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Only the superstitious believe in the concept of deja vu actually occuring.

Well, the whole North Branch Vikings football sideline might be superstitious after their Oct. 15 match up against the previously winless St. Francis Saints.

The setting: Fridley High School football field.

The date: Friday, Sept. 5.

The situation: After scoring three quick touchdowns, the North Branch football team enjoys a comfy 21-0 lead over the then-punchless Fridley Tigers.

The result: Fridley storms back on offense, relying on the big play to get them back into it, and locks up on the defensive side of the ball to shut down the Vikings. Fridley 28, North Branch 21.

Fast forward to Wednesday, Oct. 15.

After receiving the ball to open up the early week game, the Vikings, who were minus quarterback Anders Dahlberg and got very limited participation from leading rusher Chad Anderson because of injury, marched down the field on the shoulders of their super-sophomore, Zack Smith.

Five, six, seven and eight-yard runs were the norm for Smith on the opening drive. His quick feet and the offensive line's punishing blocking completely gashed the surprised St. Francis defense.

Once in the redzone, Smith capped the drive off with a 12-yard run before most fans had settled into their damp seats.

Brian Grand missed the ensuing extra point to give the Vikings and early 6-0 lead.

On St. Francis's first possession, the Saints showed a little life. After gaining two first downs to move into the Vikings' half of the field, an errant pitch on a toss play was the opportunity the swarming North Branch defense needed.

The Saints' running back who missed the pitch slipped trying to recover it, and lineback Sean Franks scooped up the loose ball without a Saint in sight and dashed his way to the endzone for a 48-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Grand made good on his second extra point try, extending the Vikings' lead to 13-0 in the first quarter.

Both teams traded stalemate possessions into the second quarter when North Branch made another big move.

Facing a third down at midfield, senior quarterback Joe Johnson dropped back for a quick dumpoff to Franks, the tight end, to get the first down.

Franks' determinatioon turned it into much more than that. He broke a couple tackles and got a couple downfield blocks from receivers and that sprung him to the endzone for a 47-yard touchdown reception from Johnson. Grand converted the extra point to stretch the lead to 20-0 midway through the second quarter.

On St. Francis's ensuing drive, they were finally able to gain some traction as the drove down the field in just a few minutes. They used a blend of quarterback draws and short slot passes to keep the Vikings' on their heels all the way to endzone.

St. Francis running back Kyle Allen capped the long drive off with a three-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, the Saints chopped the lead to 20-7.

With only a few minutes left before halftime, the Vikings needed to move quickly down the field, which forced them into passing situations.

The strategy, however, didn't work and the Saints forced a Viking punt in their own territory.

Disaster struck for the Vikings when a pack of St. Francis defenders broke through the line and blocked the punt.

The block gave the Saints great field position with some time still left on the clock.

A few plays later, Saints quarterback Anthony Carlton found Matt Polis in the corner of the endzone for a 26-yard touchdown that cut the score to 20-13. The Saints missed their extra point to keep the Viking lead at seven going into halftime.

The Vikings took over in the third quarter after forcing a three and out from St. Francis to open the second half.

Their first drive of the second half nearly replicated their first drive of the second half. With Smith as the workhorse, the Vikings effortlessly galloped down the field against the Saints to put themselves into great position to score with first and goal from the six yard line.

The Saints defense found some teeth though on this drive. On fourth and goal from the two, Johnson called his own number on a quarterback draw, but the Saints stuffed him on the five yard line for a turnover on downs.

This swing of momentum proved to be a huge boost for the Saints, when two plays after taking over at their own five, St. Francis running back Gabe Ondrey took a pitch to the left side and cut through the Vikings defense for a 90 yard touchdown run. St. Francis failed on the extra point to afford the Vikings a one-point lead at 20-19.

North Branch finally had enough of the Saints comeback, as they took over on their next drive and ran with a purpose. Like he had most of the game, Smith led the charge all the way down the field. Sweeps, draws, dives, counters, traps -- it didn't matter, Smith moved the ball with ease into a scoring situation.

This time, the Vikings made good on their opportunity, as Smith punched the ball in from the three yard line for his second score of the game. Grand converted the extra point for a 27-19 lead early in the fourth quarter.

St. Francis rallied their offensive troops, however, for a drive of their own.

Again using quarterback draws and short passes, the Saints dinked and dunked their way down the field. In a similar situation as North Branch earlier, once they got close to the goalline, however, the Saints locked up. After getting first and goal from the five, they eventually faced a fourth and goal from the eight with just under six minutes remaining in the game.

Carlton threw a fade to Polis in the back of the endzone, and after a little hand fighting by Polis and the North Branch defender, Polis came down with the ball. But, it was a tough call whether he was in bounds or not.

After a short conference between the two referees on that side of the ball, they ruled it a touchdown for the Saints.

On the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, Carlton rolled out to his left and fired a strike right at the goalline into the awaiting arms of Matt Jochum. The conversion knotted the game, as well as many North Branch fans' stomachs, at 27-27.

But North Branch returned fire again. Starting at their own 30 yard line, the Vikings leaned heavily on Smith's running to get them into Saints territory. Just outside the Saints' 30 yardline, however, a botched center to quarterback exchange put the ball on the ground and into the hands of a St. Francis lineman with three minutes left in the game.

A few plays into the next drive, St. Francis's Dontay Matthews got behind the North Branch defense for a heart-wrenching 62 yard score with 1:27 left in the game. The extra point failed, and the Saints held their first lead of the whole season, 33-27.

The Vikings knew what they needed in the last minute and a half, and after a Dan Schoess return gave them the ball at their own 35, the Vikes almost pulled out a miracle of their own.

After Johnson threw the first ball away, third quarterback Scott Bossard trotted in under center because of his arm strength. On his first play, St. Francis inexplicably didn't have a safety valve playing deep and it almost cost them dearly.

His pass was complete to Franks, and a block and broken tackle sprung him free to the outside. With a clear path to the endzone, Franks had smooth sailing to a game-tying touchdown until one of the Saints defensive backs chased him down and pushed him out of bounds at the 18 yardline.

With still 30 seconds left, the Vikings spiked the ball on first down. Their second down pass was incomplete, and on third down, St. Francis bull rushed the North Branch interior linman and got through for a sack. With only a few ticks left, the Vikings hurried to the line and launched one more pass towards the endzone. It fell to the grass and fell the North Branch sideline. With a kneel down, St. Francis completed their comeback, 33-27.

For the second time this year, North Branch failed to protect a three-touchdown lead and lost a game in which they should've won.

The loss dropped the Vikings regular season record to 1-7 and sent them from a potential fifth seed in the section to the eighth seed.

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