The North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings have had their fair share of injuries to endure throughout the beginning of the football season, but that didn't stop them from marching to their first win Thursday.
Cody Buziak was under centre with just a few downs of experience, as Cole Tentuik didn't play for the Vikings. Buziak was asked to lead the Vikings to victory and he did that.
The Vikings kicked to the Bedford Road Redmen to start the game and pinned them deep in their own territory. Ryan Loran, the Redmen's quarterback, completed three long passes and led his team to the Vikings' 16-yard line. The Vikings' defenders had their backs against the wall, but quickly jumped on a fumble and recovered ending the drive.
The Redmen did still manage to score the first points when Buziak and his tailback Tanner Reiley got crossed up on a toss and gave up a safety putting Bedford Road up 2-0.
The Vikings learned from their mistakes on the their next offensive possession, as they put seven points on the board. The Vikings ran four straight handoffs to Reiley and moved to the Redmen's 30-yard line. Buziak then scrambled for 15 yards for another first down. Reiley pounded the ball up the middle for four yards. Buziak finished it off by hitting Eric Charabin near the sideline and he skipped into the end zone.
Dylan Chadwick's convert was good and the Vikings led 7-2 at the end of the first half.
Despite their best attempts in the second quarter the Vikings were unable to increase their lead. First, Buziak connected with Dion Tederoff, which appeared to give the Vikings their second passing touchdown of the day. But it was called back due to a procedure penalty. Then at the end of the quarter, the Vikings tried to nail a 35-yard field goal, but the kick was wide and the Vikings led 7-2 at half time.
The Redmen tried to gain some momentum with an onside kick to start the second half, which they recovered. The Vikings' defence stepped up on the drive and it started when Joey Carriere stopped the Redmen with a crushing tackle for no yards. The next play was an interception by Tanner Craig who jumped inside and got the Vikings the football back.
Unfortunately the Vikings couldn't capitalize on the turnover and the teams traded punts on the next two possessions.
After the Redman punt, the Vikings returned the kick to the Bedford Road 30-yard line and eventually set up a 35-yard field goal by Chadwick to go up 10-2.
There was no more scoring until the final drive of the game when Buziak rolled out and hit one of the smallest players on the field, Trevor Payne, in the end zone capping off a 17-2 win for the Vikings.
"Cody Buziak was in because Cole was gone and he did a great job filling in today," said Vikings head coach Jamie Sommerfeld. "That is maybe something we will look at in the future."
Unofficially, Buziak was 4/10 passing for 39 yards, as Charabin, Payne (2) and Rob Gaetz had the receptions. Buziak had 54 yards rushing on four attempts while Reiley ran for 59 yards on 17 touches. Dion Tederoff had one rush along with Gaetz, as the team combined for more than 100 yards on the ground.
For the Redmen, Loran hooked up with Brennan Degenhardt nine times for 143 yards through the air. In total, Loran was 12/24, as the two teams had very different offensive game plans coming into the game.
The Vikings are now back on the practice field hoping to continue their dominating defensive play and continue the growth on the offensive side of the ball.
"They're our rock," said Sommerfeld of his defence. "They did what we expect them to do, they went up and did their job. Lastly, we said we have to be more physical than the other team and that was the difference."
The Vikings first win moves them to 1-2 on the season and Friday they are in Saskatoon to take on the 2-0 Marion Graham Falcons.
"The first one is big," Sommerfeld said of the win Thursday. "Our offence had to taste the end zone. Now they know what it is like to drive the field and score a touchdown. Now they know what it takes."
