***Article by Josh Longstreth
The Tri-County Vikings suffered their first defeat of the season last week at the hands of Big Rapids. Tri-County hung around for much of the first half before slowly letting the Cardinals build some momentum in the second half. This week the Vikings would take out some frustration on a vulnerable Chippewa Hills squad.
Tri-County opened the scoring in this one. But it wouldn’t come until the second quarter as both defenses set the tone early. Owen Behrenwald took one in from 17-yards out to give the Vikings an early 8-0 lead after a successful two-point conversion. They would grab another score in the quarter when sophomore Cade Hallman pounced into the endzone from 3-yards away. All Vikings after one half of play, 14-0.
The Vikings would come out of the half with the same intensity and take a complete stranglehold on the game. Behrenwald would get loose and find nothing but daylight on an 88-yard score. This gave Tri-County a 22-0 advantage and that’s where things would stand after quarter three.
Chippewa Hills would finally be able to find some life late in this one. Gage Saathoff would connect with Gage Perkins from 5-yards away. This cut the Tri-County lead to 22-6 but it just wouldn’t be enough. The Vikings bounce back in a big way in week eight.
The Warriors will fall to 3-5 on the season. They will look to see if they can finish strong in their regular season finale with Pine River next week. The Bucks have dropped two in a row and sit at 2-6 on the season.
Tri-County fell on hard times last week but they showed their resilience in this one. They move to 7-1 on the year and have a chance to add to that next week when they face a big showdown in Belding. The Black Knights roll in at 7-1.
