Tait Sande and the Cook County Vikings came away with a 34-16 victory over Carlton in high school football on Friday night. Playing in less than ideal conditions, Sande, the area's scoring leader, added to his total by scoring three touchdowns and tacking on two extra-point conversions.
The Vikings scored back-to-back touchdowns in the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Cody Everson and a Taylor Braham pass to Miles Drake. Sande added the conversion points on the first touchdown making it 14-0 for Cook County.
"Cook County is good," mentioned Carlton coach Dave Battaglia. "They are undefeated, but we didn't play our best game. We fumbled our first two possessions and spotted Cook County a 14-0 lead."
Sande got into the act with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, both on 6-yard romps, as the Vikings lead went to 28-0 at halftime.
"We failed to score on a first-and-goal just before the half," explained Battaglia. "We played much better in the second half and outscored them 16-6."
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The Vikings sealed the win when Sande bolted in from the 36-yard line to make it 34-0 for Cook County in the third quarter.
"Sande is very good," stated Battaglia. "He is quick and tough to tackle."
Adam Schmitz finally got the Bulldogs on the board on a 1-yard run and he also added the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 34-8 early in the final quarter. Jake Rychlak added the Bulldogs final score on a 15-yard run and again Schmitz made the two-point conversion to further cut into the Vikings lead at 34-16.
"We have two games before playoffs to get things turned around," Battaglia said of his team's 1-5 record. I like what I'm seeing in practices and need to find a way to get this team to believe in themselves. We have the potential to make some waves at playoff time if we can get a few wins and start playing up to our ability."
