UPDATE: The game time Saturday for the playoff game scheduled in Central Point has been changed to 1 p.m. Pacific.
VALE – Kase Schaffeld and Brooks Haueter scored two touchdowns and Damick Eddy added another score in the first half to lead Vale past Santiam Christian 33-0 in a first-round Class 3A state playoff football game Friday, Nov. 3.
“It went pretty well,” said Vale coach Jeff Aldred.
The Vikings (9-0) will travel to Crater High School in Central Point to play Cascade Christian on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. Pacific Time in a quarterfinal match. Cascade Christian (10-0) is ranked No. 2 by the Oregon School Activities Association. Cascade Christian defeated Warrenton 40-0 Saturday, Nov. 4, in a first-round playoff contest.
Friday night, the Vikings dominated the first half, building a 19-0 lead after the first quarter and were out in front 33-0 at halftime. By then, the Vikings piled up 281 yards of offense.
“We were extremely efficient,” said Aldred.
The win was the fourth shutout in a row for the Vikings. No team has scored more than 12 points against Vale this season.
Aldred said Santiam Christian focused on stopping Vale’s run game.
“They walked their safety down which gave us some favorable matchups in the secondary. Haueter and (Colten) Stepleton had fantastic games,” said Aldred.
Haueter said the Vikings met their key goal early in the contest.
“Our goal was to score quick and we did that,” he said.
Stepleton, Vale’s quarterback, was 12 of 15 for 225 yards while Haueter pulled in seven passes for 103 yards.
The Viking defense also put in a virtuoso performance, limiting the visitors to 75 yards of offense.
“Our defensive line is extremely talented and we are very fast and rally and swarm to the football as good as any team I’ve coached,” said Aldred.
Haueter agreed with his coach that the Viking defense was another element to the victory.
“Our defense is always flying around. That gives us the energy which then translates to offense and defense,” he said.
Aldred said the win Friday night was a total team effort but the competition for the Vikings gets tougher this weekend.
Aldred said Cascade Christian won’t make many mistakes.
“They don’t get themselves into negative situations,” he said.
Cascade Christian will be a challenge, he said.
“They’re defending state champions so we will have to rely on some guys stepping up. We will have think outside of the box a little bit,” said Aldred.
Aldred said, though, he’s confident the Vikings can compete.
“We are a pretty deep team. We’ve got a lot of good players on our roster. We are going to get after it,” said Aldred.
News tip, contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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