Staff Writer
The Littlefork-Big Falls High School football team has big goals for 2008. Returning teammates learned a great deal from an amazing 2007 season and want to repeat as conference champions and another shot at the Minnesota Nine Man Football Tournament, according to the team’s coaches.
The 2007 Vikings went undefeated, 11-0, and claimed the Section 7 and St. Louis County Conference Nine Man championships before losing a 12–6 heartbreaker to Waubun at the state quarterfinal last November.
To repeat such a stellar year and return to state, Vikings head coach Derek Bilben, and assistant Mike Torgerson, are retooling a talented squad that they say are feeling the pressure of following an undefeated regular season.
Torgerson said that coming together again as a team is the challenge that will dictate how far the team can go this year.
“They do understand that we have lost a lot of talented athletes, and that we also got a lot guys back,” said Torgerson. “This is the best situation since 2000.”
That was the last time the Vikings went to state, losing to Stephen/Argyle Storm, a rural northwest Minnesota school that has since established a nine-man football dynasty.
For 2008, the Vikings must replace three starters on a defensive squad that gave up just 70 points in 13 games last year, including six shut outs.
Torgerson is pleased that the defensive line remains intact with Brody Pritchard, Justin Franz and Bryce Ziemba. He believes they will again dominate the line of scrimmage with bigger, faster and stronger players.
“Defensively, we expect to maintain the same level of performance that we had last year,” said Torgerson. “We have maintained or increased speed in a couple of positions.”
The offense has some big shoes to fill after losing players on the line and in the backfield. The offense scored 408 points in 2007.
“It hurts to lose Ian Klemetsen, the conference running back of the year,” said Torgerson. “We can’t replace that, but we have other backs, including Ian’s brother, Gage Klemetsen.”
Mason Imhof, the starting defensive safety from last year who led the team in interceptions, will run the offense as starting quarterback. Torgerson said the shift this year will be on Imhof’s speed and mobility rather than on a strong passing arm that was the strength of Billy Boyd last season.
The nine-man field is 100 yards long, but only 44 yards wide, which is nine yards less than the 11-man field. Torgerson said this prevents wide sweeps by speed alone and requires a team to dominate the wedge before anything else. This kind of ball control wins games when all things are equal and neither side is making mistakes, he added.
The strong front line allowed the Vikings to safely execute two-point conversions last year and the team rarely kicked extra points. The team wants that same confidence in the wedge this year, and Torgerson said that will come when the offensive line can guarantee at least three yards per carry. The team has the power, he added, but they still need to work on speed.
The special teams unit looks strong, said Torgerson, with returning kicker Paul Imhof, who can kick-off through the end zone to ensure opponents will start a drive on the team’s own 20-yard line. Justin Franz also returns as a 40-plus yard punter with a long hang time.
The varsity squad opens at home against Mountain Iron/Buhl on Friday. This is a critical game, said Torgerson, as MIB is consistently in the top two or three teams in the division each year and won the sectionals just two years ago. He wants the fan support to make a difference with the outcome at home.
“MIB always has a great program, they just retool,” he added. “This will be our big test right away.”
The Vikings travel to Bigfork on Sept. 5. Torgerson said the team had to come from behind to beat this team last year in the final minutes of the game.
“They are always big and tough,” he said.
The team travels to Tower/Soudan on Sept. 12, before returning home on Sept. 9 to take on Orr. The team welcomes Babbitt for Homecoming on Sept. 26.
Torgerson said Babbitt is rebuilding and that Orr has size and a strong quarterback.
The Vikings travel to Cook on Oct. 3, and are home against Mesabi Academy on Oct. 10. The team completes the regular season at Cherry on Oct. 15.
Torgerson said Cherry is a tough team that is adjusting to a new coach. He said Cook is retooling after graduating nine seniors. Cook’s only loss last year was to the Vikings.
The junior varsity team is coached by Torgerson and will take on Bigfork at home on Sept. 18, and at Bigfork on Oct. 9.
