FIELD TWP — The North Woods Grizzlies came down with a terminal case of fumble-itis at home Thursday against Littlefork-Big Falls, leading to a 26-8 loss.
The Vikings drew early blood. A fourth-and-six run up the middle from the Grizzlies’ 46-yard line went for a touchdown on the game’s fourth play from scrimmage. After the teams exchanged punts, the Grizzlies’ ball-handling woes began.
They recovered a first down fumble at their own 27 for a six-yard gain. Four plays later, they fumbled again, this time at the North Woods 34. It looked as if the Vikings would make them pay for the mistake as they drove the ball to the three, but Cedar Holman intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it to the 31-yard line.
On the ensuing series, another North Woods fumble that they recovered combined with a penalty to thwart the drive and force a punt. The following Grizzlies drive flamed out on a fourth-and-eight incomplete pass at the Vikings 21.
The Vikings capped an eight-play drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left in the half and appeared ready to head into the break leading 12-0.
But the Grizzlies fumbled again on their first offensive play after the kickoff, turning the ball over to the Vikings at the North Woods 19 with 16 seconds remaining. Just 12 seconds later L-BF was in the end zone again on a 14-yard pass for an 18-0 halftime lead.
The Grizzlies came roaring out of the break with their best drive of the night. Using mostly classic Grizzlies grind it out football, North Woods rode the legs of James Yernatich and Carson Johnson from the North Woods 33 to the Vikings 43 before Holman dropped back and connected with John Warren on a pass that took the ball to the LBF five. A false start penalty set the Grizzlies back to the ten, but after a North Woods time out, Holman found Peyton Swanson in the end zone for the score. Yernatich carried for the two-point conversion as North Woods trimmed the lead to 20-8 with 7:03 left in the third quarter.
After forcing the Vikings to punt on their next possession, North Woods took over on their own 16 and put together a masterful 17 plays that included recovering two fumbles, the second of which put the Grizzlies into a passing situation with third-and-12 at the LBF 23. They came up empty, turning the ball over to Vikings on downs after two incomplete passes.
With 9:28 remaining in the game, the Grizzlies were still within striking distance if they could get the ball back quickly.
Caleb Rutchasky and Tristan Vidal combined for a big stop on third-and-nine at the 24, and the Grizzlies were poised to go back on offense after the punt.
But in the most costly miscue of the night, Johnson mishandled the punt. In the mad scramble for the ball, the Vikings came up with it and a new series of downs. A series of major penalties sent the Vikings backwards to their own 16, and facing a fourth-and-38, the Grizzlies still had a shot. But that chance evaporated in the blink of an eye when a Vikings back found a crease in the defense and outraced everyone 84 yards for a touchdown.
The two-point conversion made the score 26-8 with just over five minutes left to play.
The Grizzlies ate up nearly three minutes of that with an unsuccessful drive that ended in LBF territory, and the Vikings took a knee on the next four plays, effectively ending the game by leaving just ten seconds left on the clock.
The rushing tandem of Yernatich and Johnson picked up 74 and 81 yards respectively for the game, while Holman went five-of-11 passing for 52 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Warren was on the receiving end of two passes for 36 yards, and Swanson had the ten-yard touchdown reception.
Vidal had the standout performance on defense with four solo tackles and ten assists.
Head Coach Joel Anderson noted that the Grizzlies held onto the ball better in their previous game on an extremely wet field.
“This was the result of our own turnovers and our own mistakes,” Anderson said. “We had some lapses there late in the first half, particularly giving them that touchdown right before half. It’s a skill our kids have (holding onto the ball). Part of dealing with kids is that sometimes they move away from the successful methods they know.”
“We’ll get back this week to working hard and fixing our mistakes and moving forward,” Anderson added.
With the loss, the Grizzlies dropped to 2-2 on the season. North Woods was scheduled to be on the road on Thursday to take on the 1-2 South Ridge Panthers.