BIGFORK – Perched on top of a hill overlooking Flathead Lake, Bigfork High School’s home field is a wonderful place to play football. But it’s hard to enjoy the view when you’re losing, which is what the Vikings did for three straight years.
Before last season, Bigfork lost 28 straight games, often dropping out of contention in the first quarter. Few people wanted to go to games and fewer kids wanted to play.
This year’s seniors remember when they were scrawny freshmen, a few months removed from middle school, suddenly thrust into the starting lineup of a varsity Class A football team. They had to start each game because there were only 17 kids in the whole program, counting freshmen through seniors.
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Bigfork center Jerry Rose lines up with the offensive line while running drills at a Vikings’ football practice at Bigfork High School. |
But then came the first win, a 35-29 overtime victory over a talented Plains team on Sept. 18 of last year. Another win followed, and another, and then two more. The Vikings finished in a three-way tie for first place in District 7B with a 4-1 league record. They were 4-4 overall.
This year, there are 53 kids out for the team, including a group of all-conference returning seniors. There is an exuberant spirit at practices that had been absent for years. At games, the stands are filled with cheering fans – even on the road. The Vikings believe they can win each game, and so do the fans.
While head coach Todd Emslie calls the multi-year losing streak a “distant memory,” that first win against Plains is still fresh on everybody’s mind. It was the turning point for a program in serious trouble.
“That win, that night – I didn’t realize how much it meant to the players, the fans,” Emslie said. “It was unreal. The bleachers emptied.”
Emslie said he’s not sure exactly how many games the team lost on its long losing streak: “I don’t know and I don’t want do know.” But while he has given up attaching numbers or adjectives to that dark period, he has an interesting new word to describe this year: “fun.”
The players, fans and coaches are all having fun now, which isn’t to say they don’t know how much work lies ahead. But people now want to be involved with the football program, a gratifying feeling for the kids on the field, said senior lineman Jerry Rose.
“We’re starting to get a lot of townspeople to come now,” Rose said. “Before, parents didn’t even want to come.”
Bigfork is 2-1 this season, with its loss coming against the No. 3-ranked team in Class B, Missoula Loyola, on opening day. The Vikings led 34-28 in the third quarter of that game and went into the fourth quarter tied at 34. But Loyola rattled off 27 unanswered points in the fourth to win 61-34.
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Bigfork quarterback Christian Ker, left, hands the ball off to fellow senior Travis Knoll during football practice at Bigfork High School. Knoll was first team all league last season. |
The Vikings bounced back to dominate Conrad the following week, 48-6. Last year, Conrad beat Bigfork 44-28. After the Conrad victory, Bigfork defeated Plains-Hot Springs 42-7. Knoll, a running back and kickoff returner, has scored 10 touchdowns in the three games.
Knoll is a speedy back at 6-0 and 175 pounds. Last season, he was selected first team all-conference. The team’s other three senior captains – Rose, lineman Anthony Curtis and quarterback Christian Ker – were named honorable mention all-conference.
While the rushing game, anchored by Knoll, sets the tone for the Vikings on offense, Ker is fully capable of airing the ball out. At 6-4, Ker can scan the field and find his receivers. And Knoll said Ker has improved from last year.
“Christian has more arm strength and better accuracy now,” Knoll said. “We can come from behind if we need to.”
On defense, Knoll said the Vikings need to work on tackling and not giving up big plays. He said teams rarely piece together drives against Bigfork’s defense, but they break off too many huge scoring plays.
“We stop them, stop them and then they get this big play,” Knoll said.
In order for Bigfork to take the next step and become a force at the state level, the Vikings must finish out games, both Emslie and his captains said. A case in point was the Loyola game. Twenty-seven unanswered points in the final period will always lead to a loss.
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Bigfork High School football head coach Todd Emslie, center, talks to the front five of his kick off return during practice in Bigfork. |
Rose said the Vikings weren’t mentally prepared for an entire game, while Knoll said there might have been some physical unpreparedness as well. But they proved they could play with one of the top-three teams in the state and they said the team hopes to face Loyola again – at the state tournament.
Emslie has full confidence that his team will do what’s necessary to refine its game.
“I like how we’ve come together as a team,” Emslie said. “Last year we had to learn how to be a team, how to win as a team and how to lose as a team. We’re still building, but I like our attitude.”