Vanier Powers By Notre Dame On A Chilly Wet Evening

Yasinski Leads Vikings With Four Touchdowns

Photos and story by Robert Thomas

The weather may have been cooler and wet but it didn’t slow down the Vanier Vikings machine as they easily powered by the visiting Notre Dame Hounds 41 - 0 in 9 aside football at Elks Field on Friday evening.

The Vikings set the tone of the game early scoring a touchdown on their first play of the game.

It was a 6 - 0 lead just a half minute into play the Hounds failed to recover from.

Vanier Vikings quarterback Grayson Hrenyk (right) calls his own number as he sprints past the Notre Dame Hounds defence

Vanier Vikings head coach Luke Tkachuk said the victory was what the team was building for at practice over the past week.

“It was a really good win for the boys. It was a really good win after last against Lumsden. I think we really rebounded good. The defence played a heck of a game and the offence was flying around and making big plays too,” Tkachuk said.

Last week in their season opener the Vikings were humbled by the powerhouse Lumsden Devils 62 - 12.

Notre Dame Hounds Cash Martin (left) turns it upfield after getting around Vanier Vikings linebacker Ryan Work

The tone of the game was set early.

“Right there (with a first play touchdown) we kind of set the tone. It brought out the mentality that OK we are in this and it got the ball rolling,” he said.

After last week’s loss to Lumsden Tkachuk said the Vikings were still looking for a big win versus the Hounds.

Vanier Vikings quarterback Grayson Hrenyk (Center) is hotly pursued by Notre Dame Hounds defenders

“All throughout the week we kind of talked about letting the game come to us and taking it one step at a time and building towards Friday night. You know I think if we kind of think about it and work towards it yeah we did expect this,”

The weather wasnt a key factor - with a rain shower cooling off the temperature noticeably in the second quarter - but the Vikings were aware of it.

“We were watching it a little bit all day but we were kind of expecting whatever but we’ve still got to play.”

Vanier Vikings Jake Douglas (left) attempts a tackle on a rushing play

Although uncomfortable the short eight minutes of drizzle didn’t scare away the smaller crowd of die-hard fans many who came prepared with umbrellas and blankets against the cold.

Asked about the positives and negatives on the field Tkachuk said there were a lot of positives in the Vikings play.

“Offensively I think we made the plays and the defence put up a goose egg,” he said, adding “there were a lot of little mistakes we will clean up on this week coming up before Maple Creek.”

The Vikings take on the Redmen next Friday in Maple Creek.

Vanier Vikings Tucker McKechnie (left) out sprints Notre Dame Hounds Jeremy Gould

Asked about some of the discipline problems - with both teams taking penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play - Tkachuk said it’s just part of the game.

“It goes both ways. Everybody is human and they’re just boys at the end of the day.”

Vanier Vikings Gabe Yasinski had a big night on the field

For the Vikings Gabe Yasinski - who scored four touchdowns - it was all about teamwork.

“I think we did really good as a team. We showed up and got a lot of our secondaries in which is really nice to see,” Yasinski said.

He credited the team for his large number of major returns against the Hounds field goal squad.

Vikings offensive lineman Tucker Schwartz (left) puts pressure on Hounds quarterback Ben Bugeaud

“I did. But I only did that because of the blocking we had in front. The blocking contributed a lot,” Yasinski said.

Asked if he expected the game to end with a massive Viking win Yasinski said the team wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“We didn’t go in under thinking it. We thought it was going to be a good competition and we just showed up and performed well.”

Viking quarterback Grayson Hrenyk takes the snap

With the win the Vikings move to a 1 - 1 record and the Hounds are 0 - 2.