Brooks Bakko's pick-six sets tone for top-ranked Kindred in win over Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm

KINDRED, N.D. — Sometimes, all it takes is one play to get things rolling.

For Kindred, it was Brooks Bakko making that play on Friday night. After neither Kindred nor Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm could muster much offense in the opening quarter, it was Bakko's 42-yard interception return early in the second that set the tone and gave the top-ranked Vikings the momentum they needed to pull away for a 34-0 Homecoming win at Jerlow Field. The sophomore defensive back picked off E-E-K quarterback Drew Thorpe with 7:30 remaining in the first half, initially deflecting the ball in mid-air before coming down with it and making the house call to put Kindred up 7-0 after Andrew Haley's extra point.



"We watched that same play on film actually," Bakko said. "They ran a post into a dig. I saw (Thorpe) got hit, so I knew it was going to be a little short.

So I just jumped up, caught it, ran it back and my teammates had good blocks for me too." Kindred, now 6-0, rolled from there. Following Bakko's INT, the Vikings' Brock Johnson, Kylan Swenson and Tyson Johnson ran for touchdowns, and quarterback Gabe Whipple threw to Hunter Bindas for another score.

"Sometimes that's all it takes is a momentum play like that," Kindred head coach Eric Burgad said. "Brooks is a kid that we have a lot of faith in and a lot of trust in. That he's going to do nice things in big moments and that's exactly what he did.

"And as soon as he had that play, you could feel it. We started to click a little better, guys' heads started coming up and they were firing from there. That was a big time play by a big time player.

" It's the second time in as many weeks the defending state champs have beaten a previously undefeated team. Kindred knocked off Central Cass, then 4-0, 48-7 on Sept. 20.

With the loss, the Thunder dropped to 5-1 on the season. On the E-E-K drive following Bakko's interception, the Vikings forced a fumble which was recovered by Lincoln Swenson. Kindred capitalized on the turnover moments later when Brock Johnson punched the ball in from 7 yards out to make it 14-0 with 4:39 remaining in the half.

That remained the score at halftime before Kylan Swenson found the end zone on a 41-yard fake punt with 9:15 remaining in the third. Tyson Johnson scored on 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 8:19 left in the fourth and Whipple — playing in relief of injured quarterback Jake Starcevic — added a late touchdown pass to Bindas on a 4-yard connection. Kindred finished with three total turnovers as Jack McDonald picked off Thorpe a second time in the fourth quarter.

Kylan Swenson led the Vikings offensively with 160 yards on 16 carries while Whipple finished 4-of-9 passing for 56 yards and a touchdown. Thorpe went 6-of-15 through the air 31 yards. Ivan Carruth led the Thunder on the ground with 30 yards on nine carries.

Kindred finished with 288 yards of offense to E-E-K's 143. Burgad said it wasn't his team's best performance of the season but not due to any lack of effort. "I wouldn't say it wasn't our best effort, maybe just not our best execution," Burgad said.

"Sometimes you've just got to find ways to win the game at the end. Ended up scoring a defensive touchdown, scored on a fake punt ..

. you've got to find those ways when you play good teams who are gritty and make everything hard. "That's exactly what E-E-K did (tonight).

They brought it, they tackled well and I thought they played good defense. Execution, not where we want to be. But final product, we've still got a lot to work on.

" Kindred will visit Northern Cass (3-3) next Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m.

Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm hosts Lisbon (3-3) at the same time..