The Eureka Junior High Tornadoes traveled to Eskridge to take on the Vikings in a rare 9-man football game. The Vikings forfeited the game because they could not play a standard 11-man contest. However, they defeated the Tornadoes in the resulting 9-man game, 16-40.
The game began very poorly for the Tornadoes as the Vikings kicked off the game using an onside kick. The bus-weary Tornadoes flubbed the kick and the Vikings scored in a 2-play 50-yard drive. Eureka put together a strong drive but turned the ball over on downs at the Mission Valley 10, which the Vikings promptly put in the endzone on a 90-yard run.
Eureka fumbled the next kickoff, another onside kick, and Mission Valley had the ball at the 50-yard line. The Vikings scored again on a touchdown pass. This time the conversion was good and the home team had a 20-0 lead. Incredibly the Tornadoes fumbled the next kickoff as well, giving the Vikings the ball on their own 40, which quickly became a 40-yard touchdown run, making the score 0-26.
The final sequence of the first half had the Tornadoes throw an interception, which the Vikings converted into another touchdown, making the halftime score 0-32.
The Tornadoes finally woke up after halftime. They recovered the kick, which was fumbled by the Vikings, and quickly scored on a 23-yard pass from Cord Adkins to Gavin Gonzalez. The conversion, a half-back pass from Brandon Cornett to Felix Neill, was also successful, making the score 8-32. The Vikings scored on their next possession on a well-defended pass. The ball squeezed between the defender and the receiver and was caught. The conversion was good, leaving the Vikings with 40 points.
Eureka took the ball back and scored in an almost identical way as they had before. A 23-yard pass from Adkins to Gonzalez and a conversion pass from Cornett to Neill. This was the last possession due to the running clock in the second half, leaving the final score 16-40.
The Tornadoes end their season with two straight home games, Thursday against Neodesha, followed by Cherryvale the following week.
Eureka’s junior high volleyball didn’t make the trip to Mission Valley. They will host Neodesha on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., before competing at Yates Center on Oct. 13 (volleyball only).
