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Vikings take charge early, keep streak alive at homecoming
By Dave Pearce
The North Posey Vikings were expected to compete favorably against the Forest Park Rangers on Friday evening’s homecoming night at Joe Gengelbach Field. The coaches and the players have been around this game long enough to know that if they play the kind of football they know they can and are supposed to play, the outcome should never have been in doubt. And it wasn’t.
The Vikings remained undefeated and claimed the Pocket Athletic Conference Small School title with a 52-13 victory over Forest Park at North Posey High School. The Vikings improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in PAC Small School play, clinching the conference championship outright for the fourth time since 2021.
The Vikings came out ready to play and it was evident when on the first offensive play, quarterback Carter Schickel connected with Bret Buecher on a wide receiver screen that turned into an 80-yard touchdown just 14 seconds into the game.
But the Vikings took just a slight moment to admire their work and allowed Forest Park to answer with a 13-play, 65-yard drive, tying the game at 7-7 on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Camron Lueken with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter.
But at that point, the Vikings got their heads right.
The Vikings scored two more touchdowns in the first period, the first on a 68-yard touchdown run from Cade Mauck. Mauck put seven more on the board as the quarter was expiring when he hustled in from 10 yards out and the Vikings took a 21-7 lead into the second period.
“Coming off that South Spencer game, there may have been some question marks about our defense and we made some adjustments and I think our D-1 was just coming off a bad performance,” North Posey Coach Waylon Schenk explained. “After that first serios, we settled in and we only gave up three points the rest of the game to their varsity offense.”
The Rangers cut the deficit to 21-10 on a 30-yard field goal by Parker Wolf early in the second quarter, but North Posey quickly answered again. Mauck scored on a 38-yard run to make it 28-10 before Schickel connected with Remi Johnson for a four-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 35-10. That meant that three Viking players had scored a total of five touchdowns well before half-time. Mauck added another touchdown in the first half on a 24-yard run, sending North Posey into halftime with a commanding 42-10 advantage.
“I was pleased with the defense and offensively, we continue to score,” Schenk said with a smile. “We have been extremely efficient with the ball and I felt like the guys who have been efficient all year continue to be good. It was great to see (Camden) Clowers back healthy. Having him back in the mix was a good thing for us.”
Schenk pointed out that one of the goals is to get everyone back healthy and keep them healthy as tournament time draws ever closer. Senior Brody Fehn is scheduled to have another x-ray on his shoulder over the next two or three weeks and the results of that x-ray will likely determine his fate for the remainder of the season. Defensive back Davin Sullivan has also been nursing an injury so Clowers’ return was timely with a chance that Sullivan could return this week.
“Everyone is dealing with some of the same things we are dealing with,” Schenk said. Everyone is beat up and that is just a part of a long football season.”
Although Clowers did not find paydirt on Friday night, he was the leading target for Schickel as he caught five passes for 140 yards. Meanwhile, Schickel continues to complete about 75 percent of his passes. Those numbers are hard to defend when there are four or five targets that are equally able to catch the ball and make the play.
The scoring slowed a little to start the second half until the school’s all-time leading field goal kick and extra point leader Ethan Ashby nailed a 45-yard field goal with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 45-10 and triggering a running clock.
“We had a great homecoming crowd,” Schenk said. “We had a great student section and unbelievable community support.”
Forest Park’s final points came on a 28-yard field goal from Wolf with 3:21 remaining in the game.
Freshman Carter Hertel then put the finishing touches on the victory, breaking loose for a 59-yard touchdown run — the first varsity touchdown of his career — with 49 seconds remaining.
Mauck led the North Posey offense with an unofficial 206 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries. Schickel completed 10 of 13 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.
Remi Johnson was credited with three pass receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown, while Buecher had the 80-yard touchdown reception on his only catch.
Hertel finished with 63 yards and a touchdown on two carries.
Now the school’s all-time PAT and field goal leader, Ethan Ashby remained perfect on extra points this season, converting all seven of his attempts Friday night while also connecting on the 45-yard field goal. His attempt at breaking the school record for longest field goal (50 yards) had the distance but was pulled just a little to the left during the third quarter.
Friday night was his night to break the most field goals in a season and the career field goal record for most field goals in a career. He is also the career leader in PATS. If that wasn’t enough, he pinned the Rangers on their own 20 on every offensive start due to touchbacks.
“That is huge,” Schenk said. “They are going to start on their own 20 every time and that’s just big. Field position in high school football is just a huge thing.”
Defensively, nearly the entire roster got an opportunity to come up with a tackle despite a running clock for most of the second half.
Defensively, Brennan Reich led the team with five solo tackles while Lane young had four solos and five assists and Zeke Roosevelt had four solos and an assist. Carter Hertel had five tackles, two tackles for losses and a sack. Matthew Will had three tackles and a pair of assists while Jax Greene Had three solo tackles. Remi Johnson had two tackles and an assist and Sullivan Harp had a pair of tackles while Joey Hisch, Cru Wilzbacher had a tackle and an interception and Cole Kissel and Clowers each had a tackle and an assist. Chase Hopf, Cameron Fisher and Vince Weatherholt each had solo tackles. Braden Elpers had a solo and two assists.
North Posey will take its undefeated 7-0 record on the road next Friday for its final road game of the regular season when the Vikings travel to the Jungle in Lincoln City to face Heritage Hills.
