Vikes fall 40-18 to St. Michael Knights

It was another game where a few bad breaks put the Vikings in big trouble, as North Branch worked to recover from a 16-0 deficit early on and eventually lost 40-18 against St. Michael-Albertville Friday.
The Knights picked up two touchdowns in the first quarter, along with two successful conversions for the 16-0 lead after one. The Vikes rallied to score midway through the second, as Jeremy Valentin ran 30 yards up the middle for the score. Marc Vanden Heuvel followed it with a run for two points.
North Branch took possession with seconds remaining in the half, picking off a St. Michael pass deep in Vikes territory. The team was able to drive 31 yards into field goal range for kicker Britt Baumann, who hit a 37 yard field goal to end the half with the Vikes trailing 16-11.
ìWe moved the ball pretty well to start the second half, but we turned it over on downs in their territory,î head coach Joel Swanson said.
The Knights picked up another TD in the third on a 64 yard run.
St. Michael increased its lead with two more touchdowns to start the fourth quarter, leading 34-11.
Following the second touchdown, the Vikings Jeremy Anderson returned the kickoff 86 yards for a North Branch touchdown. St. Michael scored on its subsequent possession for the 40-18 win.
The Vikes improved on offense from the previous game, totalling 207 yards versus St. Michaelís 467 yards.
Vanden Heuvel led the offense with 62 yards, while Valentin picked up 56 yards and Mike Dahlke had 18 yards.
Defensively, the Vikings recorded two interceptions, from Jared Gagne and Vanden Heuvel.
ìWe moved the ball well from time to time but we committed too many mistakes to be consistent,î Swanson said.
ìOn defense I think we took them out of their initial game plan. We caused some big problems, but they made adjustments and were ale to make some big plays against us.î
Swanson said overall, the team showed great improvement this week. ìWe played hard and did a lot of nice things, but we need to become more consistent. I am proud of the kidsí effort.î
The loss brings the Vikesí record to 1-5 with two games remaining in the regular season. This Friday, North Branch faces Princeton on the road before returning home Wednesday, Oct. 16 against Chisago Lakes.

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