Charlo Vikings thrash Joliet J-Hawks
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CHARLO – The Charlo Vikings opened the Class C 8-Man Playoffs at home with a 68-38 thrashing of the Joliet J-Hawks on Saturday.
With the first possession of the game, the ground and pound run-oriented J-Hawks started the game doing what they do best, pounding the ball on the ground. The offense ran the ball seven consecutive times which set up an 18-yard pass play for a touchdown that gave Joliet the first lead of the game.
Back to back offensive false starts and a fumble that the J-Hawks recovered on the Charlo ten-yard line is how the Vikings started the game.
The J-Hawks, looking to capitalize on the Vikings’ fumble, tried to punch the ball into the end zone three times but were turned away by the stout Viking defense. The drive stalled on a fourth down incomplete pass.
As the first quarter came to a close, both offenses struggled to find a rhythm moving the ball against each other’s defenses.
On their second snap of the second quarter the Vikings finally scored on a 30-yard run by Landers Smith to make it 8-8.
“I thought we responded well by not panicking after Joliet went down and scored on their first drive,” Viking head coach Mike Krahn said.
Charlo broke the 8-8 tie when Joliet had to punt the ball away on its first possession of the second half and the Vikings took advantage, going 41 yards on two plays, with Smith running 35-yards for a touchdown.
However, the J-Hawks answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass but missed the two-point conversion giving the Vikings a 16-14 second quarter lead.
Once again, the Vikings marched down the field and scored, while the J-Hawks followed suit making the second quarter score 24-20.
On the ensuing kick-off by the J-Hawks, Smith returned it 67 yards for the score and a 32-20 Viking lead.
With 2:18 left in the second quarter, Viking senior Tyson Petticrew broke a 28-yard run for a touchdown giving Charlo a 38-20 lead going into the half.
Following a pair of third quarter touchdown runs by Petticrew and Smith, the Vikings pushed ahead of the J-Hawks 52-26.
Smith scored the game’s final two touchdowns on 4-yard and 42-yard runs for Charlo, sealing the Vikings 68-38 victory.
Smith finished the day rushing for 161 yards on 17 carries and six touchdowns, while Petticrew added 80 yards on five carries and two touchdowns.
“We knew we were undersized and that we were going to have to use our speed and
