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Vikes suffer disappointing loss to Princeton in homecoming gameBy Danielle Strenke There werenít a lot of penalties or turnovers. The North Branch football squad didnít make any mental errors or suffer from bad referee calls. They came out ready to play, but the Princeton Tigers used size and strength to overpower the Vikings last Friday, handing North Branch its first loss of the season. North Branch tried to swing the momentum its way with a 99-yard kickoff return with :57 seconds remaining in the first quarter, as Marc Vanden Heuvel found the endzone. Two plays later, Princeton answered with a 69-yard pass for a TD. On all three of its scores, Princeton followed up by attempting the two-point conversion, but was stopped each time by the Vikings defense. Trailing 18-7, North Branch came back with a strong 50-yard drive that culminated with a 41-yard field goal by kicker Britt Baumann in the second quarter. The Tigers battled back again on the next series, scoring 6 and hitting the extra point for a 25-10 halftime lead. Head Coach Joel Swanson said the physical strength of the Princeton offense simply wore down the Vikings. ìThey also have many different players who can make big plays on offense,î he said. This was also evidenced by the number of players sidelined for a series or two because of injuries for the Vikings, including quarterback Matt Fletcher who injured his shoulder and sat out for one offensive series. The Vikings were limited to 127 yards of total offense in the game, including only 25 rushing yards. Princeton had 439 yards in total offense. The loss leaves Princeton, North Branch and Chisago Lakes all vying for the Rum River Conference title with 6-1 records going into the final game this Wednesday, Oct. 15. North Branch is pitted against Chisago Lakes tonight on the road for a share of the conference title. ìWe will have to keep them from getting the big play and play our best game of the season,î Swanson said. ©ECM Post Review |