Vikings show improvement despite loss

Chalk up yet another learning experience for the Community High football squad.

Friday night proved to be the most successful game for the Vikings so far this season, even though the scoreboard showed a 34-14 loss to Columbia Academy.

A mixture of penalties, special teams plays and turnovers injured the Vikes. The Unionville boys had 157 total yards of offense to CA's 154, possessed the football 29 minutes to the opponents' 19 and did not allow the Bulldogs (1-2) a single third or fourth down conversion.

"I'm not disappointed at all with the effort," Community coach Johnnie Frost said. "The thing is, is that we had these lulls or lapses. (CA) opened it up at the opening kickoff. But we answered it and responded. We had a couple of good series and made them punt. Then we turned the ball over inside our own territory, which allowed them to score. And then after that we got into a little lull."

With 3:44 left to go in the first quarter, The Purple and Gold were able to celebrate their first touchdown of the season with a fumble recovery in the end zone by lineman Jacob Dodson. Albert Irwin converted the PAT for a 7-7 tie.

The Bulldogs had gotten on the board on the first play of the game with an 82-yard kickoff return by Joseph Patterson and Matt Forsthoff kick.

CA gained the upper hand again at the end of the first with a 4-yard jaunt by Wesley Bland.

The second quarter gave way to two Bulldog touchdowns. Quarterback Matthew Bingham kept the ball for a 1-yard TD run at 6:58 and completed a questionable 13-yard touchdown pass to Zach Earl with 19 ticks to go in the half. Both PATs were good.

Community went into the locker room with a 27-7 deficit.

Both squads made a trip to the end zone in the second half.

CA capitalized on a fumble recovery in the end zone with 6:42 to go in the third quarter.

With five minutes left in the game, a scuffle broke out on the Vikes' side near midfield. An array of jerseys, zebra stripes, and coaches hit the field for about a minute. The initial reason for the brawl was unclear. The game paused for a few minutes, until both groups could get back to their respective sides of the field and cool down.

After the squabble, Community answered with some momentum and tacked on seven at the 2:50 mark in the final stanza with a Cody Pierce 3-yard run to right and another successful Irwin kick.

"I told them tonight, 'You guys screwed up'," Frost said, meaning that the group proved to him that they were capable of performing. "They showed, after the altercation, what they could do and how it fired them up. People were hitting and tackling and blocking better than they ever had. If they can do that after a little altercation, that gets them fired up, then maybe they can now see how to channel that energy from the beginning and use it the entire game constructively, instead of using it in a negative way."

The Purple and Gold had 123 yards on the ground. Austin Lees led the group with 41 rushing yards. Pierce, Trey Barnes and Lucas Burke all added double-digit yardage.

Barnes had 34 yards from the pocket on two passes, connecting with Dillon Tidwell for 24 yards and Albert Irwin for 10. Pierce led the ball club overall with 105 all purpose yards (26 rushing, 51 on kickoff returns, and 28 on punt returns).

On the defensive side of the match, Barnes led the team in tackles with seven, Dewayne Blackwell had one and a half sacks and Irwin snagged an interception.

Community stays home to take on Middle Tennessee Christian next Friday night at 7:30.