Vikings get big plays and takeaways to beat McComb

McCOMB – Leipsic coach Joe Kirkendall said his team's 32-14 win at McComb Friday night was one to savor."This was one we circled. (The McComb game) means something to our program," Kirkendall said after the Vikings improved to 7-0. "This is one the boys can enjoy for sure."It was a game that – for three quarters – was much closer than the final score might suggest.But it was the Vikings who forced four turnovers, turning two into touchdowns.The Panthers fumbled the ball away on a punt return, threw two interceptions, and lost another fumble."At times we play really well, and there's other times we look young," said McComb coach Kris Alge, whose team slipped to 3-4, 2-3 in the BVC. "When you play a team like Leipsic, who has speed all over the field, you can't turn the ball over."The biggest turnover came in the third quarter.A 30-yard touchdown pass from Grady Schroeder to Luke Kern brought the Panthers to within 20-14 of the Vikings with 8:38 remaining.Leipsic's offense went 3-and-out and was forced to punt.McComb drove into Vikings territory, but then Schroeder was intercepted by Leipsic linebacker Aaron Hazelton."It's just being in the right spot at the right time," Hazelton said.Leipsic responded with its most sustained drive, marching down the field and using up all of the remaining time in the third. Hazelton scored on a 7-yard touchdown, and Leipsic was up 26-14 after three.Hazelton had 16 carries for 79 yards, caught three passes for 62 yards (including a 52-yard touchdown), and had the key interception on defense.Coach Kirkendall calls Hazelton the team's "Swiss Army Knife.""If there's a game ball to be given out, it's going to Aaron Hazelton tonight," coach Kirkendall said. "He did all the little dirty work, made all the plays on both sides of the ball."In the fourth quarter, Mark Kirkendall found Marquise Williams down the middle. Williams caught the ball, outran everyone, and raced to the end zone for an 89-yard touchdown.Kirkendall and Williams had connected earlier in the game on a 58-yard strike that went for a TD."Those are long, developing routes," coach Kirkendall said of the Marc Kirkendall-to-Williams plays."Our guys did a great job of keeping the quarterback clean and allowing him to go from his first read – because Marquise is the second read – and they took the first and he hit the second, just a great job of executing."Williams finished with three catches for 165 yards and two scores. He also had 12 rushes for 54 yards.Marc Kirkendall finished completing 14-of-22 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns. Five of those completions went to Avery Paris for 71 yards."We have a lot of weapons," Hazelton said. "We practice it every day… Every guy gets reps, all the way from the starters all the way down to the JVs."For McComb, Schroeder had 14 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. Schroeder also completed 18-of-30 passes for 213 yards. Cameron Smith caught eight passes for 91 yards for the Panthers."We went with what was working and we spread it out," Alge said. "I thought Grady threw pretty darn good, we've just got to find a way to finish."Mark Kirkendall's other touchdown pass went to Mill Paniagua in the second quarter for 18 yards. Defensively for the Vikings, John Dewar had a second half interception."When you get that momentum, and you get a short field, you have to take advantage, and we did that," coach Kirkendall said. "And we didn't turn the ball over ourselves. That was a huge part of the game."Leipsic is now 4-0 in the BVC, and next week will travel to play the league's other unbeaten team, Liberty-Benton.McComb will host Arlington, which Alge said is a huge game for his program."Our kids are resilient," Alge said. "We've got to beat Arlington. We don't win, we probably won't get in the playoffs, and I don't want that to happen for our seniors. They've worked too hard."