EDMONDS — The Snohomish County Vikings continue to battle hard despite a string of bad luck.
Snohomish County entered last weekend’s game against the Oregon Thunderbolts without starting quarterback John McCourt, who was sidelined with an intestinal ailment.
Then during the game, one of the Vikings’ starting linebackers had to leave when he received word that his dying mother had taken a turn for the worse.
Despite losing 38-0, Snohomish County coach Wes Fischer was proud of his team’s effort in the Northwest Football League contest July 24 at Edmonds Stadium.
“These kids are playing hard,” he said. “They are not quitting … they’re working their tails off and it’s just not happening for one reason or another.”
After scoring 27 and 21 points in their last two games, the Vikings’ offense was unable to get on track against the Thunderbolts.
Snohomish County did not record a first down until midway through the third quarter. The Vikings were intercepted twice in the first half. One of the interceptions was returned for a touchdown, while the other led to an Oregon field goal.
“That team (Thunderbolts) wasn’t much better than the team that we played last week or the week before,” Fischer said. “But without your quarterback, it’s awful hard.”
The Vikings may shift wide receiver Keith Rankins to quarterback depending on how things go at practice this week.
“He’s got a pretty good arm and he has a full understanding of the offense,” said Fischer, who noted that this is the first year that starting quarterback James Hunt has been with Snohomish County. “Physically, he (Rankins) has got the tools and the understanding of all the routes and everything because he’s a receiver.”
Fischer wasn’t sure on who he plans to start in this week’s game against Renton.
“We’ll just see what happens (at practice),” Fischer said.
Oregon was led by quarterback Tyler Germann and wide receiver Kenney Roberts, who connected on touchdown passes of 42, 22 and 28 yards.
Snohomish County (0-6) hosts Renton at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, July 31) at Edmonds Stadium.
Fischer continues to see improvement from his team, especially from the defense, which shut down the Thunderbolts in the third quarter.
Oregon’s two touchdowns in the fourth quarter — a 28-yard pass from Germann to Roberts and a 26-yard run by Kalani Matanza — were a result of big plays and a bit of bad luck from Snohomish County’s perspective.
“The two plays where they scored … they had exactly the right play called,” Fischer said. “They hit exactly the right thing. If everybody plays their assignments, we can play good football with anybody.”
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