On Friday night, the Vikings won 15-7 against the Concrete Lions in a crucial league game on enemy turf, bringing their record to 3-2.

Many coaches opt to keep the ball out of the air and safely on the ground if they feel the opposing team is good at forcing turnovers. And with first string quarterback Robbie Padbury out with the flu, that is what the Vikings did Friday night.

“Jacob Hansen scored on a two yard run and Taylor Diepenbrock kicked the extra point in during the first quarter,” coach Dennis Dahl said. “We had some outstanding performances Friday night. It’s hard to step into a position like quarterback, but Taylor Diepenbrock did a really nice job for us.”

Concrete answered though, and put seven points up on the scoreboard in the second quarter with a march down the field and a series of first downs that put them back in the game. Later in the second quarter Viking Michael Langworthy scored a second Orcas touchdown on a 12 yard run into the end zone and Langworthy also caught a pass from Diepenbrock for a two point conversion that put Orcas in the lead over Concrete.

In the fourth quarter however, the Concrete Lions came roaring back and if it had not been for the stalwart Vikings defense holding the Lions at the 12 yard line, the Lions would have scored. But the Viking line held, and frustrated Concrete’s scoring attempt.

Justin Liedecker, Diepenbrock and Tyler Nigretto led in defense, stuffing the Lions offense and shutting down corner runs and sacking offensive linesmen. Alan Coe switched to outside linebacker and did a great job for the Vikings.

“He’s played there before and he was very solid and stuck with his coverage,” Dahl said. “He stayed at home and read his keys.”

Stats for the Vikings included a total of 285 yards rushing and only six yards passing. Langworthy, leading rusher for the Vikings, had 15 carries for 115 yards, while Nigretto had ten carries for 67 yards.

“He (Nigretto) hurt his hip in the third quarter. He played a great game for us in the first two quarters,” Dahl said.

But the Vikings had three costly fumbles that killed what could have been scoring drives. And then the Vikings threw an interception in the third quarter, right as they were trying to build momentum that would have them in the end zone. Diepenbrock went for a rollout pass that was snatched out of the air by an enterprising Lion and Concrete shut down the Vikings in the third quarter and took possession. But ultimately, the Lions couldn’t make the score.

“This was our first league game of the season, and Concrete wanted to win that game. They were mentally prepared to play hard and it was a good game. But they didn’t move the ball that well,” Dahl commented.

The Orcas Vikings play Darrington at Orcas at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10.