance of power into the Vikings’ favor. Once the Vikings retrieved momentum, they wouldn’t lose it again.

Smith’s four touchdowns in the second quarter allowed the Vikings to secure that momentum in the second half.

Smith’s four touchdowns wasn’t enough to douse the flame of the Eagles’ offensive attack.

After Smith’s 30 and 35-yard runs for touchdowns in the opening minutes of the quarter gave the Vikings a 16-8 advantage, it wasn’t enough to deter upstart Joliet.

The Eagles’ Rowlison connected with Ryan Olson for a 65-yard touchdown pass and after their unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt made the score 16-14 with 9:09 left in the second.

Smith responded and culminated a drive with a four-yard touchdown run that increased Charlo’s lead to 24-14 with 6:47 left in the second.

Smith’s second score still wasn’t enough to deter the upstart Eagles.

Less than a minute later, Rowlison connected with Olson for a 41-yard touchdown run making it a topsy-turvy 24-20 Vikings’ lead with 5:13 left in the second quarter.

Smith quickly responded with a 65-yard kickoff return for a touchdown 10 seconds later. The touchdown return gave the Vikings a 32-20 lead after a successful 2-point conversion attempt by Tyson Petticrew.

After gaining momentum from the Smith touchdown run, the Vikings wouldn’t look back.

Towards the end of the first half, Charlo further secured its lead with a 38-yard touchdown run by Petticrew that allowed them to go into halftime leading 38-20.

“We knew Joliet was going to run a lot of man-to-man defense so we used our motion offense and we really had a good game plan using motion to open up the field,” Kahn said. “We just used our speed and that is pretty tough to defend when you run man-to-man because you have to be really good tacklers and match up with us speed-wise. On film, they looked like they had pretty good team speed but we were able to get the one-on-one match ups and clear the field. Our line just played awesome and our offensive lines pulling just confused their defense. When you looked at them on film, they were able to use their size, just push the other guy around and they won those battles. Our team was pulling and using angles, and we were really able to make that work to our advantage throughout the game.”

In the third quarter, the Vikings were able to end the competitive phase of the game with two quick touchdowns the Eagles didn’t answer.

Petticrew ran for yet another 33-yard touchdown run that gave the Vikings a 44-20 advantage after an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt.

After Petticrew’s run, neither team would score for another eight minutes.

Smith’s four-yard touchdown run gave Charlo a commanding 52-26 advantage.

The Eagles answered when Rowlison connected with Olson for 26 yards to make it 52-26 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Smith scored two more touchdown runs but the competitive phase of the game was over. Smith scored on runs of four and 42 yards to give the Vikings a 68-32 lead. Even when Joliet scored a late fourth quarter touchdown with 3:34 on the clock to make the score 68-38, it wasn’t enough.

Krahn credits the scheme his coaching staff devised and came up with or the success his team was able to have against a bigger, physical opponent like Joliet.

The statistical analysis between the two teams showcased Charlo’s ability to score quickly. The Vikings generated 353 yards of total offense on 38 plays compared to Joliet’s 413 on 78 total plays. They also averaged 9.3 yards per play.

The bulk of Charlo’s offensive production came from its 298 yards on the ground versus its 55 yards of pass offense generated in the game and they only held the ball for 15:06 seconds of the game.

“Our coaching staff was able to mix up formations and we gave different looks and tried to keep them unsettled,” Krahn said. “We really tried to use our angles and tried not to let their big guys get on us.”

The Vikings will now play Forsyth Saturday at 1 p.m. at Forsyth High School in the second round of the Class C, 8-man MHSA state football playoffs. The Dogies are currently undefeated.

The Vikings will try to defeat another difficult opponent in hopes of hosting a semifinal playoff game, if they defeat Forsyth.

If the Vikings defeat Forsyth they will play the winner of Ennis and Belt. Last year the Vikings played Ennis in the Class C, 8-man championship game and lost to them 30-24 in overtime.

Charlo also traveled to play Belt in the Class C, 8-man semifinal match last year and defeated them 50-35.

The Vikings were in command of most of that game and hope to get a chance to replicate last year’s playoff run if they play the Huskies in the semifinal action. Charlo could host Ennis or Belt in the semifinals.