It was Northside’s second trip to Dwight Bogle Stadium in as many weeks last Friday night, and the standing-room-only Viking crowd on the visitor’s side was looking for a repeat win on the artificial turf of Edmunds-Hammes Field.
Hidden Valley, however, had other plans for Titan homecoming night, and the Titans came within a whisker of stunning the powerful Vikings before a late fourth quarter touchdown pulled out the 21-17 win for Northside.
“Hidden Valley is a good football team,” Northside head coach Burt Torrence noted after the Vikings held off a final Hidden Valley charge in the waning seconds. “Our seniors came through for us..”
Hidden Valley had taken a first quarter 7-0 lead on quarterback Michael Simonic’s one-yard plunge. The Titan defense kept Northside at bay until Viking QB Adam Hardister hooked up with senior slot back Tyler Fisher on a 32-yard toss that knotted the score at 7-7 midway through the second. Hidden Valley responded with a Landon Dermott 28-yard field goal that sent the Titans to the locker room up 10-7.
After neither team scored in the third quarter, Northside retook the lead to start the fourth on a Jeremy Williams 5-yard run. Hidden Valley came right back, and when Titan running back Walker Brand capped off a tenacious Hidden Valley drive with a one-yard dive with just over four minutes remaining, the the Titans and their homecoming throng could smell upset.
Northside, with 22 seniors, rose to the challenge. Starting at their own 38, the Vikings navigated the game winning drive in five plays with the winner coming on a Hardister to Dakota Jackson 28-yard pass.
“It was a long game,” Viking’s Tyler Fisher said afterward. “Hidden Valley played well. We helped them out by committing four turnovers in the first half.”
“Northside is a state championship- caliber team,” Hidden Valley head coach Scott Weaver said. “In the end, it was two big-time players making a big-time play.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Vikings. Northside (4-0) will host Salem this Friday night.
