STORY BY: KEITH KANE
THE WOODLANDS — The Bryan Vikings played opportunistic football Friday (9/28) night turning two Oak Ridge turnovers into 14 points on the way to a District 14-5A opening 20 to 7 win on the road at Woodforest Bank Stadium.
The Vikings recovered a War Eagles fumble at the 40 yard line in the first quarter and scored first with 2:43 left in the opening period on a 13 yard run by Bobby Johnson. On their next possession, the Vikings fumbled the ball away to Oak Ridge who then fumbled it back on the very next play. Bryan made the War Eagles pay for the mistake by driving 33 yards to score with 10:00 left in the first half on a 16 yard run by Bobby Johnson.
Oak Ridge would cut the lead in half by getting their offense in gear to drive the ball 74 yards to score on a 7 yard run by back-up quarterback Braden Letney. But, the Vikings would turn it back into a two possession game before the halftime break on a 28 yard field goal by Jose Falcon with 3:47 left before the intermission.
The two teams traded possession throughout the third quarter with Oak Ridge mounting only one final threat when they drove the ball to the Bryan 18 yard line, but missed a 35 yard field goal attempt. The Vikings would score one last time with 1:45 left in the game on a 23 yard Jose Falcon Field goal to bring it to the final score of 20 to 7.
Bobby Johnson had a break through night picking up 190 yards on 23 carries and the two touchdowns before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. Chris Johnson passed for 105 yards in four completions and Cooper Powell caught two of the passes for 51 yards.
Next week, the Vikings will host the Conroe Tigers for the homecoming game at Merril Green Stadium. The kick off is at 7:30 with the game to be broadcast on 1150 The Zone beginning at 7 pm withKeith Kaneand Tap Bentz.