Norland shakes off ugly start with 6 takeaways, wins annual rivalry clash with Carol City

A handful of his Norland players and assistant coaches shouted “’Burg Bowl!” as Daryle Heidelburg lifted the Commissioner’s Cup for the sixth straight season. The Vikings have not had much trouble with cross-town rival Carol City in recent years and ultimately Friday was no different.

Norland routed the Chiefs, 36-10, in the annual showdown between traditional Miami Gardens powers and even though it was ugly for stretches with the game knotted at 2-2 into the second quarter, Heidelburg felt no room to gripe with some of his team’s disjointed play.

“I say it all the time: A win is a win,” the Vikings coach said. “These games are hard to play in, with rivalries and emotions, and things like that. A lot of those kids and even the coaches, we all know each other.”

In the end, the good vastly outweighed the bad.

Norland (2-0) generated three sacks, a safety and six takeaways, with three interceptions by Vikings defensive back Jerrard Smith. Star quarterback Ennio Yapoor threw for three touchdowns, including two to star wide receiver Ronald Towns. Norland never trailed despite its ugly start, going up 22-2 before halftime before pulling away at Traz Powell Stadium.

Seffner Armwood obliterated the Vikings in a preseason game two weeks ago—a preseason game everyone treated like a postseason tilt. Since then, Norland has outscored opponents 65-10, with wins against its fiercest rival and a good Miramar team.

“We got spanked two weeks ago. It was a wake-up call for us, which was well deserved,” Heidelburg said. “If we go on and win the rest of our games because we learned a lesson in Week 0, I appreciate it.”

Those lessons are still taking time to sink in. The Vikings committed 15 penalties and had multiple long touchdowns called back because of them. Norland only led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter and Carol City (1-1) immediately answered at the start of the second with a safety of its own to tie the game at 2-2. The Chiefs took possession with another change to go ahead, with the Vikings constantly stalling out on offense because of an inefficient run game and too many penalties.

On the first play of the Chiefs’ drive after their safety, Norland safety Kai Waters nabbed the Vikings’ second interception in three plays, and Yapoor put the Vikings ahead for good two plays later when he extended a play with a stiff arm and hit Towns for a 24-yard touchdown. After Norland forced another three-and-out on Carol City’s next drive, Yapoor started the Vikings’ next series with a would-be 77-yard touchdown pass, only to have it called back because of an illegal forward pass—Yapoor scrambled just a bit too far before making an on-the-run throw.

Norland’s offense never hummed—only one of the Vikings’ five scoring drives started on their own side of the field—and yet it didn’t matter because its defense kept stuffing the Chiefs and putting Norland in position to score.

Carol City didn’t pick up a non-penalty first down until the final minute the first half. The Vikings didn’t give up their first touchdown of the regular season until the final two minutes of the game, when both teams’ benches were empty.

“We’ve come together,” said Smith, who also had a touchdown called back when an interception return was erased because of a needless block in the back. “We’re in a pretty good spot. I feel like we’re the best defense in the county, in the state, in the nation.”

Norland, which lost in the state championship last season, did not look like that just two weeks ago. The Vikings didn’t always look like a title contender this week, either.

They did, however, look like a team capable of getting there, which is all Heidelburg is worrying about now.

“We are putting it together week by week. It’s Week 2. Nobody should be hitting on all cylinders by Week 2.”