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John L. Braese
BEND – It is not often the first game of the year sets the tone for two teams looking at a long schedule ahead. However, this was the case as action between the Vale Vikings and the Cascade Christian Challengers opened Saturday, Aug. 31 on the field at Summit High School in Bend.
The Vikings and Challengers previously met in the 3A quarterfinals last season, a game that saw Cascade Christian hold on a two-point conversion and send the Vikings home in a 27-26 victory. The Challengers went on to claim the state title and entered Bend on a 26-game win streak. In addition, numerous media polls, including the state coaches’ poll, had Cascade Christian at the top and the favorite to repeat the team’s state title. Vale, top ranked in some media polls, was voted third this season by the state’s coaches.
Proving the pundits wrong, Vale claimed a 29-6 nonleague victory.
Typical of a first game for both teams, defense ruled the first half. Turnovers on both sides stalled drives and penalties forced each team out of scoring position. Vale held a slim 8-6 lead as both hit the locker room at the half.
The Viking ground game took over the second half with Kase Schaffeld finding his way to the endzone three times while putting up 252 yards on 25 touches of the ball. Landon Haberman also picked up a score while recording 15 rushes for 55 yards.
The passing game for the Vikings only saw one completion, a 31-yard pass to Skyler Cade. For the game, Brooks Aldred finished 1-for-7 with Vale switching to a direct snap to Schaffeld numerous times in the second half to continue a punishing ground attack. Cascade Christian also picked off Aldred once.
Vale put up the victory with 340 yards of total offense, 309 yards of the total on the ground.
Defensively, Vale picked up the pace in the second half, holding the Challengers to negative 19 yards rushing. For the game, Cascade Christian ended with 212 total yards of offense with only 22 yards rushing. Junior quarterback Deryk Farmer ending the game 13-for-20 for 168 yards along with a Viking interception.
“Both teams were trying to find themselves in the first half,” said Vale coach Jeff Aldred. “Cascade Christian is fast and athletic but our defense set the tone of the game.”
Relying heavily on the run game, Aldred said the Viking pass game will come along as the season progresses.
“Our receivers are young and there was some confusion with routes,” he said. “Nothing we saw as a coaching staff cannot be corrected. The effort on defense was outstanding and was a big bonus to see this early in the season.”
After last season, Vale scheduled no Idaho teams for the season, taking on a slew of 3A and 4A teams prior to the league season beginning.
Vale (1-0 overall) will again take to the road on Friday, Sept. 6 for game versus the 4A Tigers of La Grande. Like the Vikings, the Tigers opened the season with a win, holding Astoria scoreless in a 32-0 home victory on Friday, Aug. 30.
The Viking win over the Challengers should set up a change in the polls. While six coaches previously voted Vale as the top 3A team in the state, nine coaches gave the first-place nod to Cascade Christian and two coaches saw Banks as the top team. Dayton, although picking up no top votes, ranked fourth in the poll with Kennedy rounding out the top five. After Saturday’s game, state coaches will be hard pressed not to hand Vale the top spot.
Thanks to Jesse Cox for the great picture for this article
