WABASH - Tippecanoe Valley got the big win it had been hunting for all season, and a little bit of revenge as well.

The Vikings made the trek to Northfield Saturday to finish the game that was postponed Friday night due to lightning and made short work of the hapless Norse, 52-7. The win improved Tippecanoe Valley's record to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the Three Rivers Conference, while Northfield fell to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the TRC.

Valley might have had a little more motivation in gunning for the win in this contest. Last year, Northfield embarrassed the Vikings 17-14 in overtime at Death Valley, breaking what had been a 20-game win streak dating back to 1975 against the Norse. Valley head coach Scott Bibler described last year's contest as "a dagger in (his) heart and mind ever since."

The 52-point outburst is the most points ever scored by a Bibler-coached team, the second-most ever against Northfield, and the most by Tippecanoe Valley since 1983. The last time Valley got above the 50-point plateau was in 1991, when Valley beat - who else - Northfield, 51-13.

The interesting part is, Bibler and his staff were not even trying to run up the score. The Valley second unit was in for basically the entire second half, and found as little Northfield resistance as the starting squad encountered. Seven different Vikings scored touchdowns on the night, including two junior varsity players getting their first real taste of varsity action.

Bibler was happy with his Vikings following the big win.

"I was pleased with how the kids really played hard, stayed focused, and came back the second night," Bibler said. "There was a little bit of concern as to how they would respond (with the postponement), if they would pick up where they left off. They did, and I was real happy."

At the same time, the Vikings saw two key elements to improve on - penalties and pass defense.

Valley was whistled for 105 yards in penalties on 10 infractions and gave up 169 yards through the air to the Norse on 10-of-16 passing. Northfield entered the Valley contest with just 56 passing yards through the first three games.

"We had a lot of penalties, which I wasn't pleased with," Bibler said. "That was kind of disappointing."

But while the Vikings may have been burned in the air by Northfield, they gave up nothing on the ground. The Valley defense, anchored by junior Dave Reese and senior James Dawson, held the Northfield "Blue Thunder" rushing attack to -27 yards on 34 carries. Only one Norse finished the game with positive yardage.

Valley, on the other hand, got great rushing and receiving efforts from several players. Senior Anthony Simpson carried the ball 11 times for 69 yards, Eric Prater had 10 tries for 62 markers, and Jason Parker netted 41 yards on eight rushes. Ten Vikings ran the ball on the night for a team total of 233 rushing yards on 46 carries, a solid 5.1 yards per carry average.

The airwaves were decent for the Green and Gold as well, with senior R.J. Hutchinson throwing for 133 yards in his first game back in the starting position. Hutchinson hooked up with two Valley receivers for touchdown strikes of 46 and seven yards.

The game began Saturday where it left off Friday night, with Northfield facing third down and 12 from its own 18 with 3:44 to play in the first quarter and Valley leading 6-0 after an 11-yard Parker touchdown run. Northfield was stopped on its run attempt and fell back into punt formation deep in its own territory.

The punt was blocked by Simpson and recovered at the 5-yard line, where the Vikings took over. It took one play - a 5-yard jaunt by Simpson - to make the score 12-0 with 2:52 remaining in the first stanza.

Northfield answered with its lone score of the night, a 59-yard touchdown pass from Brian Hoffman to Jason Culver with 1:52 left in the first. Northfield's PAT kick was good by Andy Neale and the TV lead was cut to 12-7.

Valley showed that, it too, could unleash a big pass play, going up 18-7 when Matt Baker hauled in a 46-yard touchdown reception from Hutchinson with 10:49 left in the second quarter. The Vikings' two-point conversion attempt failed again though, and Northfield took over trailing by 11.

In an interesting strategy by Northfield head coach Steve Boozier, the Norse punted on third down on their next possession, setting up another Valley score. This time, it was Simpson again on a 1-yard run with 4:23 left in the first half. The PAT kick was wide right and the Vikings led 24-7.

Northfield put together a 10-play drive into Tippecanoe Valley territory, but was stopped on downs as time dwindled on the second quarter clock. The Vikings put one more touchdown on the board before halftime, this time a 7-yard strike via the hands of a stretching Orville Haney in the corner of the end zone from Hutchinson. Valley led 31-7 at the break.

The Vikings got touchdown runs from Prater, Nathan Patterson, and Mike McNeal in the third and fourth quarters and PAT kicks by sophomore Nathan Moore following those scores to account for the 52-7 final. The last two scores by Valley came on the heels of Northfield fumbles - the Norse fumbled the ball eight times and lost it five times, four of which set up Viking touchdowns. Those drives were for five yards, 15 yards, 21 yards and 20 yards.

The Vikings will attempt to reach .500 when they battle Oak Hill in the RCA Dome Saturday in the Three Rivers Conference day in the dome at 1:45 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]