BY JEFF FALK

FREDERICKSBURG – In most arenas, mistakes are equated with growing pains. But not only do athleticism and big plays possess the power to make us forget mistakes, they have the ability to negate them.

On a humid Friday night at Fred Gahres Stadium, Northern Lebanon made enough big plays, especially when it needed to, and got a fairly solid performance from its defense to upend Daniel Boone, 24-21 in a non-league tilt. Senior receiver Christian Trader tallied all three Viking touchdowns – two of which covered distances greater than 75 yards – and between giving up an early touchdown and a late touchdown, the Northern Lebanon defense was stout.

Northern Lebanon, which was coming off a 35-7 loss at the hands of Cedar Crest last week, improved to 2-1 overall. Daniel Boone slipped to 0-3 on the fall.

“We replaced three-fifths of our offensive line, it’s going to be sloppy,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Roy Wall. “We’ve been dealing with injuries all year. We have 29 kids out. What do you expect?’

With the Vikings clinging to a precarious 17-14 lead, the key sequence of the contest occurred late in the third quarter. Daniel Boone drove a Viking fumble down to the Northern Lebanon four-yard line in search of the go-ahead score, but the Viking defense rose up and turned away the threat.

Three plays later, on the last snap of the third quarter, Trader turned on the jets and took a misdirection reverse 86 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown that made it 24-14. Daniel Boone would never seriously threaten the lead again, despite scoring a touchdown with 39 seconds to play.

“We came out strong after last week’s loss,” said Trader. “Practice this week was very intense. We had to step it up. I feel like the team really came through.

“It was a whole team effort,” Trader added. “We had a good night. It was a good day.”

“We won, and ultimately that’s the most important thing,” said Wall. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we won the game. Obviously the win will help us out with the playoff picture.”

After spotting its visitors an early 7-0 lead, Northern Lebanon roared back with 17 unanswered points. The Vikings marched their initial possession of the contest 76 yards in 15 plays to get a 17-yard scoring connection between Trader and quarterback Michigan Daub.

Then with 1:27 remaining in the second quarter, the Vikings turned a Blazer fumble and a 47-yard passing collaboration from Daub to Isaiah Davila into a 24-yard Jenna Wentling field goal, and a 10-7 edge. The first half ended with the Daniel Boone defense denying Viking Steve Herb on two rushing attempts from the Blazer two-yard line, after Northern Lebanon had elected to forgo another field goal try.

“The first touchdown stood out to me,” said Trader. “I had to fight for the ball, and it got me going. Once I get going, I feel like I can do anything.

“I feel like I’m a leader on this team,” added Trader. “Not as a loud leader, but an action kind of leader.”

The Vikings upped their advantage to 17-7 on the first snap of the second half. Trader grabbed a bubble screen from Daub and out ran the Blazer defense 76 yards down the right sidelines.

“We’re very confident right now,” said Trader. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the season and competing for the section (Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League). Tonight we really showed what we’re made of.

“I feel like we need to play a full game, offensively and defensively,” Trader continued. “We have to play four quarters of the game. If we do, then we’ll be just fine.”

Daniel Boone made it look easy when it took the opening kickoff, and marched 54 yards in just three plays and 50 seconds, for its 7-0 lead. But after that, the Vikings limited the Blazers to 251 yards of total offense the rest of the way.

“In the first quarter, we didn’t play as well,” said Trader. “But then we played good old Northern Lebanon defense. That’s what got us the win, our defense.”

Trader accounted for 187 of the Vikings’ 308 total yards. Davila snared four balls for 88 receiving yards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2017 Northern Lebanon Football Schedule