Late Comeback For Vikings
What a win for the Treutlen County High School Vikings football team as some last seconds heroics put them over the top. They had fallen behind in the game but came back with 23 unanswered points, including a score with just nine seconds to go, to get the win over the Portal Panthers on the road.
It didn't take long for the Panthers to get on the board. They stopped the Vikings on their first drive and took over after the punt at their 30-yard line. On just their second play they hit a pass for 76 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers added the extra point to lead 7-0. The Vikings had to punt on their next drive as well, and things went from bad to worse when the kick was blocked with Portal picking it up and running it back 30 yards for another touchdown. They missed the extra point, but led 13-0 with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter. In the second quarter of the game the story for Treutlen was turnovers. They gave up two fumbles and an interception, but the defense held strong and kept the team in the game. At halftime the score was still 13-0 with Portal on top.
Halfway through the third quarter the Panthers hit a 20-yard field goal to push their lead to 16-0, but that was the last time that the Panthers would score in the game.
The Vikings recovered a fumble later in the third quarter and then put together a drive that ended with Qamar Jordan taking it in from four yards out for the Treutlen touchdown. He also went in for the two-point conversion to close the lead to 16-8 with just over two minutes to go in the third. The Vikings stalled deep in Portal territory halfway through the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs. But just a few plays later a hit on a receiver caused a fumble with Danny Clements scooping it up and returning it for a touchdown. Jordan again went in for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 16-16 with 4:50 left to go in the game.
Portal looked as if they were going to score on their next drive, but PJ Smiley came up with a big interception at the Vikings' 15-yard line with just 2:20 left in the game. Quarterback Logan Hughes and Jordan combined on the ground to work the ball down the field with Hughes capping it off with a quarterback sneak from 1-yard out with just nine seconds on the clock. The extra point by Chris Mincey was good to put Treutlen on top 23-16.
They sealed the win with an onside kick that the Vikings recovered, then just took a knee to run out the clock.
Hughes led Treutlen with 147 yards rushing, with Jordan adding 140 yards on the ground. That give the Vikings their first win of the season and improves their record to 1-2. This Friday night the Vikings will host Johnson County with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
