By Steve Morris

Special teams were not so special as the North Branch Vikings football team fell to Irondale 21-2 Sept. 15.

The special team department gave up a punt return for 60 yards in the second quarter and to open the second half, they gave up a 80-yard touchdown on the kickoff.

Head coach Dave Eyre said the kickoff return for a touchdown was a ìdeflatingî play for his team.

ìIf you take away the special teams plays ñ itís a 10-point game,î he said.

North Branch played without starting linebackers Justin Novak and Jake Chambers ñ both missed the game because of injuries.

Caleb Forstrom took over Novakís position and did a great job, Eyre said.

He was quick to credit the play of his defense, especially that of junior Sam Jakubowski.

ìSam Jakubowski played unreal,î Eyre said. ìHe had a highlight-real game.î

Eyre said the game could have gone either way and that they ran the ball well, but just couldnít finish off drives. For the game, they ran for 112 yards on the ground.

ìI thought this was a winnable game,î Eyre said. ìWe let this one get away from us.î

Eyre admits he had to give Irondale credit; they did just enough to win and did nothing fancy.

The Vikingsí two points came off a safety. The loss puts the Vikings at 1-2 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

Up next, North Branch plays Chisago Lakes at home Sept. 22. Despite this being his first season as head coach at North Branch, Eyre still understands the importance of the match up.

ìIf you canít get juiced up about this game, then youíre not alive,î he said.

Briefly:

ï Senior Justin Novak didnít play against Irondale because of a fracture in his foot. He is expected to miss the next six weeks.

ï Junior Jake Chambers didnít play because of an injured knee. Eyre said he hopes he will be back Friday against Chisago Lakes.