Norland runs over Palmetto for much-needed late-season signature win in GMAC series

The last thing Daryle Heidelberg wanted to spend the next few weeks doing was adding up rankings points and watching scoreboards across South Florida to make sure Norland would make it into the Class 2M playoffs.

It made the Vikings’ trip down to Tropical Park on Thursday especially important. Norland started off the season with four straight wins before losing twice in a row to start October. The Vikings needed a signature win to help seal their postseason spot as a wild card in Region 4-2M and a 35-14 win against Palmetto in Miami, as part of the Greater Miami Athletic Conference’s championship week, should do the trick.

“I didn’t want to have to count the points,” Heidelberg said. “This was very important for us.”

After losing back-to-back games to Booker T. Washington and Miami Central, Norland (5-2) took another early punch early this week, only this time the Vikings didn’t fall. Norland answered the Panthers’ opening touchdown with a long touchdown drive of its own, then got a stop and took the lead early in the second quarter.

The Vikings never trailed again and Palmetto (4-5) never found a way to slow their rushing attack.

Norland quarterback Ennio Yapoor ran 15 times for 106 yards and a touchdown, and also threw a pair of touchdowns to Vikings wide receiver Isaiah Scott, who finished with seven catches for 166 yards. Star running back Javin Simpkins, who’s orally committed to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, added another 21 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown.

Altogether, Norland piled up more than 400 yards of total offense — Yapoor went 11 of 16 for 199 yards as a passer — against one of Miami-Dade County’s most star-studded defenses.

“We wanted to make them so afraid of me in the run game, basically where I take about one or two people out the play,” Yapoor said, “and then we just strike down the field.”

Yapoor said Bobby Washington, who’s orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes, was the main focus for the Vikings and Norland mostly negated the star linebacker by calling read-option runs and forcing him to decide whether to follow Yapoor or Simpkins.

Yapoor’s very first carry on the Vikings’ fourth offensive play and it was a gamble: Norland faced a fourth-and-1 and, already down 7-0, Heidelberg left his offense on the field. Yapoor darted right up the middle for a 6-yard gain and eventually capped a 10-play drive with a 32-yard touchdown run.

“That’s a really good team over there, and they are well coached and they have dynamic players. I just wanted to get my team in the mindset that only we can stop ourselves,” Heidelberg said. “I wanted them to kind of push through and just try to keep drives alive because they have some electric guys on offense.”

The Vikings saw it on the opening drive, when Panthers wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. made a spectacular leaping catch at the goal line to set up Palmetto quarterback Lucas Goenaga for a 1-yard touchdown run, and the game appeared to be headed for a shootout in the first half.

An injury, however, derailed the Panthers in the second quarter, when Goenaga ran for a first down and drew a helmet-to-helmet hit. Norland was flagged for targeting — and the defender ejected — but Goenaga remained down on the ground for several minutes and did not return.

In less than one half of action, the sophomore went 6 of 7 for 96 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 21 yards on five carries.

Although it scored a touchdown on the drive when Barney made a 15-yard grab on fourth-and-long, Palmetto couldn’t keep pace with the Vikings in the second half. Yapoor ran for another touchdown on Norland’s next drive to send the Vikings into halftime with a 21-14 lead, and Simpkins put away the victory with a 30-yard touchdown run in the final seven minutes before Yapoor added another touchdown pass in garbage time.

“They’re special,” Heidelberg said. “They are two of the guys that make our team run offensively and all the other kids feed off them, so once they got going they kind of sparked us as a team.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 11:22 PM.