Vikings Stay Positive After Loss

 Coaches often say that a team learns the most about itself in times of adversity.

 Northland learned plenty in a 30-14 home setback to Pickerington North Sept. 10 -- that it won't quit, that it has a burgeoning star at running back and that it might just be the class of the City League North Division this season.

 The Vikings (2-1) trailed 20-0 at halftime and could have easily thrown in the towel against the physical Panthers (2-1), but chose to play some of their best football in the second 24 minutes. Northland got the ball to start the second half and marched 77 yards in 13 plays, capping it off with a two-yard scoring run by J.J. Sanders with 5:32 left in the quarter. Sanders would do it again three minutes later, making one cut and leaving helpless Panthers grasping air on a 22-yard jaunt to the end zone. A two-point conversion made it 20-14 with 2:16 to play in the third, and the previously restless crowd finally came to life.

 "I told our guys at halftime where things stood," Northland coach Calvin Tooson said. "We had been really close to making a few plays and didn't feel like we were out of the game. We just had to get it going and make some things happen to get back into the game, and we did that."

 With Pickerington North in survival mode, the Vikings had chances to take the game. But inopportune penalties, dropped passes and a minor injury to Sanders that kept him on the sideline for three minutes were too much to overcome.

 Pickerington North scored with just over five minutes left when receiver Devin Lomax scored on a 27-yard run from the Wildcat formation, making it 27-14 and deflating the hopes of the host Vikings.

 "I told the guys that I was proud of the way they responded in the second half," Tooson said. "Teams can go one of two ways when they're down like we were -- they can fold or they can play, and our guys chose to play. They're gritty, man, they're fighters, and they fought tonight. I like to have emotional players, but we as coaches just need to find a way to get them to channel that emotion so that it doesn't affect them on the field. We had a couple of mistakes tonight because guys were too emotional about something that had happened a few plays before."

 Sanders was the star of the night, picking and weaving his way through the athletic Panthers defense. The senior finished with 186 yards and two scores on 25 carries, and may have thrust himself into the conversation for best runner in the City League.

 "He knows our scheme and understands what he's supposed to do, and tonight he played his best game,' Tooson said. "He's kind of a banger and he likes to play physical, and that was a physical team we played tonight.

 "A lot of credit has to go to our offensive line tonight. They had been our Achilles' heel in previous years, but now we call them IHOP -- International House of Pancakes. They were making outstanding blocks for all our backs tonight, and when you have a group that wants to get it done and isn't afraid to get physical you can do some things.  We need to stay together and we can get this done. We just need to tighten up a few things in our passing game and we can get to where we want to be."

 That could mean the playoffs for a squad bursting with athleticism and talent. The North Division appears wide open as traditional kingpin Brookhaven has started 0-3 and has offensive woes and Beechcroft, another perennial contender, has also underwhelmed with a 1-2 start. The Vikings travel to Brookhaven to open City League North play next week, and Tooson told his team following the game that it may be their time.

 "We are the young lions. They are the old lions. It's time for the young lions to take the old lions down, and we can do that next week," Tooson said as his players paid rapt attention in the end zone.
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