“Despite some real ugly weather during the week we had a great week of practice,” reported Head Coach David Haugen. “The preparation showed as we played quite well. We were able to capitalize on some Crookston turnovers and penalties that set a good tone early in the game. Crookston responded to our first touchdown with a big kick return inside our 5 yard line. They scored quickly to tie the game but we responded and pulled away after that.” 

Damien Britten got the Vikings on the board first as he scored on a ten yard run at 6:56 of the opening quarter. Crookston tied the game at 6-6 when Brady Buttcarried the ball into the end zone from the four yard line just17 seconds later. Pelican Rapids grabbed a 13-6 lead with 5:12 left in the quarter when Hayden Christenson hauled in a 71 yard pass from McHale Korf and Marcos Francobooted the extra point. Just three seconds into the second quarter Pelican Rapids expanded their lead to 19-6 on a five yard run by Matt Ziebell. A five yard TD run by Johnny Ziebell with 6:41 remaining in the half made it 25-6 and a second Korf to Christenson connection, this one covering 53 yards, followed by a PAT kick by Franco, put the score at 32-6 just over a minute later. The final score of the first half occurred with 3:45 left on the clock when Korf ran the ball in from the 18. Franco tacked on the extra point and the Vikings had a commanding 39-6 lead. 

After a scoreless third quarter the Vikings built their lead to 45-6 on a four yard run by Britten with 8:38 left in the fourth. Lukas Meier scored on a six yard run for Crookston at 4:22 and a two point conversion run by Easton Tanquist left the score at 45-14. The final TD of the night came on a 55 yard run by Arturo Villagomez with just 1:59 to play, putting the score at 51-14. 

Pelican Rapids had 379 (176 rushing, 203 passing) yards of offense and Crookston finished with 176 (140 rushing, 36 passing). Korf completed 6 of 8 passes for 183 yards and a pair of TDs. Christenson led the receivers with 5 catches for 165 yards and two scores, and Villagomez was the leading rusher with 68 yards on four carries. Meier led Crookston with 69 rushing yards on ten attempts. 

Defensive leaders for the Vikings were Matt Ziebell and Hayden Christenson with 9.5 and 7.5 tackles, respectively. James Furey and McHale Korf each picked off a pass and sacks were registered by Matt Ziebell and Zane Brosowske. 

“Our guys played hard and with a lot of confidence,” said Haugen. “We did a good job of taking advantage of what their defense gave us by getting to the outside in the running game and picking up big yards in the passing game. Wide receiver Hayden Christenson had a huge game for us.” 

Pelican Rapids will host Hawley in their regular season finale on Wednesday night.