Vikings smash Baker, 34-14

Junior Darrell Madry caught five passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns during the Vikings' 34-14 win over Baker. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

While many of the names and even more of the numbers have changed, the "Orange Crunch" defense remains the same: dominating.

The Missouri Valley College football team waylaid 12th-ranked Baker 34-0 through three quarters Saturday before easing off the gas for a 34-14 Heart of America Conference victory at newly-remodeled Gregg-Mitchell Field.

"It's a first game so you're always very nervous," head coach Paul Troth noted about the No. 16 Vikings' season debut. "We played very good football, and at times played extremely well."

Valley's defense forced a turnover on the opening kickoff, but then gave up the rock.

That didn't matter to the D, which stopped the Wildcats cold. The Vikings' run defense, among the top three in the NAIA the last three years, limited Baker to 23 rushing yards during the game.

"We were pretty focused," declared senior safety Moamoa Palepale, who had a team-high six tackles. "We looked at it like a boxer; you go into it wanting the knockout and not leave scoring to the judge."

The first staggering blow was junior Chris White's 30-yard touchdown pass to junior Darrell Madry five minutes into the game.

White, who was 16 of 23 for 179 yards during the first half, admitted to coming out more aggressively through the air than is typical for the run-first Vikings.

"We wanted to see how they would match up," he said. "They went run and I knew Darrell could run a great pattern."

On Valley's next possession, sophomore Tommi Pinta caught a 12-yard toss and junior tailback Sterling Hardin -- the successor to all-American Robert Holmes -- took the ball 15 yards to the Baker 8-yard line, but a pair of sacks and a major penalty pushed the Vikings out of field-goal range.

White hit Pinta for 20 yards and Madry for 11 to set up Hardin's 3-yard scoring rumble late in the first period.

Neither team did much offensively during the second frame, although a 33-yard pass from senior Mack Brown to senior Brad Fawcett got the 'Cats to within striking distance for strong-legged senior Derek Doerfler -- whose 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by sophomore Adam Maher.

Baker's next possession ended on a turnover, junior Maurice Peterson forcing a fumble which the Vikings recovered at their own 22-yard line with 1:13 left in the half.

White connected on five of seven passes, two each to Madry and Pinta, before finding Madry for a 15-yard TD with 3.8 seconds left in the half for a 21-0 lead.

"When you defense plays that well, it allows your offense to find its groove," Troth said.

Valley carried the momentum into the second half, which began with a 12-play, 52-yard drive. However, the Vikings came up empty when senior Adrian Trevino's 39-yard field goal attempt was rejected by junior Bradley Thimmesch.

Baker went three and out and Valley went back on the attack -- 62 yards on 10 plays, including an 11-yard reception by sophomore Josh Reid for a third-down conversion -- scoring on a 5-yard flip to senior Jacob Cahill.

"That was big," Troth said about a third quarter in which the visitors had possession of the ball for only four minutes. "We pride ourselves on running the ball. We went at them a little bit and our offensive line really took control."

Junior Sam Toomer appeared to have scored on a 43-yard interception return to spoil the 'Cats' next series, but MVC was flagged on the runback. No matter, as Hardin broke off a 40-yard run to the 3-yard line on the first snap and scored on the second for a 34-point lead.

"Last year they killed us with the spread," noted Palepale about the Vikings' 26-22 loss at BU, which spoiled their bid for a third straight playoff appearance. "We just made a few adjustments on defense, and it worked for us."

Valley subbed out its offense during the fourth quarter, the Wildcats (0-1, 0-1 HAAC) taking advantage with junior Andrew Patch's pick-off and 57-yard return to end the shutout.

Senior Richie Bryant, who has had his two worst career rushing performances against the Vikings, added a 5-yard TD run later.

White finished with 262 passing yards and Hardin debuted with a 117-yard day on the ground for Valley (1-0, 1-0), which plays Saturday at Culver-Stockton.

"This is definitely a confidence-builder," White said. "We knew we had athletes, so we just had to put it together for four quarters."