Vikings score first win in three years

Just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday night, the Bigfork Vikings football team ended an era they hope to never return to. They won their first game in three years with a 35-29 overtime victory beating No. 9 ranked Plains in both of the teams' first District 7B game of the season.

"The whole day, and night afterwards it was like it wasn't real," said Vikings running back Travis Knoll. "It was like I was dreaming. A lot of teams do it every week, but for us it was a really big deal."

Knoll, a junior and three year veteran on the Bigfork High School football team, was responsible for the touchdowns that led to the tie game and the win in overtime.

With just under six minutes left in regulation play, Knoll took the ball to the end zone on a 4-yard run. Senior Derek Minemyer, who is new to the team this year, kicked the field goal that tied the game at 29.

The Vikings sideline exploded, and so did the stands.

For the remaining minutes of the game, Bigfork did their best to score, but couldn't make anything happen.

Defensively they were mostly solid, letting Plains get near the end zone, but never in, and the game was sent into overtime.

The rules for winning were simple: each team was given an opportunity to score with the ball spotted on the 20-yard line. The first team to score and stop the other team from scoring during their possession got the win.

Plains, who had ended the fourth quarter on offense, got the ball first, and they were again unable to break through Bigfork's defense. Bigfork switched sides of the ball, and in their third play Knoll landed in the end zone, ball in hand.

"When I found out what play Coach had called and that the ball was coming to me, I was just thinking that there's now way I'm not getting in," Knoll said. "It wasn't a selfish thing, but I just thought it would be really cool. There was a big hole and I just went right through. Our blockers did most of the work."

Though Knoll was a strong contributor to the final minutes of the game, he almost didn't make it that far.

The game was stopped twice due to him being injured on the field.

In the first half, he suffered a cramp in his leg, but the second was more severe. He remained on the field for a few minutes after taking a hit while carrying the ball during a fourth-quarter play.

"They wouldn't let me get up," Knoll said. "I was more worried about what everyone else was thinking than how I felt. I knew everyone was probably worrying about me and thinking I was going to be out of the game."

Although Knoll was the big point contributor at the end of the game, his teammates share the credit with getting the team in reach of the win.

"I told Cody (Dopps' after the game that he was the player of the game," Knoll said. "I got the last two touchdowns, but he had the big stats."

Dopps scored the team's first touchdown of the game on a 14-yard run with five minutes left in the third quarter. He also got their third touchdown on a 20-yard run.

"It's fun to be a part of something like that, especially with how young our team is," Dopps said. "You'd think that we would do that (get the first win) when we were seniors."

Dopps rushed for 120 yards in 15 attempts and caught two interceptions. Although he is only a sophomore, Dopps has been making big contributions to the team this season.

"I've just been playing hard to get the team a win," Dopps said. "I just don't ever want to give up and Travis (Knoll) is the same way. It's been really fun playing with him this year."

Last year Dopps played defensive back, but this year he's on the line for both offense and defense.

"It helps distribute the team," Dopps said. "It gets tiring. I'm not going to lie, but it gives me more confidence out there too because Coach trusts me on both sides of the ball."

Bigfork's victory started out with a three-point lead midway through the first quarter when Minemyer put up a 37-yard field goal.

Plains remained scoreless until the opening minutes of the second quarter when Reiley Winebrenner scored on a 44-yard run to take away the first lead that the Viking's have had this season.

Carson Lilja got the Savage Horsemen the extra point. Winebrenner scored a second touchdown midway through the second quarter and Lilja's kick was good again. Lilja pushed Plains' lead to 17-3 with a 38-yard field goal before the first half ended.

Knoll said that Bigfork High School Head Football Coach Todd Emslie's half-time speech helped turn things around for the Vikings for the final two quarters, as it did the previous week in Conrad.

"We play terrible the first half and he tells us that we can do better," Knoll said. "I think everyone was tired of losing and they just went out and played as hard as they could."

The second half was a true team effort for Bigfork, as the players opted to not get discouraged by the 14-point deficit they faced.

"That just says a lot about them," Emslie said. "That they were able to keep going like that is pretty impressive. I don't know what it was that got them to do that, but I was really proud of the whole team for that."

Dopps' touchdown in the opening minutes of the second half was followed by another Bigfork touchdown, this time by quarterback Christian Ker, who pushed the ball through Plains' defense on a 4-yard run.

The extra point would've tied the game up at 17, but the field goal was unsuccessful as it was with Dopps' touchdown.

In addition to his touchdown, Ker also threw seven completions in 11 attempts for 138 yards, and had only one interception.

"My quarterback, Christian Ker, stepped up and showed unbelievable pose and leadership," Emslie said. "He was the guy we all kind of rallied around. He was solid and he didn't crack."

With Bigfork trailing by just a point and half of the third quarter still left to play, Plains extended their lead with a 70-yard run. The Savage Horsemen squeezed in a second third-quarter touchdown in the final seconds with a 1-yard run by Dylan Fryxell.

The field goal attempts that followed both of Plains' touchdowns failed, meaning both teams scored 12 points that quarter and Bigfork still trailed by 14.

"It was one of those games where we'd do some good things and catch up and then we'd make a mistake and let them get ahead again," Emslie said. "Then we'd score some more and then they'd be right back on us. It was a roller coaster."

Dopps and Knoll's back-to-back touchdowns ended the back and forth, though, helping the team's hard work finally pay off.

"The line has been doing a lot better than last year," Knoll said. "We returned a lot of guys there from last year that have been getting gradually better. Christian (Ker) hit his targets and was really steady for us. Our defense is finally tackling and coming up with some turnovers. Everybody played really well, otherwise we wouldn't have won."

The victory came with quite a surprise for the Vikings and their coaches, as the spectators on the home side rushed the field to help them celebrate their win.

"I guess I really didn't realize just how big it was and how much getting that win meant to them," Emslie said. "I've been around football for a long time and a win is a win. But not for this team. It meant so much more to them and to the school, and really to the community. I couldn't believe it when I saw the stands empty onto the field like that. But that is in the past now, and the only thing for us to do now is to build on that and continue to get those wins. Now the goal is to make it to the playoffs."

The team has their eyes set on the same goal.

"Winning is definitely addicting," Dopps said. "(This win) gives everyone the confidence that we can win more games and I think the community will support us even more now that they know we can win too."

The Vikings, (1-0, 1-2), will no longer have their team name followed by the struggles that they've faced with a lack of players, a 28-game losing streak, three new coaches in four years or the death of teammate Jeffrey Bowman and the lawsuit that followed. Instead, Bigfork High School's football team is going into their game on Friday in Eureka, as well as their remaining conference match-ups, with their first winning record in league play since the 2003 season.

"I know that for everyone on the team it was the best feeling they have had in a long time and I think they're going to push to get that back again," Knoll said. "But even more than that, it was a huge confidence booster. It's always been that we're just lame old Bigfork and we're going to lose because that always happens. But not now. Now we've shown that we can win."

Emslie believes the win was a real learning experience for his team as well.

"They learned that every play in a game matters, right down to the very last play with Travis carrying three guys into the end zone for the overtime win," Emslie said. "They learned that winning comes with some pain as well, that you have to be tough if you want to win. We just out toughed Plains. We were tougher than Plains. When was the last time anyone could say that about Bigfork? Plains was tired in the fourth quarter, but we rose above that."

The Vikings will not host another game until homecoming Oct. 9, when they will face perennial playoff team Fairfield in a non-conference match-up.