Vikings have momentum going into Friday’s playoff

The Viking football team put an exclamation point at the end of the 2003 regular season with a 49-6 ripping of Atlanta, and enters the playoffs tomorrow with an opening round game in the upper peninsula against the Bark River-Harris Broncos from the Skyline Conference. It?ll be a battle of two 8-1 teams at 7 p.m. Friday and coach Glenn Budnick is hoping his players execute in their playoff game the way they did against the Huskies last Friday. ?I told them, right now, if this team executes like it is capable of doing, we can go as far as we want to go,? said Budnick.

After a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Ron Kroll late in the second quarter, the Vikes took a comfortable 35-6 lead into halftime. A quick score in the third quarter got the running clock going in the second half, leaving no doubt who would leave the field victorious.

AFTER THE USUAL post-game talk from Budnick, the head coach was hoisted in the air and carried to the bench where he was doused with the contents of the water cooler. Budnick has proven elusive in recent seasons, so they made sure he didn?t get away this year when the players celebrated another winning season.

?I can?t get away from them when they tackle me in the huddle,? a soaked Budnick said. ?I had three guys grab on to my shirt when I was in there and they said ?you?re not going anywhere, coach, don?t even fight it.? ?I made the mistake of telling them I brought a change of clothes for tonight. I guess I deserved it.? The strong performance gives Posen some momentum going into its playoff game against Bark River, which defeated Pickford last Friday 57-19. Budnick didn?t believe the Vikes executed as well in a close win against Hillman, but they changed all that at Atlanta.

?They came out tonight and showed what they are made of,? said Budnick. After going through most of the 2003 campaign with players injuried, and yet still compiling an 8-1 record, it was encouraging having all the players suit up and play. ?This is the first game all season we had our entire squad in pads on the sideline,? said Budnick. ?We got 21 guys that played together as a team. It didn?t matter who was in there, we were shuffling guys in and out. They made the holes, they made the plays, they made the tackles.? The Vikings have now won 20 consecutive regular season road games dating back to October of 1999.

ATLANTA HAD first possession and moved the ball to midfield before attempting a pass on fourth down, instead of punting into a slight breeze. It didn?t take but a few plays for the Vikings to score as Jesse Romel ran the first of his two touchdowns (3, 11) in, with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter. With a pad-crunching hit by Matt Ponik on the ensuing kickoff, Atlanta got the ball back at its own 30-yard line. On second-and-four, Ponik intercepted a pass at the Posen sideline, and the Vikes were back on offense. With two big runs from Richie Kroll, one of eight and another of 14 yards, Posen had the ball back in the end zone three minutes and sevens seconds after the turnover, as Ron Kroll took the ball two yards for the score to make it 12-0 with less than a minute left to go in the opening quarter. Ponik fired the ball to a wide-open Matt Szczerowski for the two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.

Atlanta failed to move the ball again and punted the ball 23 yards from their own 27. The Vikes didn?t waste their excellent field position with Ponik tossing the ball to Ron Kroll for a 31-yard touchdown. Kroll caught the short pass, made a couple of defenders miss, and wasn?t going to be caught in the open field. After the point-after kick, the score was 21-0, with 8:48 left in the second quarter. The Huskies showed some life, stringing together first downs, almost losing the ball at the goaline, but scoring in a short yardage situation to make it 21-6.

WITH ABOUT two minutes to go in the half, Posen had the ball at the Huskie 46-yard line on first down, when the offensive line on the right side pushed every Atlanta defender out of the way and gave Richie Kroll nothing but open field to work with. He wasn?t touched for 30 yards and when they did get to him, Kroll dragged Huskies with him for a few yards. The drive ended with a touchdown pass play from Ponik to Szczerowski. The lead was 22. The Huskies were moving the ball again, and had hopes of tacking on some points before halftime, when they faked a run to the left. The running back stopped and attempted a pass to the right, but Ron Kroll stepped in front of the receiver and had nothing but open field and goal posts in front of him. Jesse Romel and R

ichie Kroll added scores in the second half.

Not since the second week of the season did the Vikings have a victory as easy as this one. ?It?s nice to give everyone plenty of playing time,? said Budnick. ?All 21 kids finally got into pads, and all 21 kids contributed.? Richie Kroll was the leading rusher with 79 yards on seven carries; Ron Kroll was 10-for-79; Jesse Romel seven-for-58; Josh Krajniak six-for-31; Kalin Diffin six-for-17; and Willie Richards four-for-nine. Ponik was four-for-five passing for 60 yards, while freshman Jason Romel completed his first varsity pass to Matt Styma for eight yards.

The Vikings will be hoping for opening round success such as they had in Posen last year. The Vikings? only road playoff win was the school?s first post-season victory in 1999 against Hale.

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