Orcas loses to Friday Harbor in Island Cup

tRunning back Tyler Nigretto scores Vikings’ only touchdown.

The Friday Harbor football team claimed the 18-year-old Island Cup again with an overwhelming 42-7 victory at the Wolverines home field over the visiting Orcas Vikings on Friday, Sept. 5.

Vikings’ Coach Dennis Dahl said, “Naturally, we were disappointed by the outcome of the game. In watching the game film I can see we have areas that we need to improve on. But we can. We are going to work this week to take care of our mistakes and get ready for the next game. Overall, we were not steady enough and we need to work on our blocking and our timing,” he said.

Though unsteady at start, the Wolverines’ starting quarterback Mike Ausilio tallied the first of six touchdowns on a 25-yard TD run with three minutes remaining in the first period. At halftime Friday Harbor held a 21-0 lead.

“I thought one of the bright spots was our kicking game. We did have one punt block but that is something we can improve on. Most of our punting game went pretty well and I am happy with our kick-offs. We can get better. Friday Harbor did an outstanding job of running the football and playing defense. I thought the sportsmanship and play on the field was good on both sides,” Dahl said.

With 60 seconds left in the second half, the Vikings avoided a shutout in the annual inter-island grudge match when running back Tyler Nigretto broke through Friday Harbor’s second-string defense for a 12-yard TD.

With the win, Friday Harbor notched its fifth-consecutive Island Cup triumph, its longest string of victories since the inter-island rivalry began 18 years ago.

“The fan turnout was great. The kids really appreciated having all the people there cheering them on. We hope to see even more fans on Saturday,” Dahl said.

The next Vikings football games is on Sept. 13 at ?1 p.m.

Sounder reporter Nina Laramore contributed to this article.

Contact Islands Sounder Scott Rasmussen at srasmussen@sanjuanjournal.com or (360) 378-5696.

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