By Becky Walz,
Decorah Head Football Coach Michael Tangen (left foreground) wipes away a tear as the players celebrate the 15-14 win Friday over Newton to keep the Vikes’ season alive. (Photo courtesy of Sam Zoulek)
Cheers could be heard throughout downtown Decorah as the Viking football team took down Newton in the first round of the Class 4A playoff in the final minute Friday night, 15-14.
And it’s probably a game players, coaches and fans will never forget.
“I am very proud of our coaches and our players. We faced a lot of ups and downs throughout the course of the game and our guys fought all the way to the end. Friday night’s game is a great example for every competitor to never give up and trust the team all the way to the end,” said coach Michael Tangen. “Obviously the final play is on everyone’s mind but there were so many key situations where our guys stepped up and executed well.”
The first year head coach also noted, “The support from our fan base was outstanding and the win was great for our community as well. This will be one of those games that we will remember forever. We now need to regroup and keep getting better to have a chance at continuing the season for another week.”
Coming from behind
According to coach Tangen, “Our defense played outstanding all night and our offense did enough to give us a chance to win the game.”
That was evident by the first forced turnover by the Viking defense at the 7:00 mark of the first as Noah Milburn recovered a fumble made by the Cardinals. Unfortunately, Decorah was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and was forced to punt. Newton repaid the favor late in the period as time ran out with a scoreless first quarter.
After the Viking defense had stonewalled Newton late in the first, Decorah had an uphill battle as it was pinned against its own end zone, eventually punting back to the Cardinals. This time, in spite of the Viking defensive effort forcing the Cardinals a fourth and goal from the one, Newton was able to put the ball in the end zone, taking a 7-0 lead with 6:48 on the clock in the second. Two plays later, Gavin Groux wove his way through traffic at the line of scrimmage and ran away from the pack 83 yards to score for the Vikings. That carry combined with a Brayden Wemark PAT gave Decorah a slim 7-6 advantage with 6:01 remaining. It wasn’t good enough for the Cardinals as the ensuing kickoff was returned 60 yards for Newton’s second score of the quarter. A successful two-point conversion put the visitors on top 14-7 heading into halftime.
Trailing to start the third quarter was a new thing for the Vikings as they hadn’t trailed at halftime all season. The deficit held through the third as neither team entered the red zone until there was 18 ticks remaining on the clock. Newton pushed its way to the Viking 1-yard line but the Decorah defense was there to deny the four attempts with tackles by Gatlin Dahlberg, Cash Riehle, Tommy Sexton, William Hahn and Keaton Orris. Taking over on downs at their own 1-yard line, the Vikings managed some breathing room on the legs of Tanner Caddell, Trevor Kuennen and Jackson Pipho but failed to move past their own 19-yard line.
With time winding down to the 4:00 mark, the Vikes looked to put a drive together when Kuennen threw an interception. Not giving up, Decorah’s defense bound together and immediately saw Dahlberg collect a Cardinal fumble at the Newton 6-yard line. It took four tries, but Caddell squeezed through the middle to score for Decorah with 41 seconds remaining making the score 14-13, still in favor of Newton. The Vikes’ swinging gate PAT set appeared to confuse the Cardinal defense as it went from one side of the field to the other, allowing Caleb Krieg to pass to Sexton for the two-point conversion and 15-14 win.
“The goal line stand was the key to the win, and the turnovers that we created were huge,” noted coach Tangen.
A closer look
Decorah put up 209 yards on the ground with another 89 through the air for a total of 298, while Newton tallied a total of 261.
Caddell was 7-for-12 in passing with Milburn as a target for a pair of receptions for 57. Carter Dlhy, Jackson Pipho, Peyton Webb and Gavin Groux all caught at least one pass.
Leading the ground attack with 93 yards on two carries was Groux. Kuennen carried the pigskin 14 times to move the ball 59 yards while Caddell kept the ball 14 times for 44 yards.
Dahlberg was there defensively for the Vikings with five solo and seven assisted tackles with an interception and fumble recovery. Pipho had seven solo tackles while Groux rolled up six solo stops.
Another test
Decorah has another big battle in its sights as the Vikes will host North Scott (8-2) in the Class 4A quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.
The two squads have met twice before the in the postseason. In 2021, Decorah defeated the Lancers, who were ranked No. 1 at the time. Last season, North Scott ended the Vikes’ season in the first round 35-7.
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 298; Newton 261
Passing (comp/att/yds): Tanner Caddell (7-12, 94 yds.); Trevor Kuennen (0-1)
Rushing (att/yds): Gavin Groux (2-93, 1 TD); Kuennen (14-59); Caddell (14-44, 1 TD); Tommy Sexton (3-7); Will Larson (1-6); Carter Dlhy (1-(-1))
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Noah Milburn (2-57); Dlhy (1-20); Jackson Pipho (1-11); Peyton Webb (1-6); Groux (2-0)
Tackles (total): Gatlin Dahlberg 8.5; Pipho 7.0; Groux 6.0; William Hahn 5.5; Sexton 4.0; Keaton Orris 4.0; Kuennen 3.5; Caleb Krieg 3.0; Luke Franzen 2.5; Jameson LaBelle 1.5; Henry Brynsaas 1.5; Cash Riehle 1.5; Mason Avila 1.0; Noah Milburn 1.0
Interceptions (no/return yds): Dahlberg (1-9)
Fumble recoveries: Dahlberg 1; Milburn 1
Punts (att/yds): Milburn (4-153)
Punt returns (att/yds): Groux (1-0)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Brayden Wemark (3-153, 1-1 PAT)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Groux (1-24); Kuennen (1-16)
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