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Perzan, Campbell lead Vikings to 57-0 win

Hammarskjold dominates cross-town rival in Vikings season-opener.

THUNDER BAY – It just wasn’t the St. Patrick Saints day.

Led by a 103-yard catch and scoring run by Hunter Campbell and a pair of rushing touchdowns, including a 72-yard scamper up the middle, by running back Caleb Perzan, the Hamarskjold Vikings opened their 2018 senior boys high school football season with a convincing 57-0 triumph that was every bit as one-sided as the score suggests.

Campbell, whose touchdown included  a run of 90 yards after the catch, said he caught the ball and just started running toward the Saints end zone, stiff-arming a trio of St. Pat’s players en route to pay dirt.

“Luckily my quarterback (Zack) Kuzik saw me at the last second and just decided to wing it across. I just took it and the next thing I knew I was heading up the sidelines and I just had to beat a guy flying across the middle. I turned my back, got the stiff-arm down and headed for the score,” Campbell said.

Perzan easily passed the 100-yard rushing mark, scored from 19 and 72 yards out and set up a third score, a one-yard pass from Kuzik to Nolan Florindo, with a 36-yard run that landed the football on the winless Saints 14.

“It was pretty good,” Perzan said. “I was pretty happy with the performance we put up. I think we did a pretty good job. I’m really happy to see how the boys played. We dug pretty deep and we didn’t let the massive score get to our head. We tried to stay humble.”

Perzan added the team wanted to let the rest of the five-team circuit know the Vikings are still a force, after losing in last year’s championship to the Churchill Trojans, a team that is no more with the school closing this past June.

“Absolutely – I think it’s a big statement win, when you’re up that much. We tried not to run the score up too much. The goal was to come out with a strong presence, not to embarrass anybody,” Perzan said.

The Saints struggled to get anything going offensively most of the afternoon.

With a howling wind blowing north to south at Fort William Stadium, the passing game on both sides was all but non-existent, a few short gains sprinkled throughout the contest.

Quarterback Colin Wiseman attempted a couple of deep balls that led to turnovers, including a Travis Hall pick that led directly to Perzan’s lengthy TD run in the middle of the third quarter, the Vikings lead sprouting to 42-0 at the time.

Dillon Stroud opened the scoring six minutes into the first, rumbling in from two yards out. Less than three minutes later they doubled their lead, Gavin Perkins hitting Ethan Porter from seven yards out.

Michael Goegan closed out the scoring in the fourth on a 90-yard punt return.

It’s a great opening win, said Vikings coach Mike Judge, adding their opponent had no reason to hang their heads.  

“I don’t think the scoreboard was indicative of St. Pat’s. They had a hard day, but they’ll get better and they’ll be stronger. We need to continue to work too,” Judge said.

Carter Oikonen converted all eight touchdowns for Hammarskjold.

Elsewhere, the Westgate Tigers scored a 29-8 win over Superior Collegiate in the opening game for both teams. The Saints fell to 0-2 with the loss.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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