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Vikings lose heartbreaker to Irish

DeSales makes a fourth-quarter push to defeat Garfield-Palouse

PALOUSE - In a Grape/Wheat District 6 crossover game on Friday, Nov. 1, the DeSales Irish defeated the Garfield-Palouse (Gar-Pal) Vikings, 44-38, in a come-from-behind victory.

The Vikings led, 38-6, just before the fourth quarter before the Irish rallied 38 unanswered points to take the win.

Gar-Pal opened the scoring early in the first quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Bryce Pfaff to senior lineman Macent Rardon. DeSales answered halfway through the opening quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run by senior running back Diego Caso.

With 30 seconds remaining in the first, Pfaff connected with junior running back Lane Collier for a 29-yard touchdown pass. At the end of the first quarter, the Vikings led, 16-6.

Early in the second quarter, DeSales made a pass on fourth down, but the play was broken up by the Gar-Pal defense. That set up a 58-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff to Rardon to extend the Vikings lead.

The Irish attempted several passing plays, but the Vikings defense stood strong, covering the would-be receivers well and not allowing the completed passes. At halftime, Gar-Pal led, 22-6.

Four minutes into the second half, Collier scored on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pfaff. Gar-Pal struck again on another pass from Pfaff to Rardon, this time from 12-yards out, late in the third to give the Vikings a 38-6 lead.

With 1:10 to go in the third, DeSales began its comeback. Sophomore tight end Hudson Hall scored on a 69-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Sal Sisk.

Early in the fourth quarter, Sisk made a 10-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Jason Guest. Halfway through the final quarter, Sisk connected with senior running back Billy Holtzinger on a 10-yard pass to help close the gap.

One minute later, Gar-Pal fumbled the ball at its own 38-yard line with DeSales recovering. On the first offensive play, Sisk made a 38-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Maddox Filan.

Late in the final frame, Gar-Pal faced a fourth-and-11 at the DeSales 29-yard line. A pass was intercepted by Filan, setting up a 70–yard TD pass from Fisk to Guest, giving the Irish its first lead in the game and the final score of 44-38,

With 1:11 to go in the game, Gar-Pal faced a fourth-and-4 on the DeSales 36-yard line and attempted to regain the lead, but the pass fell incomplete and the Irish took over on downs. They set up victory formation to take a knee the rest of the game, ran out the clock and completed the comeback victory.

Pfaff made 275 yards of total offense with Collier gaining 110 rushing yards in the game.

The Vikings falls to 4-5 on the season and will next play the Wellpinit Redskins (record of 5-4) in a district tournament matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, in Palouse.

 

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