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St. Louis Park 22, North Branch 19

Last year's game between North Branch and St. Louis Park came down to three overtimes and the special teams department, as the game was so long, the teams were eventually forced to go for two-point conversions after touchdowns per high school rules.

Although the game didn't hit any extra time this year, it went right down to the wire and was decided by a few key special teams plays earlier in the game.

In the opening quarter of the game, it was North Branch's defense that came to shine. After an ugly opening possession that ended in a three-and-out and a blocked punt, St. Louis Park had the ball at North Branch's 22-yard line and all the early momentum.

But, the Viking defense stood tall, not allowing the St. Louis Park offense an inch and getting the ball back after a turnover on downs.

After a few back-and-forth moments between the two teams, St. Louis Park went to the air and was successful in moving down the field. Oriole quarterback Jacolbi Courington-Meier made some deft passes, and it brought SLP down to the one-yard line, where Courington-Meier finished the drive off with a one-yard touchdown plunge. The extra point was good, putting the Orioles up 7-0.

Their celebration was short-lived, though, as Brett Klun received the ensuing kickoff deep in North Branch's zone and ran untouched through the first two waves of defenders.

With two Orioles appearing to have an angle to force Klun out of bounds, it seemed like it was just going to be a big return out to midfield, but Klun turned on the jets and beat the defenders to the sideline and pulled away with some impressive top line speed for a quick touchdown.

North Branch's extra point by their latest soccer import Trent Holmes was good, and the game was knotted at seven.

The Orioles went back to their roots of pounding the ball up the middle as the clock started to inch towards halftime, and with less than a minute left before the buzzer, they had moved the ball all the way down to the one-yard line again. And again, Courington-Meier finished the drive off with a one-yard quarterback sneak that landed just inside the goal line and put SLP up 13-7. Their ensuing extra point was good and the teams went into halftime of the sweltering hot game separated by a touchdown.

The halftime break was a welcome reprieve for both teams, as the humidity of the 90 degree day was setting in on a lot of the two-way players the teams featured. Cramps seemed to be getting the better of both teams, but St. Louis Park was faring worse, as Martin, their leading rusher, was out for an extended period of time in the last part of the half.

The third quarter was mostly a stalemate outside of one big play, and again, it involved senior Brett Klun and his blazing fast speed.

On a third down play, quarterback Jared Mold hit Klun streaking across the middle on a crossing pattern and Klun did the rest of the work, strafing across the field as he started turning towards the end zone. By the time he turned the corner, only one Oriole defender even had a shot at catching him and he couldn't get it done as Klun galloped into the end zone with a 35-yard touchdown reception from Mold.

After a poor snap, Holmes had to stutter step on the ensuing extra point, and the Orioles busted through for the block, keeping a slim 14-13 lead for themselves.

But, things looked up for North Branch, as the return man on St. Louis Park's kick return coughed the ball up right into the arms of the North Branch kick coverage team, giving the Vikings the ball deep in St. Louis Park territory.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn't duplicate their last drive, and they ended up turning the ball over on downs inside the Orioles' 30-yard line. Although Holmes looked eager to attempt a long field goal, first year Head Coach Nick Nitti opted against it, as the Vikes had already had a punt and extra point blocked, and it would've taken a near perfect kick to put the ball through the uprights.

As the team's traded possessions, it became clear that this game was going to be another nail-biter between the two teams.

North Branch finally got the upper-hand in the game midway through the fourth quarter when the rode the coattails of north-south running back Zack Sundly.

Although Sundly had coughed up an early fumble that limited his carries, the Vikings got on his shoulders on the late drive as he bowled over Oriole defenders on a few runs. A nice Mold pass dabbled in between, and then Sundly finished the drive off with a four-yard touchdown run that gave North Branch their first lead of the game at 19-14.

The Vikings went for the two-point conversion to put a seven-point gap in between the two teams, but Mold's pass fell incomplete in the back of the end zone and North Branch had to rely on their defense to lock up St. Louis Park.

Courington-Meier wasn't going to let the Orioles lose the game, though. He drove St. Louis Park down to North Branch's 27-yard line with four minutes left in the game. He hit a strike to Jordan Young near the goal line, but the opportune North Branch defense hacked the ball away from Young and recovered it at the four-yard line for a huge swing.

If the Vikings could sustain a drive, the game could've been over, but they went three and out as the St. Louis Park defense expected run-run-run.

After a decent punt return, St. Louis Park again had the ball deep in North Branch territory, and this time Young was able to hold on to a ball that he caught inside the two-yard line.

Courington-Meier finished his one-yard touchdown run trifecta with his third score of the game that put the Orioles up 20-19. Their ensuing two-point conversion was good, as Courington-Meier went through the air to convert it.

Although North Branch had some time left, their offense isn't built to be a quick strike one, and they turned the ball over on downs after a run and three pass attempts fell flat. A few Oriole kneel downs ended the game for North Branch and the two temas have combined for a 66-61 score the past to years with SLP's 22-19 win in this opener.

The Vikings ended with a pretty ho-hum offensive line. Mold was four-of-six through the air with 52 yards and one touchdown, and Sundly was their leading rusher at 18 runs for 48 yards and the lone touchdown. Klun had three receptions for 45 yards for North Branch. Both Klun and Jared Houle had impressive nights in the defensive backfield, flying around making tackles and pass break-ups for the pretty stingy Viking defense. As a unit, North Branch only allowed 222 total yards from St. Louis Park, but they just couldn't get the key stops when they needed them the most.

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