Short-handed Vikings routed by Walsh Jesuit

Down a handful of starters, and with a few others playing hurt, VASJ coach Elvis Grbac knew his Vikings were facing an uphill battle on Sept. 19 against visiting Walsh Jesuit, which came in to Sparky DiBiasio Stadium on the heels of a 56-14 pounding of Padua on Sept. 11.

Unfortunately for VASJ, the uphill battle turned into a landslide, and the Vikings suffered a similar fate as the Bruins, falling, 56-6.

The Vikings were hard-pressed to try to slow the running game of Walsh Jesuit (3-0), which racked up 389 yards on 41 carries.

Warriors’ junior running back Will Rumple had a field day, running for 167 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Leshon Crenshaw added 100 yards and a score on 10 carries.

When VASJ (0-4) had possession, it had a difficult time both establishing a running game against a swarming Warriors defense, and protecting senior QB Kevin Eiseman, who was sacked four times.

“We went into the game with five or six guys that were really banged up, and tonight I think we added another three or four,” Grbac said. “Offensively, we couldn’t get our thirddown conversions going early on. Give credit to them, that was a fantastic team we were playing, and they’re clicking on all cylinders right now.

“Right now, we’re struggling to get things going on offense, and we’re putting our defense on the field way too much.”

Walsh Jesuit led, 35-0, in the second quarter after four touchdown runs by Rumple and a 28-yard scoring run by Dom Grguric.

“We really focused on the running game all week,” Walsh Jesuit coach Nick Alexander said. “Last week we threw for five touchdowns and 300 yards. We said we wanted to make a statement on the ground, and we came in and did that tonight.”

The night wasn’t completely devoid of highlights for the Vikings. Junior Noah Clarke picked off a pass on Walsh Jesuit’s first play, and VASJ put together a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive just before halftime.

Senior Jordan Dean made a spectacular leaping catch in the back of the end zone on an Eiseman aerial for a 27-yard scoring play to get the Vikings on the board with 8 seconds left in the first half.

“What a play that was down there,” Alexander said. “(Dean) is a great player. He went up and got the ball, and our corner was in perfect position. Sometimes it’s players, not plays, we say that all the time.”

Walsh Jesuit, which limited VASJ to 91 yards of offense, garnered three more scoring runs in the second half. The Warriors will host Lake Catholic on Sept. 25, in a clash of teams that are on threegame winning streaks.

VASJ will look to put this one in the rear view mirror as it travels to Padua on Sept. 25 to take on a team that knows all about having to deal with the resurgent Warriors.

“Our guys are going to keep fighting,” Grbac said. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time, and try to get healthy as fast as we can.”