Win fixes a lot for Vikings - HERALD PRESS

By John Dempsey sports@h-ponline.com | Tuesday, September 4, 2012

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Friday’s 26-20 overtime victory at Logansport not only gave Huntington North its first win of the season, but a boost in confidence as well.

“It was not really pretty,” Viking coach Trent Fine said. “They controlled the ball very well against us. Logansport more than doubled us on time of possession. It was a situation where we functioned well on offense.

“I told the coaches it would be nice to go out and beat them 40-0, to have an easy win, but we had the lead the whole first half.”

The Berries put together a 13-play, 89-yard drive that put them on top late in theNorth CentralConference game.

“They came out and took the lead going into the fourth quarter and a lot of time evaporated. That took the sails out of us,” Fine said. “It was a situation where we could go one of two ways. Our kids responded well.

“We got the ball back and thencompletedthe fake punt. We needed seven yards and got nine. Two plays later, (Drew) Schnitz got the touchdown.”

Logansport won the toss going into overtime and chose to go on defense.

“I wanted to go on defense first and didn’t get it. Caleb Richison said ‘I can get open on this.’ Drew threw it and Caleb scored,” Fine said. “I decided to go for two because Logansport had a good rush on the extra point the last time. We just bobbled it.

“We put the defense out and they really stepped up.”

After rushing the ball for nearly 300 yards during regulation, the Berries could only get four yards on their first two plays. Two false starts pushed them back to the 16. After an incomplete pass brought fourth down, Trenton Kern sealed the Vikings’ sixth straight victory against Logansport with an interception.

After starting out the season on a three-game road trip, the Vikings get to play on the grass of Kriegbaum Field Friday.

That boost of confidence and a home crowd will come in handy as Kokomo – winner of 37 straight North Central Conference games – comes calling in the game with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.

Fine saw some things he likes from watching the tape of the Wildkats’ 42-28 win over Muncie Central.

“It looks like Muncie Central was moving the ball well against them. I think we’ll have some mismatches that they are not going to like,” he said. “It’s the same on the other side. They’re really big up front. They’re going to move the ball on us.”

But, with the way the defense played against Logansport, he feels some earlier issues have been solved.

“I think we shored up some things defensively and that’s encouraging to me,” Fine said. “We stepped up on the run and that’s something we have to do against Kokomo.”

The Wildkats, who trailed the Bearcats 28-21 in the third, wereledby Michael Copeland’s 34-carry, 199-yard performance in which he scored four touchdowns.