Defense comes up big in NB's second win

They say defense wins championships when it comes to football. Well, defense hasn’t been the strongest point for North Branch this year, but the ‘D’ came up big in the spots it needed to and the offense had a flair for the dramatic again as North Branch earned their second win on the year, beating St. Louis Park 42-35. The Orioles began the game with a quick scoring drive against the much-maligned North Branch defense.

Their extra point was good and the Orioles enjoyed an early 7-0 lead. In typical 2012 fashion, North Branch answered quickly on the powerful and churning legs of senior quarterback Zack Sundly. The senior optioned left on North Branch’s first play of the drive and found a gaping hole in the Oriole defense. Sundly raced through it and it turned into a footrace down the left sideline. As he raced past his own team, the North Branch bench erupted like a wave following him and it propelled Sundly into the end zone before any of the SLP defenders could catch up to him. By the time the dust had settled on the run, it was an 83 yard touchdown run for Sundly, the longest of his career, and a 7-7 game for North Branch after senior soccer player Logan Klatt booted the extra point through the uprights. The NB defense came up big on St. Louis Park’s second drive. With the Orioles facing a third and long, they rolled quarterback Quinn Livdahl to his right.

As Livdahl stopped to look downfield for an open receiver, North Branch’s Michael Hensch closed in behind him and chased him down for his first sack of the season. Although Livdahl ended up tossing the ball forward, the referees ruled him in Hensch’s grasp and gave the Vikings the sack. However, the potent Viking offense couldn’t capitalize and were forced into a three and out from inside their own 10. Reid Johnson lined up deep to punt, but the snap was too high for Johnson. He did recover and was able to get his foot on the ball, but it was with two black-and-orange jerseys closing in fast on him and the punt never went more than five feet off the ground. It drilled a St. Louis Park blocker near the 15 yard line and the Orioles pounced on it for great field position near North Branch’s 10. Senior running back Kashif Hayes of St. Louis Park, who gashed North Branch for 189 yards rushing on the night, pounded the ball into the end zone and gave St. Louis Park the lead back at 14-7. Sundly and the North Branch offense always seem to answer the bell, however, when someone scores in front of them.

On their next drive, North Branch gave the Oriole defense a steady diet of Sundly and bruising fullback Rance Ashley, who has been a wonderful complement to Sundly’s evasiveness on the outside. The mix of the two runners, the Bash and Dash, kept St. Louis Park on its heels until Sundly weaved his way through what seemed like orange and black traffic cones down the left side for a 32-yard touchdown to knot the game at 14. Not to be outdone, Hayes rushed for his second touchdown of the night on SLP’s next drive, and they were able to milk a lot of the second quarter clock down in the process of scoring. Despite a run-oriented option attack, however, the Vikings have been proficient at utilizing the clock to their advantage this year, and this game was no exception. North Branch had driven inside of St. Louis Park’s 20, but they still were out of Klatt’s field goal range and there was only time for one more play. St. Louis Park had surely scouted some of North Branch’s fancy plays -- most notably a Tony Denn halfback pass that went for a 41 yard touchdown pass against St. Francis earlier in the year -- but they forgot all about one player on the field when North Branch made their move.

The Vikings went back to the toss. Sundly pitched the ball right to Tony Denn, who caught it in stride but stopped quickly. St. Louis Park had the downfield receivers covered to the right, but that was by design. Denn wasn’t looking downfield. He quickly turned back and threw the ball back to Sundly on the left hash. Sundly caught the ball just inside the 20 with a platoon of blockers in front of him. Sundly worked his way through the defense and found the endzone as the halftime horn sounded. Klatt booted his third extra point of the game and the score was 21-21 at halftime. North Branch had a chance to really take advantage when they received the kickoff to open the second half, but as the Vikings were driving deep into SLP territory, Sundly was caught from behind on a run as he was trying to juke the last defender and the ball squirted out and St. Louis Park recovered the fumble and had a chance to seize the game. A couple of long toss plays later and St. Louis Park was near midfield, threatening to retake the lead when the NB defense mustered up a bit of energy and thwarted SLP’s attack. However, the offense was stagnant this time it took the field and was unable to move it downfield, forcing a punt.

