Vikings’ air show sinks Dragons

Host Elsie Allen in home opener on Friday|

Last week, Sonoma Dragon football coach Bob Midgley said he expected to see a lot of footballs in the air when the Dragon met Montgomery on Friday night.

He was right.

Up until the fourth quarter, the Vikings put the ball in the air almost every play. Not only were they passing, the Vikings were also running a no-huddle offense that strained the Dragon defense.

It didn’t take the Vikings long to strike – 26 seconds to be precise as Montgomery took the opening kickoff, ran three plays and scored the first of their six touchdowns on their way to a 41-13 victory over the Dragons.

Sonoma didn’t have an answer to Montgomery receivers Austin Rapolla and BJ Johnson. Rapolla caught 17 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns while Johnson caught eight for 205 yards and one touchdown.

The Dragons had a three-and-out on their first possession and after a punt, Montgomery put together a 70-yard drive and scored its second touchdown on another eight-yard pass from quarterback Joey Thresh to Rapolla.

On their next possession, the Dragons, in less than a minute, answered the Vikings touchdown with one of their own. On the second play of the series, Dragon quarterback Rocko Wetzel found Josef Marenec streaking along the sideline. Wetzel hit Marenec in stride for a 78-yard touchdown pass.

While the extra point was blocked, the Dragons were in the game at 14-6.

But the Vikings answered Sonoma’s answer with yet another touchdown less than two minutes later to make it 21-6.

Starting on their own 33, the Dragons started a drive that was helped along by a roughing the passer penalty on Montgomery. It was one of numerous yellow flags the Vikings would draw.

When Sonoma’s drive stalled at midfield, they opted to punt, but the punt was blocked giving Montgomery excellent field possession. Two plays and 34 seconds later, the Vikings extended their lead to 28-6 as the result of a 35-yard TD pass.

Later in the quarter, Henry Darnell recovered a Viking fumble, but the Dragons couldn’t turn it into a score and punted.

As the half was winding down, the Dragons, helped by yet another Montgomery penalty made it to mid-field before a Viking defender picked off an errant pass.

Instead of running the clock out, Montgomery went for the end zone and scored yet another touchdown as the clock expired.

Halfway through the third quarter, Montgomery extended its lead to 41-6.

In the fourth quarter, the Dragons put together a 72-yard drive that end up with Wetzel again hitting Marenec, this time with a 38-yard TD pass at the 3:43 mark, cutting the lead to 41-13.

The loss drops the Dragons to 0-2 on the year.

The junior varsity won its second straight game, beating the Viking JVs, 32-30.

The Dragons host Elsie Allen on Friday in Sonoma’s home opener. It’s also the opening game of the Sonoma County League season. The Lobos are 1-1 on the season. Game time at Arnold Field is 5 p.m. for the JV and 7:30 p.m. for the varsity tilt.

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