Vikings Pull Off Double-Overtime Win

Cam Sionko has had a lot of success on the court, diamond and gridiron as a Grand Island Viking, but he’s never won a playoff football game.

Friday night the senior changed that with a game he’ll likely never forget.

The No. 2 Vikings lost a pair of two-score leads before pulling out a 38-32 double-overtime victory over the No. 7 South Park Sparks in the Section VI Class A Football quarterfinals.

“I’m speechless,” said Sionko, who participated in five of the Vikings’ six touchdowns Friday. “It means so much to be able to come out and fight with my brothers that I grew up playing with and get a win.”

Sionko hit classmate Justin Gorrell on a comeback route in the endzone for the 8-yard game-winning score in the second overtime.

The play of the night however, came on the possession before. On fourth and goal from the 15-yard line, Sparks QB Dabeyon Humphrey found Latrell London. London was making his way to the goal line before GI sophomore Jack Dlugokinski forced him out at the one-yard line.

“I can’t say enough about our defense in overtime,” Grand Island coach Dean Sartorio said. “Obviously, Jack leaves his feet and gets him at the one. Those are the type of plays that win you ball games.”

Grand Island, now 7-1, will host No. 3 West Seneca East next week in the Class A semifinals. The Trojans defeated No. 6 Kenmore West 42-7 Friday night.

South Park took control of the game early. After pounding the ball five plays in a row, London went 54 yards for the first score of the game with just under nine minutes left the first quarter.

Sionko came out firing when the Vikings took the field. The senior hit three passes in a row to start the drive, his second a 44-yard dart along the sideline to Gorrell setting his team up in the redzone. However, the drive came to a halt with back-to-back sacks by Sparks’ seniors Elijah Lewis and Jayon Renfro.

Mid-second quarter Grand Island took their opportunity. A South Park bad snap sent the ball behind Humphrey, allowing GI’s Jeremiah Wilkes to recover it at the Sparks’ 11. The Vikings took advantage with Sionko finding Jake Nelson for an 11-yard score. GI ran a fake extra-point attempt. Sionko, as the holder, stood up and hit Connor Kenney to take the 8-6 lead.

Later, Grand Island got the ball midfield and capitalized. Sionko brought his team down the field in four plays connecting with Josh Oursler for a 14-yard touchdown giving the Vikings a 14-6 lead at the half.

The Sparks appeared to end Grand Island’s momentum with a London interception. However, the Vikings took the ball right back as Ben Moslka came up the pick. The senior then turned the chance into points finding Sionko on a reverse pass play for 15 yards to give his team a 20-6 lead with 7:51 left in the third.

But South Park quickly responded and tied the game up. On the very next drive, Humphrey connected with Brandon Brown for a 45-yard touchdown pass. That was followed by a Justin Johnson pick which set up a one-yard Clarence Thomas scoring run.

Grand Island took back the lead as the third quarter ended. The Vikings took advantage of a drive start from the Sparks’ 34-yard line which Easton Speer finished off with a three-yard touchdown run.

The Vikings appeared to put the game away in the middle of the fourth. Dlugokinski led a seven-play, three-minute, 49-second drive that was capped off by a Sionko one-yard keeper which gave GI the 32-20 lead with 5:32 left.

But the Sparks weren’t going away.

Humphrey avoided a sack before finding Thomas for a 75-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing drive, Lewis came up with the strip-sack, then taking the fumble 43 yards to tie the game with under two minutes left in regulation.

Despite being the No. 2 seed in a quarterfinal matchup, very few people outside of Grand Island expected the Vikings to pull off the win.

The Vikings had walked through a Class A2 division, which many believed to one of the weaker divisions in the section. Meanwhile, South Park came in third place in a considerably tougher Class A3 division, coming within a score of both West Seneca East and Starpoint.

But there were bigger things their mind.

Earlier in the week, the Grand Island community suffered a huge loss with the passing of teacher and coach Julia Roth Neville, also the daughter of athletic director Jon Roth.

“A lot of the guys on the team had her as a teacher,” Sionko said. “I know Mr. Roth is a father figure to the kids on the team. Coach asked him what he needed and the only thing he said was ‘go get a win against South Park’ and I’m glad we pulled it off.”