But, disaster struck on special teams again. The snap was very high again, forcing Johnson to scramble a bit before punting the ball. The ball skied into the dark St. Louis Park night, but it didn’t go far. It hit the ground just past the line of scrimmage and took a backward bounce before being downed. It ended up as a negative one yard punt and St. Louis Park took over on NB’s 34. That was all the Orioles needed to energize them as they scored a quick touchdown, this one on an eight-yard pass from Livdahl to DJ Pollard in the right sife of the endzone. Tony Benda had a bead on the ball, but turned the wrong way at the last second and allowed Pollard to catch the ball uncontested. After North Branch had trouble moving the ball again, things looked like they might be going St. Louis Park’s way, but NB is a resilient bunch. With St. Louis Park controlling the ball on a second down, Livdahl dropped back to pass and lofted it high down field for his receiver.

Although the receiver had fit behind the corner and in front of the safety, the ball was lofted too high when NB linebacker Gunnar Kane applied pressure to Livdahl and it allowed senior Jake Pilz to work his way towards the pass. Giving up five inches to Pollard, the intended St. Louis Park receiver, Pilz outjumped him and wrestled the ball away for an interception, North Branch’s second forced turnover in the game. The Vikings offense used that pick to create momentum for themselves, using Denn, Ashley and Sundly to dance down the field before Sundly scored a seven yard touchdown to tie the game at 28-28. After another big defensive stand by the Vikings, North Branch again struck quickly. Ashley and Sundly carved their way down the field quickly, including a 30-yard run by Sundly that put the ball inside SLP’s 10-yard line. Sundly finished the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run and a tie game at 35-28 lead for the Vikings. The Orioles weren’t going down without a fight, however, and their next swing was a fierce haymaker.

After a quality kick return and a few big runs by Hayes, Livdahl dropped back to pass and look left. He lofted the ball high, but this time there was no safety help and Pollard was able to run underneath in stride and streak to the endzone for a 36-yard touchdown catch. The extra point tied the game at 35-35 and kept the fans of both teams biting their nails. North Branch took over on the ensuing kickoff with just over four minutes left in the game and began to work. They methodically plodded their way down field, three and four yards at a time, converting multiple third downs on the drive. After what seemed like an hour-long drive, North Branch had the ball with a first and goal and just over a minute left. Two Sundly runs couldn’t finish the drive and left them a just outside the five with on third down. After a timeout after the second Sundly run, the senior quarterback was limping off the field to the timeout huddle, and no one was sure where the Vikings would go with their third down play.

They went with what had worked all night and what had worked all season: the option. Sundly took the snap and looked to his left. The defensive end dance and stuttered, but didn’t collapse towards Ashley, so Sundly gave the ball to his big fullback and Ashley trampled his way into the endzone with 25 seconds left on the clock. Klatt’s extra point made it 42-35. Klatt proceeded to boot the ball into the endzone for a touchback, giving St. Louis Park 25 seconds to work 80 yards down field. Junior linebacker Brandon Thauwald, who is a captain, made sure there was no dramatics. When Livdahl dropped back to pass on first down, he threw a laser just to the right of the has marks and Thauwald laid out for the ball, scooping it for a game-sealing interception. The North Branch sideline erupted as the Vikings won their second game of the year, both of them within the last 25 seconds of the contest. The Vikings may not have had the best defense all night, but they had the best defense when it counted, and it moved them to 2-3 on the year. They take on Fridley this week at homecoming. The game starts at 7 p.m., but the pageantry starts before then with the homecoming parade starting at the fire department at 4:30 and winding through town to the high school, where there will be tailgating until kickoff.