Loggers fall in Homecoming to Bigfork, 56-0

The Libby Loggers’ season of hard knocks continued in Friday’s Homecoming game, as the Bigfork Vikings plundered their way through the Logger defense en route to a 56-0 victory.

“We got off to a rocky start, but settled down a bit as the game progressed,” head coach Neil Fuller said after the game. “Again, the kids played hard, but we unfortunately weren’t able to get points on the board early, which is crucial if we are going to compete.”

The Loggers’ first offensive series of the game ended in a three-and-out after a couple of miscues including a fumbled ball, recovered by the Loggers, and an errant snap, which quarterback Brian Peck managed to corral. Following Zander Petersen’s punt, the Viking offense took the field at the Libby 26 yard line and wasted no time getting into the end zone for the first score of the night. Less than three minutes had elapsed in the game before the first touchdown.

The Vikings added three more touchdowns in the first quarter, which included a 50-yard rushing touchdown by Matthew Farrier and a 70-yard punt return by Adam Jordt for a score.

As the second quarter began the young Loggers, trailing 28-0, seemed to settle in and play with more confidence. Peck started completing passes and the defense made a couple of stops. After a punt ended their first drive, Libby’s Logan Nelson came up with a big interception to keep the Vikings out of the end zone.

“Logan Nelson, even though he isn’t 100 percent physically coming off a leg injury from last winter, is getting more confidence with each game,” Fuller said. “He had a great interception and made some big plays off his safety blitzes.”

The Loggers then fumbled away the possession, which the Vikings took all the way back for a touchdown, bringing the score to 35-0 and triggering the mercy rule with 10:30 remaining in the first half. Under Montana high school rules, when one team has a 35-point lead the clock continues to run between downs, stopping only for quarter breaks, timeouts, injuries or penalties.

The Vikes managed one more touchdown before halftime, taking a 42-0 lead into the locker room.

Libby’s Homecoming halftime show featured the presentation of the 2015 royalty, led by King Dominic Voorhies and Queen Ashley Walker. The rest of the court consisted of Bailie Rosling, India Croucher, Krysten Mossberg, Cody Murray, Justin Christianson and Zander Petersen. The show also featured a Paint it Pink-themed dance recital starring what assistant principal Jim Germany called “current and future Libby Logger cheerleaders,” a group of about two dozen area youth joined the Logger cheerleading squad in an energetic dance performance.

Halftime also featured a 50/50 drawing to benefit the Logger Booster Club. Thanks to a generous matching donation by Glacier Bank, the pot was $895. Don Emery of Kootenai Transfer and Storage had the winning ticket and donated the entire prize back to the booster club.

The Loggers had a much better second half, holding the Vikings to just 14 points. The offense spent more time on the field and advanced the ball better, but was still unable to find scoring territory. The game ended with a score of 56-0 for the Vikings.

“We played a lot better in the second half,” Fuller said. “Brian Peck threw some good passes and the line was able to get him time to read a bit. Hopefully, we’ll be able to build on that going into Choteau.”

Fuller praised the poise and commitment of his young quarterback.

“Brian Peck has been baptized into varsity football under the most difficult of circumstances,” he said. “With the inexperience and lack of physicality up front, he has taken a beating at times, but continues to hang in there. He just needs to stay the course and he has a chance to be a very good football player down the road. I appreciate his toughness and keeping a positive attitude.”