Spartanburg Vikings Head Coach Chris Miller told the guys on Open Mic this week that he learned after Week 0 his team was full of “fighters.” Miller was excited about the future of this team and called them a “fun bunch to coach.” After Friday night’s win against TL Hanna, that feeling will have only grown. The Spartanburg Vikings won an OT thriller over TL Hanna 14-7. Junior Damyjai Foster had two 1 yard TD runs for both Viking scores.
On the last play of the game, TL Hanna WR Braylon Peterson caught a pass at the Viking 3 yard line and attempted to reach out for the end zone. However, Foster and Junior LB Connor Shugart wrapped him up and knocked him back just shy of the goal line..a play which reminded many viewers of the last play in the Super Bowl between Tennessee and the St. Louis Rams.
Here are some of my (Clary’s) thoughts of what I saw Friday night.
- The Viking defense has now had 6 straight good quarters of football. The Vikings played a lot faster tonight on defense and although they gave up some rushing yards, got tremendous pressure in the backfield on both run and pass plays.
- OLB Jay Rice was fantastic. Cramps got the better of him late but he had an excellent game. MLB Reggie Anderson also made some huge plays when spying Hanna QB Alex Meredith.
- What Connor Shugart is doing with one hand is ridiculous. He continues to make play after play.
- Tommy Washington is just as good of a DE as he is TE. He was incredibly explosive off the ball and give the coaching staff credit for timing his defensive plays tonight. He was huge on both sides of the ball Friday night.
- Romain Kelly now has 13 catches in his first 2 games. He is so much tougher than last year. He is really tough to bring down.
- I’d love to see over the next 4 games the coaches give William Yex some chances to make some throws down the field. When he’s given the chance, I really like what I see from him. The Vikings will need him to make big throws come region play.
- The Vikings need to find some run plays between the tackles that work. Ladarius Jones is very solid and I’d love to see Zykamren Robinson get more touches.
- Eric Rice is just so solid.
- The Wildcat Power formation with Damyjai Foster needs to be used more. It works just about every time.
- Ayele Jeter is a lot of fun to watch. He had another good night against TL Hanna
- Will Lawson is kicking with a lot of confidence right now. It’s great to see.
We haven’t seen Spartanburg have to win this way in a while, but it was fun to watch the Vikings Defense shine Friday Night. So…who’s up for 3!!
