Hayfield falls to Randolph

After starting the season with a win, the Vikings ran into a buzzsaw when they lost 39-19 to the Randolph Rockets on Friday, Sept. 6. 

Head Coach Jeff Snider said Randolph deserves credit for pouncing on Hayfield’s mistakes. 

“Randolph did a good job of taking advantage of some pass coverages that we used and some of our missed assignments with those pass coverages,” he said. 

He said those missed assignments gave the Rockets an early lead. 

“They were able to get a couple quick scores that forced us to play catch up,” he mentioned. 

After a rough first two quarters, the Vikings trailed 31-7 at halftime. 

Snider said his team worked on correcting those pass coverages during halftime. 

“We really just shored up those coverages and our assignments and played much more effectively in the second half,” he said. 

He especially liked the way his offense played in the second half. 

“Our offense spread the ball to many receivers and got the running game going,” he said. 

That offensive execution helped the Vikings record two touchdowns in the third quarter. 

First, Jake Risius caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Brady Nelson. Later, Patrick Towey III caught an eighteen-yard pass for the second touchdown. The two-point conversion failed both times. 

Snider also was pleased with the way his team responded to adversity. 

“We put a good fight in the second half and we’re really close to turning that game around,” he said. “I learned a lot about our team and how much fight that we have as we were down significantly at halftime and our boys came out and really battled to try to get us back in the game with a chance to win. We made some significant progress in the second half and I expect us to learn from our mistakes and continue to improve as a team.” 

The Vikings hope to see that improvement come to fruition when they host Blooming Prairie on Friday, Sept. 13. 

Hayfield: Passing - Brady Nelson 20-50 for 249 yards, 2 TDs, and 3 INTs. Rushing - Carter Kyllo: 9 rushes for 30 yards, Brady Nelson: 8 rushes for 8 yards, Dawson Andree: 1 rush for 5 yards, and Karver Heydt 1 rush for no gain. Receiving - Patrick Towey III: 6 receptions for 56 yards and 1 TD, Luke Dudycha: 3 receptions for 54 yards, Dawson Andree: 3 receptions for 50 yards, Ethan Slaathaug: 1 reception for 50 yards, Carter Kyllo: 2 receptions for 27 yards, and Jake Risius 5 receptions for 12 yards and 1 TD.