Playing an undefeated team in the Big North Conference for the second week in a row resulted in another lopsided loss Friday for Littlefork-Big Falls’ football team.
The Vikings trailed 40-0 at halftime before losing at John Thompson Field to Mountain Iron-Buhl, 56-14.
“We need to start putting four quarters together,” said L-BF head coach John Larson. “I think if we can do that, then we’ll be a team people don’t want to play against. But until we do that, the same outcome is going to happen.”
Most of the Vikings’ yardage came on the ground led by Chase Ballard with 84 yards on 16 carries. Bryce Burmeister added 51 yards on 14 carries as the only other running back on the team to gain more than 50 yards.
L-BF quarterback Rylan Henrickson completed only three of seven passes for 24 yards.
The Vikings had lost 66-14 a week earlier at North Woods, which is ranked among the top-10 nine-man teams in Minnesota.
MI-B and North Woods are tied for first in the Big North at 4-0, while L-BF has yet to win a game this season and is tied for last place in the conference with Cherry at 0-4.
The Rangers ran roughshod through the Vikings’ defense in the first half. MI-B, which also converted all seven of its two-point conversions, took a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter when quarterback Deven Rowe ran into the end zone from 65 yards away.
“We left some big holes on the defensive line,” Larson said. “We need to start doing our jobs a little bit better and take accountability for what we do defensively.”
After leading by five touchdowns at intermission, the Rangers needed only 15 seconds to score in the second half when they returned the kickoff into the end zone.
L-BF finally got onto the scoreboard with 4:47 left in the third quarter when Quintin Smith ran into the end zone from two yards away. Henrickson then passed to Burmeister for the 2-point conversion to cut MI-B’s lead to 48-8.
After the Rangers scored their final touchdown of the game late in the third quarter, Smith found the end zone again running from a yard away with 6:54 to play.
The Vikings will seek their first win of the season Friday when they play at Chisholm, which is 2-2 in 2012.
MI-B 24 16 16 0 — 56
L-BF 0 0 8 6 — 14
Scoring: L-BF: Quintin Smith, 3-yard run (Rylan Henrickson pass to Bryce Burmeister); Smith, 1-yard run (run failed).
Rushing: L-BF: Chase Ballard, 16-84; Bryce Burmeister, 14-51; Garrett Nuthak, 1-2; Rylan Henrickson, 1-(-4); Dustin Lehman, 1-(-5); Quintin Smith, 7-11, 2 TDs; Darian Erickson, 6-24.
Passing: L-BF: Henrickson, 3-7, 24 yards.
Receiving: L-BF: Nuthak, 1-9; Burmeister 1-5; Erickson 1-9.
