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August 16, 2008

Vikings have work to do before opener

By Todd Golden

CRAWFORDSVILLE — West Vigo left its intensity on the bus before it scrimmaged North Montgomery on Friday, even West Vigo coach Jeff Cobb agreed.

The cliché isn’t quite what it seems — West Vigo’s bus sat on the northbound shoulder of Indiana 63 in a pool of oil about 11⁄2 miles south of I-74 after it broke down. The resulting delay meant West Vigo arrived late at North Montgomery, but the Vikings never really appeared there in spirit as the Chargers were better the better team on both sides of the ball.

“We broke down on 63 and I felt we left the enthusiasm on the other bus. That’s what it felt like. We didn’t play with enthusiasm or zest and that’s a concern,” Cobb said. “This is one that’s going to keep me up at night. I’m at a loss for words and that usually doesn’t happen to me.”

North Montgomery, 6-5 last season and a state championship-level program in the mid 1990s, had the look of a pretty good team. But even given that degree of difficulty, there wasn’t much for West Vigo to hang its hat on. Preventable mistakes such as fumbles and penalties marred the offense, while the defense had trouble with North Montgomery’s big front line.

“[North Montgomery] is a very good team, but I felt kind of like they were the aggressor throughout the night and we just didn’t respond,” Cobb said. “We let them dictate things. I was surprised some of our kids didn’t step up to the competition and hit someone. It was hard to get momentum with the penalties too.”

The first drill — 15 offensive plays or 15 minutes of offense from the school’s own 35-yard line — was evidence that it wasn’t going to go well for the Vikings. North Montgomery went first and averaged 14.2 yards on its 15 plays, scoring touchdowns twice while never surrendering the ball on downs. The Chargers hit the Vikings early, scoring on a 57-yard touchdown run by Isaac McGauhey — who rushed for 99 yards overall — on the second play from scrimmage. The Chargers passed the ball effectively, with gains of 25, 24 and 14 yards.

West Vigo couldn’t match the production on its turn. The Vikings never scored and only crossed the 50 once. West Vigo quarterback Landon Keith was sacked three times, the Vikings had three penalties, and there was one turnover on a quarterback-center exchange. The longest West Vigo gain was a 32-yard scamper by Keith.

North Montgomery scored five times on the next drill — 10 plays from the opponents’ 10-yard line — though one of the scores was dubious as the officials granted possession on a play where West Vigo’s Nick Cramer drilled North Montgomery’s Ethan Carpenter from behind in the zone when it appeared Carpenter never had possession. Nonetheless, the Chargers’ smallest gain during their 10 plays was three yards as they moved the ball effectively.

When its goal line turn came, West Vigo never got in the end zone, a penalty negating the only would-be touchdown — a 10-yard end around by Dylan Aff. Preventable mistakes were acute — the Vikings had two penalties and another turnover. Its longest gain was three yards.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. The line getting their blocks, the receivers getting their blocks and the backs hitting their holes,” Keith said. “Mental errors killed us.”

The Chargers scored twice when they got 13 plays (they were given a mystery extra play) from the West Vigo 35-yard line, but the Chargers never faced a fourth-down situation and West Vigo forced just one third-down play. A bright spot was a sack by Jacob Collins on North Montgomery’s first play.

West Vigo did show improvement during its 12-play sequence, though it still turned the ball over twice. Keith did a good job leading West Vigo’s one touchdown drive, a seven-play series culminating in a Kameron Silcock 7-yard touchdown. Keith completed three passes on the drive and had a 9-yard run.

Keith was 7 of 12 for 27 passing yards overall. He added 37 rushing yards. Silcock rushed for 27 yards and a touchdown.

“We played a lot of kids tonight, so things looked a little disjointed. We’ll see from the film who’s applying what we learned from two-a-days and who’s not,” Cobb said.

According to West Vigo athletic director Mike Miller, this is the last time West Vigo will scrimmage North Montgomery. Starting next year, the Vikings will face off against Seeger.

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