[Preview of my article in Inside—Booster this week.]
By Jack Lydon
Amundsen had one slip away. A few big plays by Simeon early in the fourth quarter proved the difference. Amundsen dominated quarters one and three. Simeon dominated quarters two and four. The Simeon Wolverines (5-1) defeated the Amundsen Vikings (3-3) 30-14 on Thursday evening at Gately Stadium.
After the Vikings took the opening kickoff, on the first play from scrimmage, Vikings’ junior running back powered up the middle 56 yards for a touchdown. Simeon did not know what hit them.
The Vikings held Simeon after the Wolverines failed to connect on some deep passes. The Vikings took over on their 41-yard line. The Vikings went back to Reggie Mitchell. The junior again took the ball through the middle of Simeon’s defense. This time for 31 yards down to the Wolverines 23-yard line. Add in a few more runs and Mitchell had 102 yards in the first quarter. The first quarter was all Amundsen.
The second quarter went to the Wolverines. Senior quarterback Kaleb Sims scored on fourteen-yard keeper with 3:03 left to bring the Wolverines even 6-6 after the two point conversion attempt failed. The Wolverines added another touchdown late in the half with a 45-yard catch and run by junior wide receiver Cornell Conely. The two-point conversion was good. The score at the half was 14-6 Simeon.
The third quarter was all Amunden. Literally. The Vikings’ first and only drive last almost all but a minute and a half of third. A fourth and goal ten-yard touchdown pass from Gjeka to Vikings’ sophomore wide receiver Shea O’Conor and a two point conversion brought Amundsen even 14-14 to open the fourth.
The speed of Simeon proved a little too much. A couple big plays by the Wolverines added two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Simeon sophomore running back James Bell scored from four yards out early in the fourth. Bell added another TD with five minutes left on a 30-yard run to give the Wolverines a 30-14 lead.
Of the big plays that gashed the Vikings late, head coach Nick Olson said, “That’s been our Achille’s heal all year. I think it was second and goal from the thirty-something. We gave up the deep pass down the middle. Our defensive coordinator was calling it out, ‘hey they are going to go across the middle.’ But poor execution. We’ll get back to practice. We’ll have to figure out how to overcome that. We’re three and three. We are still in control of our own destiny. We’ve got three great team ahead of us. We have got to just focus on going 1-0 every week.”
After six games, the season is coming into focus. Obviously, each team is different every year. This year’s Vikings squad is very talented. Elmir Gjeka has always been a leader. Now he has matured into an excellent passer. Junior running back Reggie Mitchell has emerged as a dominant runner capable of taking over games. But the Vikings are not at full strength as they have been in recent years. The Payton game slipped away. Now this Simeon game was winnable but got away.
Excuses are not what Olson does. Only after being asked about his team’s injury plagued season, Olson said, “I have been coaching for ten years. I have never had a year like this. It just seems like every week we are missing four or five key guys. Minor injuries, thank the Lord, but enough to keep them from playing.”
“Every game we have played this year is winnable. We are just not making the plays when we need to. A few plays go the other way and we are right there. There is no quit here at Amundsen. We are not going to quit. We are going to get back to work. We are going to focus on Whitney Young.”
