By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Friday night was the 102nd football game between Highland Park and Seaman and the latest meeting, like the bulk of the longstanding series, belonged to the Vikings, who rolled to a 71-6 Centennial League decision at Seaman.
Seaman extended its lead in the series to 70-30-2 Friday night, dominating the game after wiping out an early 6-0 deficit.
The Vikings ran an effective option offense’ all night long against the Scots, with Seaman's rushing attack producing seven rushing touchdowns by Camden Barta, Aidan Polter, Kaden Ireland and Alex Mah.
Camden Barta
Kaden Ireland
“It comes down to our reads and I thought our guys did a great job with being effective in our reads,'' said Viking coach Jared Swafford, who was making his debut at Seaman.
“Without the great performance of our offensive line, we could have not dominated the way we did on the ground,'' Polter added.
Despite the lopsided score, not everything went perfect for the Vikings according to Swafford.
“We have to cut down on our penalties because that will hurt us down the road if those aren’t addressed,'' Swafford said.
The Vikings recorded nine penalties, giving the Scots 70 free yards.
“Tonight was the step in the right direction and I am very proud of my guys,'' Swafford said.
Friday was a battle at the beginning of the game, with an opening fumble by Highland Park followed up by an interception given up by Seaman.
After that interception, junior Tre Richardson took the ball 90 yards to the house on a run to the left side of the field to put the Scots up 6-0 with 11:41 remaining in the first quarter.
But the game was all Seaman from there.
Seaman quarterback Barta got the Vikings going with a beautiful throw to the corner of the end zone to P.J. Vargas out of the trips formation for a 21-yard touchdown.
Highland Park would come up empty in the following possession and Seaman capitalized with a blistering 43-yard run by Ireland. The long touchdown gave the Vikings a 14-6 lead with 5:01 left in the first quarter.
The Scots were shell-shocked after having the momentum early. At the 3:21 mark in the first quarter, Highland Park quarterback Kei’Juan Johnson threw an interception into the arms of Ireland, who would run it back 5 yards to the end zone for another Vikings touchdown.
Down 21-6 at the end of the first quarter, things got worse for the Scots.
Backed up at the Highland Park 4-yard line, a snap from the center went over the head of Johnson for a safety, the first of two safeties on the night for the Scots. Seaman would now lead 23-6.
The Vikings' ensuing drive ended with a 15-yard rushing touchdown from Polter. Then, after another Highland Park turnover, Sean Miller recovered the football at the Scots' 16-yard line and Polter scored again to put the Vikings in commend 35-6 with 7:57 left in the first half.
Yet again, the Scots would get the ball back and turn it over with another safety with 7:00 left in the second quarter, 37-6 Vikings.
Seaman added a pair of TDs from Barta and a pick six from Braden Colley before Polter scored with 19 seconds left in the half to give the Vikings a commanding 65-6 cushion.
In the second half, the running clock was put into play, with the long second-half score a 12-yard TD from Alex Mah.
SEAMAN 71, HIGHLAND PARK 6
Highland Park (0-1, 0-1) 6 0 0 0 -- 6
Seaman (1-0, 1-0) 21 44 6 0 -- 71
Individual statistics
Rushing -- Highland Park: Richardson 7-101, Johnson 10-17, Kyles 3-(minus)-1, Davis 2-3. Seaman: Polter 9-86, Barta 6-21, Mah 5-17, Selbach 3-39, Ireland 1-43, Stallbaumer 2-16, Berg 1-15, Huston 1-14.
Passing -- Highland Park: Johnson 4-9-2, 10 yards, Long 0-1-1, 0. Seaman: Barta 6-8-1, 191.
Receiving -- Highland Park: Richardson 4-10. Seaman: Vargas 4-109, Stallbaumer 2-67, Colley 1-15.
