Vikes run into a real powerhouse in Osceola

WAUSA — It was a definite wake up call for the young roster of the Wausa Vikings football team last Friday.

The defending D1 champions and now D2 heavyweights Osceola came to town and dropped a 78-0 decision on the Vikings, who are now 0-2, following a promising performance in defeat at Niobrara/Verdigre the previous week.

Freshman Tucker Wright led Wausa with 15 yards rushing on three carries.

“There really wasn’t anything we could hang our hat on after a 78-0 game,” Wausa head coach Adrian Alonso said. “Regardless of how great of a team Osceola is, I was hoping to show some grit and passion for this game.”

Alonzo said the team just wasn’t prepared for Osceola.

“I felt as if we were defeated before the game even started, and that falls on me,” he said. “For the first time in four years I felt like I put a team on the field that was not ready to play. I have got to do better, and I will do better. We were outcoached and outplayed.”

Senior Steel Claussen said it was a matter of just seeing a team that was too good.

“They were just the better team all around from tackling to technique,” Claussen said. “Everything they did, they were bigger, faster, stronger. We didn’t give up until we were taken out of the game.”

Claussen said it was a very physical game.

“We all got bruises and after the game everybody wasn’t too upset: We knew they were the better team,” he said. “The seniors looked at the whole team before the game and we said, ‘this team was amazing team last year, but we should go out there and smack them in the mouth and show them what we can do.’ I honestly felt we could hold our own against them. I didn’t want to roll over.”

Claussen has been impressed with the bevy of freshmen that dot the roster and especially after their showing in the opener. A game like this against Osceola can only provide a teaching moment for those players according to Claussen.

“I think the learning experience after that game, that really kicked in,” he said. “It was my freshman or sophomore year and we had to play Humphrey St. Francis in the playoffs, and everyone knew they were the better team compared to everyone else. That was the same as Friday night: The young kids realize what a real, smack you in the mouth team is.

“They are going to learn from it and they are not the kind of kids to walk around with big heads and be cocky. This game showed them that there is another skill level that we played against compared to Niobrara/Verdigre and come back and learn from that.”

Wausa moves on to a 7 p.m. Thursday game at Boyd County (0-2) in Spencer.

“As a team we need to find our identity and we need to have a showing that we can build off of,” Alonso said. “Boyd County gives us another opportunity to rebound and play the game like I know we are capable of.

Boyd County will come into this game prepared and ready to fight, so let’s see who wants it more.”

The teams played last in 2013 with the Vikings coming away with a 50-28 win.

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