Minneota running backs Brock Fier (35) and Adam DeVlaeminck celebrate in the end zone after DeVlaeminck rushed for a touchdown during the first quarter of a prep football game against MACCRAY on Friday at K.P. Kompelien Field in Minneota. DeVlaeminck scored three touchdowns as the Vikings earned a 64-0 win.

MINNEOTA — Stifling defense allowed the No. 1 Minneota football team to pull away early in its matchup against MACCRAY on Friday. The Viking defense came away with two interceptions, two turnovers on downs and forced a punt on every other Wolverine drive on the night as the offense put up 50 first-half points in what went on to be a 64-0 win.

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The Vikings wasted no time setting the tone in Friday’s game. Minneota took just 36 seconds to jump out to a 6-0 lead, capping off a run-heavy drive with a reverse to Adam DeVlaeminck for a touchdown.

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DeVlaeminck was hot throughout the first half. After the Vikings’ defensive line forced a MACCRAY 3-and-out, DeVlaeminck scored on another 12-yard reverse to double the Vikings lead to 12-0.

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DeVlaeminck also hauled in a receiving touchdown to start the second quarter. After Ian Myhre faked a reverse on a punt return to set the Vikings up at the 16-yard line, DeVlaeminck showed off the vertical to rise up above a defensive back to haul in a 50-50 ball in the back of the end zone for a 33-0 Minneota.

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“I just have to give credit to my O-line and Tristen Sussner, he’s a great quarterback,” DeVlaeminck said of the play. “We’ve just got to keep rolling, keep moving forward and just keep playing football.”

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DeVlaeminck said this was his first time feeling like he was back at full strength after having a knee surgery in early May and getting in some reps over the last few weeks to get ramped back up to varsity speed on both sides of the ball.

The Vikings’ defense was impenetrable all night long. MACCRAY finished the day with a net-loss of 31 yards on the ground and 67 passing yards.

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Randy Sorenson led the attack with three sacks and four tackles for loss, as well as eight total tackles, while Brock Fier contributed another pair of sacks with three tackles for loss. Landon Pohlen and Sawyer Bradley each also had a sack, as well as two tackles for loss from Pohlen.

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The Vikings expected the Wolverines’ offense to rely heavily on their backs, Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said, and he felt that his team did a good job in their coverages while continuing to apply pressure at the line of scrimmage.

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“[Blake Grimsley is] a shifty running back, even Kyson Arndt came back a couple of times like, ‘God, I thought I had him.’ He’s just fast, and we knew that, so we were basically mirroring him the whole game,” coach Johnston said.

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“Sorensen was kind of the heat-seeking missile that I call him… and if it looked like he was going to get a gap, Randy was going forward and taking one guy out of coverage. It’s kind of one of those things that everyone else has to do their job, but I think we were able to make his life difficult by putting a lot of pressure on him and not allowing him to get comfortable in the pocket.”

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Easton Johnston scored a pair of touchdowns to close out the first quarter. He caught a wide-open pass while streaking down the middle to make the score 19-0. After the Vikings came up with a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-1 to take over at the 31, Kellen Bradley broke off a 19-yard run to get the team into the red zone and Johnston took a handoff outside the tackles for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 3, bringing the score to 26-0.

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Johnston also made a defensive impact in the game, picking off an underthrown pass to Griffin Noble five minutes into the second quarter and returning it 19 yards to the MACCRAY 19-yard line.

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MACCRAY got its first stop of the game after Johnston’s interception, coming up with a sack of Tristan Sussner on third-and-15 to force the Vikings to attempt a long field goal. Still, Myhre drilled the 43-yard field goal to bring the score to 36-0.

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“Uh, the 46-yarder that he made last week,” coach Johnston said with a laugh when asked what gave the team the confidence to trot Myhre out for a 43-yard attempt. He added that there are so many moving parts when it comes to PATs, so that the miss earlier in the game wasn’t necessarily on Myhre. “We know what he’s capable of doing… so of course, we’re comfortable in the game giving him a shot, and that’s twice now that he’s proven he could do it. That’s going to be a huge tool for us in the long run.”

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Sussner completed eight of his 16 attempts for 116 yards and three touchdowns in the game. When the score got out of hand, Owen Dalager took over in the second half and completed each of his two attempts for 45 yards.

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“We always talk about rewarding kids. We’ve always said for the teams that have to come up on Friday nights and maybe get beat up, well that’s what those young kids get to see every day,” Johnston said of his reserves getting in the game. “Their little reward is maybe getting to step on the field for maybe two, three, four, who knows how many plays? But you try to get them out there.”

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Johnston added that in a game like Friday’s, the younger players had the benefit of being able to get on the field early and get in some reps with the more experienced varsity players and gain that experience to give the team more depth going forward.

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“Just being there for my teammates and supporting the young guys, I know I was in the same spot when I was a freshman,” DeVlaeminck said when asked about what stands out to him in games where the offense clicks like it did on Friday. “It just means a lot to get those young guys out there and get them that experience that’s going to help them down the road.”

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A high snap on third down dropped the Wolverines back to the 1-yard line, just narrowly avoiding a safety after quarterback Blake Grimsley scooped up the ball and got a step out of the end zone. Still, the Vikings took over on the 30 and put together another drive to go up 43-0 on a 30-yard touchdown run from Kellen Bradley.

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Bradley went on to lead the Vikings in rushing yards in the game, taking seven carries for 112 yards as well as one reception for 10 yards. The Vikings also got 26 rushing yards from Bradley, 21 from DeVlaeminck and had four more players with double-digit rushing yards.

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The Wolverines got the ball in Minneota territory when they recovered a muffed punt at the Minneota 45. Grimsley then rolled to his left, completed a 20-yard pass for the Wolverines’ first first down of the game, and advanced the ball to the Minneota 12 after the Vikings were called for a horsecollar tackle on the play.

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Still, the Vikings came up with a sack on first down, Myhre came up with a deflection on second, and a high third-down pass set up fourth down. Kyson Arndt came up with the pressure on the Wolverines’ fourth-and-13 attempt, forcing Grimsley to throw off his back foot, and Kellen Bradley picked off the floated throw at the 10 and returned it to the 29 to give Minneota the ball back with 2:11 left in the half.

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As time wound down, Minneota took advantage of the turnover. Fier held onto the ball through heavy contact over the middle to give the Vikings a 29-yard gain to the MACCRAY 28. The game’s third horsecollar tackle gave the Vikings the ball at the 10 with 47 seconds remaining, and Kellen Bradley caught a screen pass and took it into the end zone for a 50-0 halftime lead.

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Fier finished the night as Minneota’s leader in receiving yards, hauling in two of his three targets for 53 yards. Owen Myrvik added another two receptions for 20 yards while DeVlaeminck and Johnston contributed 18 and 20 yards, respectively.

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Fier ran in a 34-yard touchdown to bring the score to 57-0 five minutes into the second half, and Derek Fier capped off an eight-minute drive with an eight-yard touchdown to give Minneota a 64-0 lead on its final possession.

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Landon Esping batted away a pass with under three minutes left, but Nolan Thissen caught the deflection and kept going all the way to the Minneota 15 for a 38-yard gain to put the Wolverines in the red zone. Still, the Vikings came up with a fourth-down deflection to force a turnover on downs and tack possession back at their own 11-yard line.

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Minneota improves to a perfect 5-0 with the win and hosts Lac qui Parle Valley for its next game on Friday at 7 p.m.