Vikings Defeat Panthers in Overtime

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In the early going North seemed to dominate. They used two clock eating drives to go up 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter.  But any thoughts that Miami East would just tuck tail and fade away were quickly dashed as they bounced back to tie the score.  And North had to go to the air as Miami East began to smother the running game.  Meanwhile Miami East was able to get chunks of yardage through the pass themselves. And although North lead at halftime 21-14, the East defense closed them out in the second half.  Finally tying the game in the 4th quarter.  The game went to overtime and East won the toss and elected let North go first. North was unable to score and East kicked about a 20 yard field goal to seal the win 24-21.

North really dominated the first quarter. They used the run almost exclusively to grind out yardage against East.  The first two scores were by quarterback Austin Hutchins.  Then East bounced back - they returned a kickoff to the North 34 and worked the short field for a score.  Later a Miami East punt was muffed by North and again they worked the short field for a touchdown.  The 14 all tie was broken by Garrett Woodyard who carried the ball in from 8 yards to put North up 21-14.

The Miami East defense pretty much took away the run in the second half, and North's offense sputtered. And when two closely matched teams are playing, a lot of times the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.  North had a break down on special teams to set up the first East score, the second score was by a muffed punt reception, and the tying touchdown likewise was set up by a fluke play by North. Set up to punt the ball was snapped over the punters head.  The punter ran back to the endzone and got the ball and then was actually able to get the punt off.  But with all the scrambling, the coverage again broke down and East returned the ball all the way to the 8 yard line where they scored a few plays later to tie the game at 21 all.

The North defense put some heat on the Miami East offense and were able to rush the quarterback effectively and sacked him several times. And that seemed to slow down the success that East had with the pass. So neither team was moving the ball well the rest of the 4th quarter. And the game went to overtime where the Miami East defense pretty much held North in place for 4 plays.  And when it was their turn they moved the ball to about the 10 where they put the game in hands of their place kicker who cooly iced a 20 yard field goal for the hard earned victory.

This game was fight for second place in the CCC and more importantly for homefield advantage in the playoffs.  Miami East controls their destiny with 2 games left in the season.  North has to make sure they win out to make the playoffs.  North plays at South next week, while East travels to Bradford.