---

Tartan 38, North Branch 14

There's something about the Classic Suburban Conference that is North Branch's part-time kryptonite.

They narrowly lost to Tartan last year 21-14 after a good start in the game last year, then, the Vikings dropped a 44-20 playoff game to another CSC opponent, Hill Murray, after racing out to a 20-0 lead.

On Friday, the Vikings started out guns ablazing and scored the first touchdown after narrowly missing an early one, and they seemed like they might blow Tartan out.

The Titans had a different plan, however.

The Vikings were sporting a new look on offense. After struggling on offense in the first game, the Vikings shifted running back Zack Sundly to quarterback to replace Jarrod Mold.

Sundly promptly made that move look genius, scampering for nearly 40 yards on the Vikings' first run from scrimmage.

But, the Tartan defense, with their backs against the wall, stifled the drive the rest of the way, forcing North Branch to attempt a 35-yard field goal. Senior soccer player Trent Holmes hooked the ball just a tad left, and although it had plenty of distance the ball fluttered just outside the left goal post, leaving the Vikings empty handed after their big opening run.

That was no problem, though, as the North Branch defense was up to the task in the beginning of the game. Tartan was able to move the ball near North Branch territory, but the Viking defense was able to force them into a fourth and one situation. Tartan's coach elected to go for it, but the North Branch defense blasted through the middle of the Tartan line to stop the running back dead in his tracks for a loss of one yard.

With all of the momentum in the world on their side, the North Branch offense took over and did what got them points last week: put the ball in Brett Klun's hands. The senior scored on a long reception and a kickoff return against St. Louis Park in the opening week, and although he didn't bust a long run right away, he chipped away at the Titan defense.

His first run went 18 yards on an end-around, and put North Branch in business just outside of the 10 yard line. After a play was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage, Klun took the ball again to the right side and wove his way through some masterful downfield blocking by the North Branch receivers and found his way into the corner of the endzone for his first score of the day and third on the year. The Holmes point after split the uprights and North Branch had a 7-0 lead and was moving the ball at will against the Tartan defense.

Everything changed on the next drive though. Tartan was methodically moving down the field, but the North Branch defense was in a bend, but don't break mode. Once Tartan started knocking on the redzone door, North Branch made plays. They stopped Tartan for no gain, coaxed a holding penalty out of one of the line, grabbed a short sack and forced Tartan into a fourth and almost 20 from the 30 yard line. Tartan didn't have a kicker with the leg for a 45 yard field goal, so they did the next best thing and just chucked the ball long.

Although the North Branch defensive backs had the play covered fairly well as the quarterback was forced out of the pocket to the left. As he scrambled towards the line of scrimmage, the defensive backs crept up a bit with him, which in fourth and long was a mistake.

Tartan quarterback Mitchel Grohs made them pay for that mistake, lofting a pass to Stacy Kalkwarf at the five, where he came down with it and went into the end zone untouched.

The play was a backbreaker for the North Branch defense, which had forced Tartan into a nearly unmanagable down.

Things went from bad to worse when Sundly was hit on a pass attempt and the ball fluttered to a Tartan linebacker in North Branch's territory on the next drive.

The Titans promptly marched down the field and scored their second unanswered touchdown when Alan Medina-Gonzalez plunged into the end zone from five yards out. The extra point by Jo Tjosvold was good and Tartan had their first lead of the game at 14-7.

They would stretch it to 17-7 on a Tjosvold field goal before halftime was out when they couldn't move the ball on offense and Tartan continued to find rhythm on the offensive side of the ball.

The Vikings came out for the second half with a bit more energy, but Tartan seemed to be overflowing with confidence after their 17-point outburst in the second quarter. Medina-Gonzalez, a running back who is bigger than most of North Branch's lineman, pounded the ball up the middle and between the tackles on the opening drive in the second half, and his 20-yard touchdown run capped 24 unanswered points by Tartan that seemed to leave North Branch reeling.

The rest of the third quarter was a bit of a jockeying match, as Tartan was content with the clock ticking and ticking since North Branch's offense is not built to be a quick strike one.

The Vikings were able to cut the lead to 24-14 early in the fourth quarter when Sundly finished off a nice North Branch drive with a one-yard touchdown run, but it didn't do much to slow down the suddenly rejuvenated Tartan offense. They put together a nice drive of their own, capping it off with a three-yard touchdown by Halim Bilal.

A 52-yard interception return for a touchdown on North Branch's next drive sealed the deal for Tartan as they went up by 24 points with only a limited amount of time left in the contest.

North Branch was again done in by their inability to move the ball through the air. Combined, Sundly and Mold went four-of-nine for 20 yards and two interceptions.

Despite the Vikings running for 226 yards, when the air is not an option, things get awfully one-dimensional. Sundly ended the game with 146 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown. Klun had three carrieds for 34 yards and a touchdown and freshman Matt Marrin had five carries for 28 yards and he took over the kick return duties when Klun came out of the game with a shoulder injury. Not many freshman ever sniff the field for meaningful varsity action, so Marrin is a back to look out for.

North Branch is still missing senior running back Carl Neumann and senior linebacker Kerry Konrad, two players that have lettered since they were sophomores. Neumann's broken hand likely will keep him out until late in the season if he's to play at all, and Konrad said he still may be a couple weeks away with a back problem.

But, not much is going to matter if the Vikes can't start using the passing game a little more effectively, as teams are starting to focus on the run.

North Branch doesn't have to go far for their first road game of the year. This Friday night, they take on their bitter rivals to the southeast, Chisago Lakes, who are also 0-2 on the year after dropping games to Holy Angels and Spring Lake Park.

Despite rushing for over 220 yards as a team, North Branch had troubles moving the ball through the air for the second game in a row.

Senior Chace Johnson (44) applied the pressure to Tartan's quarterback early in the game.

Brett Klun had a touchdown for the second game in a row as he dragged a Tartan defender into the end zone with him for a 7-0 lead.

---