WATERLOO WINS CONFERENCE OPENER
SEBRING OH- Week 3 for The Waterloo Vikings was a bit disappointing. Having opportunities to emerge victorious against Malvern, the two teams were even 14-14 heading to the fourth quarter, where The Hornets ultimately came away with the win. That being the last week of non-conference opponents for The Vikings, they looked ahead to Week 4, where they opened up with a traveling trophy game against The Sebring Trojans. Traveling to the home of the purple and gold, Waterloo had hopes of keeping the trophy in Atwater after reclaiming it off Sebring in 2021.
Sebring opened up the game with possession, but The Viking defense did its part in forcing the fourth down and getting the ball in the hands of Jayden Hakin. Needless to say, when Hakin had the ball he was special on friday night. Taking a big run to the house opened up the onslaught of scoring by Waterloo.
By halftime, Hakin carried the ball 5 times for 139 yards and the hat trick of 3 touchdowns. Also adding in a perfect completion percentage, going 4/4 for 31 yards in the air and an additional touchdown. The scoring by Hakin was directly a result of great line play on The Vikings end. Creating plenty of running lanes in the night, while simultaneously closing the gaps on defense, Waterloo led 32-0 by the half.
Having the running clock that has been implemented by The OHSAA this season when a team leads by 30 or more points, allowed The Vikings to drain away the time in the second half. Waterloo would add a pair of touchdowns, while Sebring would get on the board with the rushing touchdown by Jahvian Cundiff on a 33 yard strike. However, the scoring by The Vikings in the first half proved to be too much, as Waterloo opened up the conference slate with a 47-8 victory over Sebring.
With the win, Waterloo (2-2) will now look to host Western Reserve (1-3) in Week 5 on Friday, September 16th. Sebring (0-4) will also be hosting some Blue Devils, as they will do battle with McDonald (1-3) also on September 16th.
*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell
