Although the outcome wasn’t what they were hoping for, the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings showed that they could compete against one of the top football teams in the province.
In what was their first home game of the season at Beaver Lions Stadium, the Vikings went back and forth against the Holy Cross Crusaders before the holders of the last six Saskatoon 4A city championships picked up a 43-32 victory.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys efforts,” Vikings head coach Mike Humenny said. “It’s going to sound like a clichéd statement, but we truly went toe-to-toe with a very strong football team for 48 minutes.
“I challenged the guys before the game and told them that I wanted them to feel what it was like to play against a really quality opponent for all four quarters. You never want to say that a loss is good, but we learned a lot of stuff tonight and we are much better football team as a result of this.”
Vikings quarterback Damon Dutton turned in a dominating performance through the air, as he completed 15 of his 29 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns.
Zac Wolfe had a pair of touchdown catches, while Presley Peterson and Rett Taggart also reached the end zones thanks to passes by Dutton.
Peterson led all receivers with 146 yards on five catches.
“It was the same things we’ve seen all season long as we had a number of guys make big plays,” Humenny said. “JT Lamb also had a good game on the ground tonight, as he was able to make some big runs.”
The Crusaders, who have a 5-0 record and are tied for first place in the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate 4A standings with the Centennial Chargers, had a balanced offensive attack Friday.
Quarterback Matthew Wilson completed nine of 18 passes for 258 years and three touchdowns, while running back Tanner Szakacs as he sprinted for 85 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
“Holy Cross has an ability to make you pay at any point during the game on mistakes that you make,” Humenny said. “They can throw the ball deep, pound it up the middle with their running backs and use big special teams plays to turn the tide.
“Even though we’re still banged up on defence with a few injuries, we had some flashes of brilliances in slowing them down. Once we get everyone healthy, we should be firing on all cylinders going into the playoffs.”
The Vikings, who have a 3-2 record and are tied with the Bishop J Mahoney Saints for third place in the SSSAD 3A standings, will be back at home Friday night for a 6:30 p.m. tilt with the St. Mary Marauders of Prince Albert.
Like the Crusaders, the Marauders also play in the 4A league are tied for fourth place with the St. Joseph Guardians with a 2-3 mark.
