No. 2 Pirates “Cave-In” on Vikings, 47-7 in 2A playoff opener

By Jeff Holmes

ALBURNETT — Laken Caves made the statement just 1:54 into Friday night’s Class 2A State playoff game against Vinton-Shellsburg.

On No. 2-ranked Alburnett’s first play from scrimmage, the all-stater went 48 yards for the first of his four touchdowns for the night as the Pirates beat the Cinderella Vikings, 47-7.

“We just want to come out and dominate the line of scrimmage,” said Pirates’ head coach Nick Wooldrik, “and I felt that that we did that tonight.”

Before the first quarter ended, Caves would score twice more before the quarter ended to give the Pirates a 21-0 lead, and the Vikings were in a deep hole, made deeper by the fact that Alburnett’s defense completely disrupted their offensive game plan.

The Vikings had just five yards of total offense in the first half, and only one net-yard of rushing. They would finish the night with just 70 total yards.

“You know that’s one thing that I don’t know if a lot of people realize,” said Wooldrik. “Our defense has been really solid these last really, really nine games or eight games all season. We got a lot of guys back who played last year and played in a quarterfinal game last year, and those guys just continue to get better; they’re a pretty good defense.”

The Pirates rolled up 354 yards in total offense, 270 of it on the ground.  

Alburnett (8-1) will now await Saturday morning’s 10 am announcement of the Round of 16 playoffs pairings.

Vinton-Shellsburg 0 0 0 7 — 7
Alburnett 21 7 13 6 -47

ALB — Laken Caves 48 run (Pierce Foster kick)
ALB — Caves 29 run (Foster kick)
ALB — Caves 30 run (Foster kick)
ALB — Owen Henriksen 2 run (Foster kick)
ALB — Caves 52 run (kick blocked)
ALB — Cash Varner 11 pass from Brody Kaestner (Foster kick)
V-S — Eli Petersen 5 run (Kade Sutton kick)
ALB — Brody Thompson 2 run (kick blocked)