By Dave Ryan

FEDERALSBURG – Only one team can win a game, but both can beat a tropical storm.

The Cambridge-South Dorchester High School varsity Vikings (2-2) traveled to Caroline County on Friday to play Colonel Richardson (2-2), as Tropical Storm Ophelia took aim at the region. The Vikings fell to the home team, 14-13.

Kickoff was at 6 p.m., leaving just enough time for the contest to take place before the weekend’s rain began.

The first quarter ended scoreless, but the second quarter had just begun when C-SD’s sophomore running back Sterling Perkins carried the ball into the end zone for the game’s first score. After a good extra point, it was 7-0 Vikings.

As the second half began, Viking quarterback Blake LaBelle threw to the sideline, where the ball was picked off and returned for a touchdown. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and it was 7-6 in favor of C-SD.

The Vikings found that quarterback keepers were moving the ball, and LaBelle charged up the middle for gains. Then a bomb from him to TayMar Alexander put the ball close to the end zone – two plays later, LaBelle carried for a TD. The extra point was no good, leaving the tally at 13-6.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, the Colonels scored again, and with a good two-point play, the home team was up 14-13 with two and a half minutes left.

C-SD got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff. It was all so close – Jaden Ferguson snagged a short pass and carried the ball nearly the length of the field, to the Colonels’ 12. But the Vikings advanced only a few yards, until on fourth down with less than a minute on the clock, a LaBelle pass into the end zone was incomplete and Colonel Richardson’s win was secured.

NOTES:

• The Vikings came into the contest at 2-1 on the season, while the Colonels were 1-2. Both schools are in the state’s 1A East division.
• The Colonels opened the season with a 57-0 win over Washington (Somerset County), followed by losses to Woodbridge (52-12) and Kent Island (43-7).
• The Vikings opened the regular season with a 28-14 loss to North Caroline on Sept. 1, followed by a victory over Century High School, 42-13, on Sept. 8. On Sept. 14, C-SD was at Parkside, where they beat the Rams, 28-21 in a nail-biter that came down the final plays of the game.
• On Friday, C-SD will host their homecoming game against the Kent County Trojans, game time 6 p.m.