VIKES STRUGGLE BUT CLIP COUGARS

Midway's football Vikings opened district play on the road at Crest Ridge High School, on Friday, October 16. The Cougars, who came into the game with only one win on the season, out-gained the Vikings in total offense 217 yards to 169 yards. But, in the only stat that counts at the end of the game, Midway had 28 points on the scoreboard and Crest Ridge had 7 points. The Vikings are now 6-2 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

The Vikings made it look easy on the opening drive. Beau Bollinger ran the ball 1 yard into the end zone for a Midway touchdown at 10:09 of the first quarter. Taylor Ayres kicked the point after for a 7-0 Viking lead.

Midway ran just four total offensive plays in the second quarter leaving it up to the Viking "D" to score. Cody Foreman picked-off a Crest Ridge pass and returned it 89 yards for a Midway touchdown at the 7:55 mark of the second quarter. Taylor Ayres kicked the point after to make the halftime score Vikings 14 and Cougars 0.

Beau Bollinger ran for a 36 yard touchdown at the 4:39 mark of the third quarter. The kick failed, but the Viking lead over the Cougars had grown to 20-0.

At 10:29 of the fourth quarter, Taylor Ayres hit Beau Bollinger with a 7 yard touchdown pass. Taylor Ayres then passed to Josh Fischer for a two-point conversion to make the score Midway 28 and Crest Ridge 0.

The Cougars scored a touchdown on the final play of the game on a 7 yard pass from Matt Scherer to Logan Simpson. Kyler Reynolds added the point after to make the final score Vikings 28 and Cougars 7.

Beau Bollinger gained 50 yards on 14 carries. Cody Foreman gained 19 yards on 8 carries, and Zach Goddard had 1 carry for 5 yards.

Taylor Ayres was 10 of 16 passing the football for 79 yards. Cody Foreman passed and completed one pass for 29 yards.

Josh Fischer caught 3 passes for 52 yards. Bryan Fregeau caught 4 passes for 27 yards. Zach Goddard made 2 catches for 17 yards. Beau Bollinger had 1 catch for 7 yards. Josh Hague had 1 catch good for 5 yards.

Cody Foreman averaged 40 yards per kick on 5 kickoffs and 28.2 yards per punt on 5 punts. Zach Goddard had 2 punt returns for 47 yards. Beau Bollinger had a 10 yard kickoff return.

Ryan Minta was Midway's leading tackler with 8 unassisted tackles and 9 assists. Cody Foreman and Taylor Ayres each had 5 solo tackles and each had 2 assists. Cody also had an interception. Garrett James had 3 unassisted tackles and 6 assists.

Beau Bollinger had another solid game with 7 unassisted tackles and 5 assists. Josh Fischer had 3 solo tackles and 4 assists. Josh Hague had 3 unassisted tackles and 3 assists. Paul Stark had 4 solo tackles and 1 assist.

Zach Goddard had 4 unassisted tackles. Tyler Yahnig and Adam Doyle each made 1 solo tackle and each assisted on 3 tackles. Kylen Roberson assisted on 5 tackles. Mitchell Miles had 1 unassisted tackle and 1 assist.

Tyler Johnston assisted on 2 tackles. Kyle Bayard, Zach Smith, Conrad King, and Dalton Driggs each assisted on 1 tackle.

"It was good to get out of Crest Ridge with a win," said Midway head coach Larry Burchett, "but we flat-out didn't play very well. We have to play much better than we played at Crest Ridge if we want to get into post season play."

The Vikings will face the University Academy Charter Gryphons at Midway on Friday, October 23. UAC defeated Lone Jack on October 16 by a score of 20 to 19. The Gryphons feature Darrenn White a 5' 11" 170 lb. quarterback who is headed to the University of Wyoming next fall and 6' 3" 230lb. linebacker Auston LaBlance.

"Academy has a good team," said Coach Burchett. "They will be as athletic as any team we've seen this year, or are likely to see. We'll put together our game plan, they'll put together their game plan, and we'll see what happens on Friday."

The Vikes and Gryphons will kickoff at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 23. It will be senior night for Midway seniors Michael Kraemer, Cody Foeman, Josh Fischer, Beau Bollinger, Alex Weber, Tyler Johnston, Kylen Roberson, Michael Lading, and Garrett James.

This article appears courtesy of The Drexel Star and The Adrian Journal.