Mid Rivers Newsmagazine Sports

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Howell gridiron ignores cruel fate, looks to the future

By Stephen Glover

There are many times throughout the course of a season where the game of football can resemble a cruel and heartless experience.

The Francis Howell Vikings have had more than its fare share of cruel fate in the first seven games of the 2008 season.

In week one, against Marquette, the Vikings held a 23-21 lead with just a handful of minutes to play. But a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Matt Warrick and subsequent two-point conversion with 2:16 to play in the game gave Marquette the 29-23 win and crushed Howell’s chance for a home opening win.

“In the Marquette game, they put a 17-play drive together with just over 6 minutes left and that took about 5 minutes off the clock,” Francis Howell head coach Bryan Koch said. “That’s a big compliment to them to drive the ball down the field and win the game and it definitely was a tough loss for our kids. It was a game that we felt we played pretty well and they played pretty well. We just didn’t get it done on the scoreboard.”

In week three, the Vikings were leading Holt 27-14 with just under 4 minutes to play. But Holt quarterback Collin Pierce nailed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Blayne Mesplay with 3:49 to play in the game to cut Howell’s lead to 27-21.

Holt would strike again with 58 seconds to play on a one-yard touchdown run by Pierce to give the Indians the 28-27 lead. But that wasn’t the end to the Vikings frustrations as Holt hammered out its third touchdown in just under four minutes as Pierce hit Mesplay with a 32-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock.

“We had two very costly turnovers in our red zone and Holt was able to capitalize,” Koch said. “Holt’s been able to come back three times in the fourth quarter this season to win the game. That says a lot about their football program as well.”

Yet despite the fact that Howell could be 4-3 overall as opposed to being 2-5, Koch and his Vikings are viewing each week on the gridiron as a new chance to bounce back from the previous week’s frustrations.

“We have a lot of kids returning from last year and we’d like to say that the first five games could have gone a little bit better but we try not to focus on that,” Koch said. “Our approach is, the past is the past and we get a chance every Saturday to start over and get ready for a new week.”

One of Howell’s biggest offensive threats this season is senior running back Brian Cobbs who has carried the ball 50 times this season for 750 yards and nine touchdowns.

“He’s put up some pretty gaudy numbers this season,” Koch said. “I think right now he’s averaging 15 yards a carry. He’s a guy that can definitely change the outcome and pace of any game with just one carry.”

At quarterback for the Vikings is senior Jake Ksiakiewicz who has thrown for 568 yards and four touchdowns.

Francis Howell’s offensive line of senior left tackle Justine Iffrig, junior left guard Aaron Ray, senior center Malach Radigan, junior right guard Brian Englert and senior right tackle Thomas Ortiz could easily be classified as the unsung heroes of the group.

“Jake does a great job running the offense,” Koch said. “But our offensive line is the group that consistently gets better every week. We tell them that they lay it all on the line for the glory of others and they’re the men who are behind every one of our touchdowns.”

On defense, (Brian) Cobbs takes on Viking’s safety duties where he’s second on the team with a total of 55 tackles and one interception.

“We put him back at safety because he has the speed to catch receivers from a cover-two or cover-three,” Koch said. “He can play the whole field, has great vision and is one of the most sound tacklers that you can get at the high school level.”

Senior defensive tackles Ryan Sparkman (5-11, 195 pounds) and David Shipley (5-11, 165 pounds) anchor the defensive line with a combination of speed and agility that offsets their lack of size.

“They are a little undersized compared to prototypical defensive linemen,” Koch said. “But their quickness is what makes them able to play that position. Both of them have very explosive get off’s and they take double teams very well especially for being undersized with some of the offensive linemen that we face.”

Senior defensive ends John Bemis (6-2, 200 pounds), Camron Cathcart (6-4, 200 pounds) and Malach Radigan (6-3, 250 pounds) have been solid on the outsides as they’ve racked up a total of four sacks and three fumble recoveries this season.

“We generally put Malach on the strong side and let him use his strength against the dominant side of the offense,” Koch said. “We then let Camron and John run around and make the plays.

At linebacker for the Vikings, senior Thomas “Big Papi” Ortiz (6-2, 230 pounds) has been on fire this season with a total of 63 tackles, two sacks and one fumble recovery.

“In a 4-3 defense, you want a guy that can shut everything down from tackle to tackle and he definitely brings a load when he hits. I’d say he’s probably the hardest hitter on our team.”

Junior linebackers Alex Langford and Jake Ksiakiewicz are also defensive threats for the Vikings with Langford leading Francis Howell with 10 fumble recoveries and 46 tackles this season.

The Vikings are now focused on the upcoming Class 6, District 5 playoffs as they travel to Howell Central on Oct. 24 and close out the playoffs at home on Oct. 31 against DeSmet. The top two finishers in each district advancing to the state sectionals on Nov. 11.

“The thing about Missouri football is that you can go 0-7 and still make it into the playoffs,” Koch said. “You pretty much write your own destiny and this year with two teams coming out of every district, it opens doors to a lot more people than in years past.”

All of Francis Howell’s games are slated for a 7 p.m. start.