Vikings reeling after tough loss to Eagles

Amundsen's Cartiea Henning is flipped over by Taft's Geoff Roden, but Henning still scored a touchdown.
(Joel Lerner/Staff Photographer)

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Trailing Taft by a touchdown Amundsen was fired up heading towards halftime after a goal-line stand.

However, a facemask penalty gave Taft another shot at the end zone with no time on the clock, and they capitalized, sending the Vikings reeling into a 31-6 loss Friday at Jorndt Field.

Now coach Grant Jones hopes the team will remember their play up to that point, and how to deal with a huge momentum swing.

"We could've played better," Jones said. "But that was the momentum of the game right there."

In the first quarter Amundsen (1-4, 0-2 Big Shoulders) fell behind 6-0 as Taft took an interception in for a score before going up 12-0.

"We got to the quarterback and put some pressure on him," Taft head coach Matthew Walsh said. "We turned Jacob (Alma) loose and he got to their quarterback early. That forced them to get rid of the ball early all game."

At that point the Vikings were ready to respond, putting together a long, steady drive. Cartiea Henning brought the Vikings within 12-6 on a five-yard rushing touchdown.

"We were moving the ball pretty well on them," Jones said. "We've just got to stay focused."

The Vikings defense stayed tough through the first half, capped by the apparent stop at the goal line. Once Taft went up 18-6, Amundsen didn't recover.

"We jumped offsides and had a lot of penalties," Jones said. "We were playing OK defense, but we could have played a lot better."

Nick Johnson led Taft with a rushing, receiving and interception for a touchdown.

"Nick's a great kid and a great player," Walsh said. "Nick ended up at quarterback and he stepped up and did a great job for us. He's always been a good player. We're trying to get the ball into his hands a little more."

Amundsen plays Clemente, 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Jorndt Field.