NORTHWOOD, Iowa – The Northwood-Kensett Vikings didn’t have any tricks in their play book.

Thursday, November 01, 2001

NORTHWOOD, Iowa – The Northwood-Kensett Vikings didn’t have any tricks in their play book. They didn’t need any.

Victory was their treat, and it was sweet.

With a full moon shining on Halloween night, the Vikings sent visiting Rockwell-Swaledale home empty-handed, defeating the Rebels 33-6 in an Iowa Class A high school football playoff game Wednesday.

It was a rematch of the regular season’s fourth game, in which the Vikings got a late turnover to force overtime and won 21-13.

This time, it was close only until halftime as the Vikings remained undefeated at 10-0 while the Rebels finished 7-3.

What was the difference this time?

&uot;I think we were a little better prepared for what they were going to do,&uot; said Vikings coach Dave Capitani. &uot;They did some things in the first game that we weren’t ready for and they caused us some problems. We made a few adjustments this time, and it sure helped.&uot;

The Vikings became the first team in 36 games to hold the Rebels’ John McLaughlin to less than 100 yards rushing, limiting him to 90 on 27 carries. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior is the No. 3 rusher in Iowa history with more than 6,000 career yards.

&uot;Defensively, I thought we played extremely well,&uot; said Capitani. &uot;Our kids did a good job getting to the ball and not letting them get loose.&uot;

The win advanced the Vikings to the state quarterfinals. They’ll play Monday against Fredericksburg, which edged Postville 7-6 Wednesday, at Fredericksburg or at the UNI Dome.

The Vikings asserted themselves early Wednesday, forcing a punt on the game’s opening possession and then driving for a touchdown. Quarterback Trevor Madsen finished it with a 16-yard run. Josh Reindl kicked his first of three extra points.

A Madsen fumble set up the Rebels’ only score early in the second quarter, but the Vikings quickly answered with a 62-yard touchdown run by Nathan Loberg. Reindl’s PAT kick made it 14-6 at halftime.

Loberg gave the Vikings a comfortable lead with a 23-yard touchdown run with 5:01 left in the third quarter.

The Vikings added two fourth-quarter scores, on a 26-yard run by Loberg and a 25-yard run by Tom Carmody.

Loberg finished with 161 yards on 14 carries.

James Erickson again led the N-K defense, with 14 tackles, Jared Avelar had 12 tackles.

RS 6 0 0 0 – 6

NK 7 7 6 13 – 33

First Quarter

NK-Madsen 16 run (Reindl kick)

Second Quarter

RS-McLaughlin 4 run (pass failed)

NK-Loberg 62 run (Reindl kick)

Third Quarter

NK-Loberg 23 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter

NK-Loberg 26 run (run failed)

NK-Carmody 25 run (Reindl kick)

RS NK

First downs 8 10

Rushes-yards 30-89 49-361

Passing 8-17-3 2-2-0

Passing yards 86 20

Total yards 195 381

Pen.-yards 3-30 3-25

Turnovers 3 1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-NK, Loberg 14-161; RS, McLaughlin 27-90.

PASSING-NK, Madsen 2-2-0, 20; RS, Adams 8-17-3, 86.

RECEIVING-NK, Hanson 1-13; RS, Winfrey 2-14.