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Despite giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown and a blocked punt, Northeast overpowers Dixie Hollins 27-16.
By RODNEY PAGE
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 8, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- At Northeast, the kids are all right.
Despite a roster full of underclassmen, the Vikings passed an early-season test by defeating rival Dixie Hollins 27-16. The Vikings did it with their trademark rushing attack (six different players carried for positive yardage) and a stingy defense.
Northeast outrushed the Rebels 140-56 and outgained them in total yardage 256-103.
The Vikings scored on their first possession and built a 27-3 lead in the third quarter before surviving a late Dixie Hollins rally, which included a blocked punt and an 88-yard kickoff return.
"We started playing real well but then we just kind of piddled around," Northeast coach Jerry Austin said. "I don't know what we're going to do with the kicking game. We should have played better. There's something there (that's wrong), I just don't quite know what it is."
And neither does Dixie Hollins.
From the opening drive, the Vikings controlled the line of scrimmage. Northeast moved downfield and Ernest Fields capped the seven-play, 70-yard drive with an 8-yard run. After a 37-yard field goal by Vince Iacopelli in the second quarter, Northeast came back with a six-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by Fields.
The lead escalated to 24-3 in the third quarter when the Vikings mounted a 10-play, 40-yard drive that ended when Fields scored his third touchdown with another 1-yard run.
"We wanted to establish the run," Fields said. "If they couldn't stop the run they couldn't beat us."
Nothing seemed to go right for Dixie Hollins. There was a kickoff and a punt that bounced off Rebels' players and were recovered by Northeast, and there was a long kickoff return to start the second half called back by a clipping penalty.
Things didn't get going for the Rebels until it was too late.
After giving up a 31-yard field goal by Northeast's Kelly Dewitt, the Rebels' Kevin Marion returned the following kickoff for an 88-yard touchdown to give his team a glimmer of hope.
A blocked punt by Curtis Chance led to another Dixie Hollins touchdown five plays later when B.J. Hall hit C.J. Davis on a 5-yard scoring pass.
Dixie Hollins got the ball back with more than three minutes to play, but its drive ended when Brad Farrell recoved a Hall fumble on third down.
"They just beat us up front," Dixie Hollins coach Mike Morey said. "I don't think the score even indicates how badly we got beat. We got outplayed in every way."