By Dave Ryan

FEDERALSBURG — Cambridge-South Dorchester High School Vikings’ 13-year streak as 1A East champions ended Friday in Caroline County, with a 16-14 Colonel Richardson win. The Vikings came into the contest with a 4-3 record, while the Colonels were 5-2 and on the wrong end of a 16-year losing streak to C-SD.

The Colonels’ came out with a strong running game, pushing the pile down the field until running back Jorselen Gabriel pulled in a 30-yard pass from quarterback Zachary Roberts for the first score of the game. Following a successful 2-point conversion, it was 8-0 with 7:15 left in the first quarter.

For the Vikings, Dario Belizaire showed his versatility, starting at quarterback instead of his usual wide receiver. At running back, Jordan Manokey and Tayon Fletcher rotated, each getting playing time from the start of the game.

The Vikes’ offense was getting in gear and moving the ball, until a fumble ended up in the Colonels’ possession, to shut down the visitors’ opening drive. There wasn’t any other damage done, though, after the Colonels turned over the ball on downs at their own 40-yard line.

The Vikings’ next drive made the score 8-7, when Jordan Manokey scored on a 7-yard run with 9:09 left in the second quarter. A James Frazier extra point was good, then Frazier got a little more action on the kickoff, when he tackled the returner.
In the final drive of the first half, the Colonels moved the ball to the C-SD 3-yard line, using the clock well, trying to ensure that the Vikings wouldn’t have time on the board. It seemed to be working well, until it didn’t.

The Colonels had called their final timeout, then tried a running play to punch it in for a touchdown. But the Vikings’ defense held just short of the goal line, and the clock ran out before the Colonels could run another play.

In the Vikings’ opening drive of the third quarter, Dario Belizaire did what he does, taking the game in hand and scoring at the 10:28 mark on a 52-yard quarterback keeper. The extra point made it 14-8 for C-SD’s first lead of the night.

The third quarter ended better for the Colonels than the second had, when former Viking Cam Lake caught Roberts’ second TD throw of the evening, for a 28-yard score. Without a reliable kicking game, the Colonels tried for a 2-point conversion, and Roberts kept it on a sneak for a 16-14 lead, and the winning tally.

The Vikings’ final regular-season game will be next Friday, at Easton. Game time is 6:30. This season, all Bayside Conference teams will be included in the playoffs.