CAMBRIDGE — The Vikings advanced their record on the season to 2-1 after beating Colonel Richardson High School on Friday, 30-0. Cambridge-South Dorchester is now in third place in the Bayside Conference.

The visiting Colonels weren’t able to get their offense in gear throughout the contest, never posing a serious scoring threat. But the first score by the Vikings came from an unexpected source.

The Colonels started their second possession on their 1-yard line, following an excellent punt by Malik Ennals and coverage by his mates on special teams. Then, with only 1:54 gone in the first quarter, the Colonels’ ball carrier was forced into his own end zone and tackled there for a safety.

As it turned out, that 2-0 lead would have been enough to win the game for the Vikes, but four touchdowns followed, as well as some tough defense. Khalik Beasley gobbled up yards on offense for C-SD, and snatched a couple of interceptions on defense to shut down the Colonels’ drives.

One area in which the Vikings have clearly improved is in the kicking game. Ennals is sure handed receiving the long snaps and has a nice, dependable leg, strong enough to boot the ball well down field on punts.

Then there is rookie James Frazier, who just completed his third game of football.

Not third game of the season.
Third game of football.

Frazier came up through soccer, the game that still has his heart. But the football team now has his leg, and he’s not only sending the ball well down field, with good hang time on kickoffs, but is also scoring — all four of his extra points Friday were good.

Make no mistake. It’s easy to take a good kicking game for granted when things are chugging along like they’re supposed to, but as soon as there’s a weakness in special teams, everyone sees how important that aspect of the sport really is.

And in close games, those extra points can be the difference between winning and losing.

The Vikings’ next game will be Friday at Wicomico High School in Salisbury. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.