POULSBO — Ryan Cleaver only had one man to beat and he knew what he had to do.
Cleaver juked the socks out of Stadium’s kicker, returning the opening kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown. The score gave the Vikings an early 7-0 lead and the momentum they needed helping propel their eager squad (2-2 overall) to a 35-19 victory against the Tigers Friday night in a Narrows League Bay Division contest in Poulsbo.
When it was all over, Vikings head coach Steve Frease received a victory shower courtesy of his giddy players.
“Good thing it was water,” Frease said with a smile as wide as Liberty Bay.
Frease said Cleaver’s touchdown ignited the Vikings and was a major reason why North built an insurmountable 21-0 lead against the Tigers in the first quarter.
“There was a huge hole. I think I probably could have ran through it,” he said. “Cleaver made a nice run and juked the kicker. He smelled the end zone and that play gave us lots of momentum.”
Cleaver said the biggest play of the game came on instinct.
“I was running and I decided to fake inside to the kicker and then run to the outside,” he said. “It worked and started the game off on a good note.”
North went up 14-0 when running back Greg Ottele broke around the right end romping his way to a 48-yard touchdown run with 8:42 remaining in the first quarter. Ottele’s running mate Kyle Brose scored on a 10-yard scamper, giving North a 21-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first period.
Stadium finally got on the board cutting North’s lead to 21-6 after Stadium quarterback Cameron Roback hit wide receiver Jay Skilton on go route in the end zone behind the Vikings secondary with just nine seconds left in the second quarter. Stadium struck again on a 19-yard touchdown run by Noah Goldsmith slicing North’s lead to 21-13 midway through the third quarter.
After two consecutive scoreless possessions by both teams, North regained the ball at Stadium’s 44-yard line with 11:13 left in the game. Vikings running back Taylor Chisholm took the pigskin to Stadium’s 27-yard line after a 17-yard run on first down. After a 4-yard gain by Chisholm on first down and two consecutive 2 yard gains on second and third down by Ottele, the ball rested at Stadium’s 19-yard line.
It was fourth down with two yards to go for the Vikings.
It was a crucial situation and Frease didn’t hesitate to make the gutsy decision to go for it.
“There was a never a doubt,” Frease said of going for the first down. “We’d been running the ball well all game and kind of had their number, so we went for it.”
Ottele took the ball and trudged his way to a 12-yard gain converting the fourth down play. Brose scored on the next play giving North a 28-14 lead with 8:17 to play, putting the game out of the Tigers’ reach.
Ottele credited his lineman for making the critical fourth down conversion on the ground.
“I didn’t do anything. The offensive line did it for me,” he said. “We had to get two yards, I told the lineman in the huddle we had to get these yards. I ran as fast as I could as hard as I could right where I was supposed to. The lineman stepped up tonight. As a team we focused on the little things and it paid off.”
After an Ottele interception return to the Tigers 2-yard line, Vikings quarterback Kevin Stringer called his own number scoring on a quarterback sneak for the Vikings final touchdown of the night with 3:55 remaining in regulation.
The Vikings carved out 302 yards rushing against the Stadium defense.
“Our offensive line dominated,” Frease said. “They did an excellent job blocking and sprung our running game.”
Frease is excited for North’s second Narrows League Bay Division contest of the season in Tacoma against Mount Tahoma this Friday.
“The kids have taken good steps in the past two games,” he said. “We have a big challenge next week. We have to continue executing offensively and play great defense.”
