Fans at Viking Stadium Friday night sat through a misty drizzle in the first half before the downpours came in the second.
Unfortunately for the William Fleming Colonels, they witnessed a deluge from the opening kickoff.
Seeing touchdowns scored on their first six possessions, albeit the first was the result of a scoop-and-six by the Fleming defense, Northside dominated the Colonels for the 44-13 Blue Ridge District win.
For Fleming, it was their first loss of the season while Northside reignited its postseason position to improve to 4-2.
The Colonel offense never got untracked all night and the Viking defense was relentless.
Fleming took the opening kickoff and went three-and-out. Northside started its first series from its own 20 and productively stayed on the ground to midfield.
On the Vikings first pass play of the game, quarterback Josh Hardister lost the handle while rolling to his left and Fleming senior Jailien Poindexter scooped up the ball and rambled 45 yards to the end zone for the quick 6-0 Colonel lead after a missed PAT.
Northside wasted no time shaking off the miscue. The Vikings stayed with their ground attack for a 87-yard drive that resulted in junior Corey Williams scoring from 4-yards out with 7:07 left in the first quarter, giving the Vikings the lead they would never relinquish after Cameron Murray tacked on the successful point-after.
Northside was hardly finished.
The Vikings scored the first of their 27 second quarter points early in the frame when Williams scored on a 3-yard run. Hardister followed with a 27-yard touchdown strike to Jo Jo Wampler and Rahiim Cunningham made it 27-6 on the next Viking series with a 6-yard TD scamper.
William Fleming momentarily stopped the bleeding when Colonel quarterback Tyrell Adams broke loose for a 45-yard touchdown run that cut the Fleming deficit to 27-13, but Northside responded late in the half with a 5-yard Williams touchdown run that sent the teams to the break with the Vikings in control 34-13..
Murray booted a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter and Williams completed the scoring for Northside on a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth that settled the 31-point margin.
Northside dominated in all statistics, outpacing the Colonels in total yardage 438-87.
Bill Turner
