October 16, 2008 at 7:51 a.m.
Ultra-quick start by Robbinsdale Cooper dooms North Branch football
Ultra-quick start by Robbinsdale Cooper dooms North Branch football
The Vikings knew they were going to have to start out fast to control Coopers running attack, but just the opposite happened to the red-and-white clad army of Vikings.
After kicking off to open the game, Cooper's Neko Kyles bursted up the middle untouched for a 66-yard touchdown on the very first play of the game. The extra point put the Vikings in a quick 7-0 hole.
After going three and out on their first drive, the Vikings punted the ball away in hopes that the long scoring run was just an abberation, but Cooper proved otherwise.
After Cooper took over at midfield and gained 12 yards and their first play of the drive, Cooper's Romone McKnuckles took off on an outside sweep and danced his way through the Vikings 'D' for a 37-yard touchdown.
Three offensive plays for the Hawks, two touchdowns. North Branch couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. The Hawks converted their extra point to build the lead to 14-0 very early in the first quarter.
Although the teams played an even ball game for the rest of the opening quarter, most of it was played in North Branch's end.
After starting to craft a drive of their own, North Branch was quickly devastated when a Cooper defensive back picked off a quick slant and returned it deep into North Branch's territory.
It took Cooper only a few plays to capitalize as Kyles gashed through the defense for a 17-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead for Cooper.
It only got worse before it got any better for the Vikings.
After struggling to put together a consistent drive, Cooper again took over, and they again struck like lightning. A harmless looking swing pass from quarterback DJ Herbert to McKnuckles turned explosive when McKnuckles skirted down the sideline on a tight rope and danced his way into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown reception and a 28-0 lead.
By the time McKnuckles finished his run, the energy on the North Branch sideline was sapped. Big play after big play went against the Vikings, and they couldn't answer the talented running duo of Kyles and McKnuckles, who have a combined nine touchdowns and nearly 1,000 yards between them, in the first half.
The Vikings, on the other hand, never got things going with their talented tandem of runners.
Chad Anderson and Zack Smith both struggled to grind out yards like they have all season against the Hawks.
The glimmer of hope that the Vikings did take out of the game was that they shut down the Cooper offense in the second half, not allowing another score. But the North Branch offense remained stagnant and wasn't able to chip away at the lead at all.
For the Vikings, two bits of good news are up this week, however. First, they got the winless St. Francis Saints to close out their regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
And the other bit of good news is that if the Vikings defeat St. Francis, they do themselves a big favor in the section standings, since previous section leader Mahtomedi was forced to forfeit five of their six wins because of an inelgible player.
If North Branch topples the Saints, it will leave them ahead of St. Paul Harding and Mahtomedi, and possibly St. Paul Arlington, which would ensure a much more favorable match-up for the Vikes in the first round.
It all hinges on how well the Vikings respond to the demoralizing loss to Cooper, and if they come back with a mean streak and dominate the Saints with their punishing ground game.
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