By John Gleeson
For BucksLocalSports.com

Icelandic sagas offered a rather vivid portrayal of ancient Viking warriors. These stouthearted lads knew no fear and showed no mercy as they pummeled their adversaries into submission.

In last Saturday’s District 12 Class AAA football championship game, the Vikings of Archbishop Wood certainly lived up to the reputation of their legendary namesakes. Coach Steve Devlin’s charges called on all their weapons as they dismantled Public League champion Simon Gratz by a lopsided 42-6 score.

As outlined by quarterback Jerry Rahill, the battle strategy was basic. “The plan was to throw a lot of short passes and run the ball right at them. We wanted to put them away early with short passes and then grind it out at the end of the game.”

Initially, executing this scheme proved a bit tough. On its opening possession, Wood started driving downfield according to plan. Short passes to Sam McCain coupled with power runs by Kevin Murt moved the ball into Bulldog territory. On the fifth play of the series, however, Rahill rolled to his left, searched for an open receiver, then fumbled away the ball at the Gratz 40 yard line, a mistake undoubtedly angering Odin, the Viking god of war.

It would be the Viking quarterback’s only miscue of the day. From there on, he turned in a near perfect performance. Rahill wound up completing 12-of-15 passes, good for 183 yards and two touchdowns. When not bombing the Bulldogs’ secondary, Jerry was racing through the befuddled Gratz defenders. He toted the pigskin five times for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

Perhaps Rahill’s biggest pass completion came on Wood’s second possession. Starting on his own 19 yard line, he guided the Vikings on a methodical drive, culminating in a 3-yard scoring plunge by Kevin Murt. A long pass to Kyle Adkins set up this first tally. In Jerry’s words, “We had two guys on one side. The outside receiver ran a post. Kyle ran a wheel route down the sideline. That confused the defense and left him wide open”

Not content to sit on their 7-0 first quarter lead, Wood unleashed a second quarter offensive assault that saw them score 28 unanswered points. Rahill showed his versatility, racing 36 yards for the Vikings’ second tally.

“That was a quarterback draw play. It was wide open. The line did a great job blocking.”

Another 18-yard scoring run by Rahill widened the margin to 21-0. After Gratz bobbled away their second consecutive kickoff return, Wood took to the air again. With a little over two minutes left in the half, Rahill hooked up with Kevin Murt for a 15-yard scoring strike. “We did a naked bootleg. He (Murt) was at fullback. He went out into the flat and I just turned around and threw it to him.”

Less than two minutes later, Wood struck once more. This time, Rahill found one of his favorite targets, Scott Adkins, in the back of the end zone. “He (Adkins) ran a corner route to the flag. I just threw it to the flag and let him make a play.”

Nick Visco’s fifth extra point kick gave the Vikings a 35-0 lead, heading into halftime. With the mercy rule invoked in the second half, Wood’s second team got a chance to seal the deal and assure the Vikings their second straight District 12 championship.

In a year when all eyes wanted to see how the Vikings would fare after losing several key starters from last year’s team, coach Devlin’s squad certainly showed they still had the championship touch. Jerry Rahill sums up their success, saying, “last year in a lot of games, we blew people out. Some of our guys got experience winning. All year in practice, we worked hard. We’ve been getting great looks from the scout teams. In the beginning of the year, we were a little shaky because we didn’t have experience. After the first couple of games, we came together and since then, we’ve been great.”

With a Catholic League title and a District 12 championship already under their belt, Wood is taking aim at another trip to Hershey Park. They may not be able to dominate future opponents but each player definitely will play with the heart of a Viking warrior.