By Becky Walz,
A fourth-quarter comeback was thwarted by the Decorah football team Friday night, preserving the Vikes’ win 31-25 against West Delaware in Manchester.
“Friday night was a mix of emotions. We had to overcome some adversity and our kids responded very well. I am proud of the way we stuck together and finished the game,” said Coach Michael Tangen. “We played an outstanding first half and found a way to beat a very good opponent. West Delaware is a very physical team that will win a lot of games this season.”
Rewinding to Friday
Decorah was able to overcome a first possession fumble early on to score twice in the opening period. The Vikes put together a 10-play drive that moved the pigskin 71 yards. Louis Bucksa found Noah Milburn for a 5-yard touchdown strike, putting the Vikes on the board first. The excitement on the Decorah sideline was short-lived as West Delaware pounded the ground with a 30-yard sweep play into the Viking red zone, eventually seeing the Hawk quarterback race five yards into the end zone and tie the score with the PAT. With the score all tied up 7-7, the Vikings began their next possession at their own 31-yard line. Five plays later, Decorah’s Trevor Kuennen answered the call as he scampered up the middle, jumping over a defensive lineman for 50 yards to score the Vikes’ second TD of the game and a 14-7 advantage with 6:41 to play in the first.
A 15-yard Hawk penalty pushed the Vikings into West Delaware territory. The result was an electrifying 43-yard pass to Peyton Webb from Bucksa extending the lead to 21-7 with 1:37 remaining in the first half. Looking to make a final push down the field, West Delaware went to the air. However, Kuennen had other plans as he plucked the ball from the air for an interception and 17-yard return with just over a minute remaining in the second. The Vikes’ final tally of the first half came as Brayden Wemark drilled a 33-yard field goal to make it 24-7 in favor of Decorah at halftime.
The Hawks opened the second half methodically marching down the field before Gaitlin Dahlberg tipped the ball and hauled in the pigskin at the WD 42-yard line; however, the Vikes couldn’t capitalize on the possession. They would have another chance with 5:21 left in the third when William Hahn recovered a WD fumble at the Viking 19-yard line. With 2:29 to play in the third, a big pass to Carter Dlhy went for 66 yards before Kuennen was stripped of the ball at the Hawk 1-yard line, that was run all the way back for a WD touchdown in a shocking turn of events. The momentum quickly swung back in the Vikes’ favor as Gavin Groux took the kick return 59 yards to the WD 37-yard line. A Bucksa to Milburn pass pushed Decorah to the 13-yard line and was capped by Kuennen who scored on the Vikes’ second play of the possession for a 31-13 Decorah lead.
West Delaware would go on to score two more times in the game on a 17-yard and 28-yard carries but came up short as the Viking defense shut the door on the comeback.
On track
The Vikings saw improvements from week one to week two in several categories. They posted 11 first downs with 249 yards rushing and 204 yard passing with only one penalty.
Kuennen rushed 12 times for 88 yards, scoring twice, while Tommy Sexton had 16 touches of the pigskin and gained 38 yards for the Vikes. Through the air, Bucksa was 12-for-17 for 277 yards with Milburn one of his main targets for 85 yards on five receptions. Dlhy had one reception for 66 yards, while Webb caught two passes for 52 yards.
Defensively, Will Larson was there for seven solo and three assisted tackles. Gatlin Dahlberg had seven assisted and three solo stops to go with an interception and fumble recovery. Kuennen was in on four assisted and four solo tackles, while William Hahn had three solo stops and five assists.
Finally home
Starting the season with back-to-back road games, the Vikings will be home Friday, Sept. 13, against Crestwood at 7:30 p.m. The Cadets have started the 2024 season 0-2 with a 9-7 loss to MFL MarMac week one and was defeated 41-27 by Independence last week.
Scoring sequence
1st Quarter
Decorah – Louis Bucksa 5-yd. pass to Noah Milburn (Brayden Wemark PAT)
W. Delaware – 5-yd. run (PAT)
Decorah – Trevor Kuennen 50-yd. run (Wemark PAT)
2nd Quarter
Decorah – Bucksa 43-yd. pass to Peyton Webb (Wemark PAT)
Decorah – Wemark 33-yd. field goal
3rd Quarter
W. Delaware – 100-yd. fumble return (PAT failed)
Decorah – Kuennen 13-yd. run (Wemark PAT)
W. Delaware – 17-yd. run (2-pt. run failed)
4th Quarter
W. Delaware – 28-yd. run (PAT failed)
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 311; West Delaware 441
Passing (comp/att/yds): Louis Bucksa (12-17, 225 yds., 2 TD)
Rushing (att/yds): Trevor Kuennen (12-80, 2 TD); Tommy Sexton (16-31); Gavin Groux (3-4); Bucksa (1-(-8))
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Noah Milburn (5-85, 1 TD); Carter Dlhy (1-66); Peyton Webb (2-52, 1 TD); Groux (3-11); Jackson Pipho (1-11)
Tackles (solo-assist): Will Larson (7-3); Gatlin Dahlberg (3-7); Sexton (5-3); Kuennen (4-4); William Hahn (3-5); Pipho (6-0); Groux (4-1); Luke Franzen (2-2); Milburn (3-0); Caleb Krieg (2-1); Henry Brynsaas (1-2); Webb (1-1); Bradan Darling (0-2); Joshua Adam (1-0); Dlhy (0-1); Cash Riehle (0-1); Keaton Orris (1-0); Mason Vote (0-1)
Interceptions (no/return yds): Kuennen (1-17); Dahlberg (1-0)
Fumble recoveries: Krieg 1; Dahlberg 1
Punts (att/yds): Milburn (5-186)
Punt returns (att/yds): Groux (1-13)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Brayden Wemark (6-268, 1 TB, 1 FG, 4 PAT)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Groux (3-86); Mason Avila (2-33)
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