The Sasakwa Vikings kicked off their football season at home by hosting the in-county Strother Yellowjackets Friday night.

The game was a tough tug-of-war battle with both teams exchanging leads throughout the game, but the Vikings prevailed in the end.

The Yellowjackets took the early lead with a touchdown in the first. The twopoint conversion failed.

The Vikings answered back with a touchdown of their own to tie the game. Viking Ayden Livesay intercepted the ball for a twoyard TD.

The Yellowjackets weren’t done and scored another touchdown before the quarter ended to regain the lead.

Strother had a 6-point lead heading into the second quarter. It didn’t take long for the Vikings to put 6-points on the board and tie things up again with Darius Henderson rushing 57 yards for the touchdown.

The Yellowjackets regained the lead with another touchdown in the quarter to go up 18-12. The Vikings rallied back with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Titus Collins to Sherman Mitchell before the half with to tie things up once again before the half.

The in-county battle was tied 18-18 entering the third quarter.

The Vikings took the lead for the first time in the game when quarterback Thad Harjo threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Titus Collins to start the third quarter. Extra point failed.

The Yellowjackets answered right back on their next possession and scored a touchdown and converted the two points to go up 26-24 and regained the lead.

Before the quarter ended, Viking QB Harjo and receiver Collins connected again, this time for a 5-yard TD pass. Sasakwa led heading into the final quarter.

The Vikings had a fourpoint lead at the top of the fourth. The Yellowjackets continued to battle and lit up the scoreboard again and went back on top 32 to 30.

When Strother kicked off to Sasakwa, Titan Collins returned the kick 60 yards for the touchdown. Titus Collins punched in the two-point conversion. The Yellowjackets struggled and couldn’t find the endzone before the end of regulation. The Vikings took over on offense and moved the ball down inside the redzone and running back Joseph Lunn punched in the touchdown and put the game away.

The Sasakwa Vikings protected their home field with a 46-32 victory.

Sasakwa quarterback Thad Harjo had 7 completions for 191 yards.

Viking running back Darius Henderson had three carries for 67 yards and Thad Harjo had two carries for 19 yards.

Leading in receiving for Sasakwa was Titan Collins with 5 receptions for 177 yards.

(no stats were given for Strother) Next up for the Strother Yellowjackets is an away at Depew on the 5th. The first home game will be on the 12th against Midway. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.

For the Vikings, the next game is an away game at Caddo on the 12th. The next home game will be on the 26th against the Bowlegs Bison. The game is set to kickoff at 7 p.m.

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