Raydden Grobe hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Sternberg with :19 seconds on the clock and AHSTW came away with a 20-16 win over IKM-Manning in the season opener. It was a thrilling game that the Vikings never led until that last toss.

IKM-Manning set the tone early with a methodical 20-play drive that chewed up almost the entire first quarter clock. The Wolves pushed their way all the way to the 9 yard line before getting backed up with two straight holding penalties that put them 1st and Goal at the 30. The Wolves didn’t waste the work though as the 20th play of the drive ended as a 25-yard touchdown pass from Nolan Ramsey to Eli Dreyer.

AHSTW finally got their first offensive touch with 1:57 left in the first quarter but promptly went 3 plays and out. The Vikings defense was able to bow up and get the offense the ball back midway through the second quarter. Denver Pauley would cap off a 62 yard drive with a 16 yard touchdown run to tie it at 7. IKM-Manning was able to hit another nice pass play to Dreyer and then attempted a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the half. Amos Rasmussen drilled the ball beautifully through the uprights and the score became 10-7 Wolves at half.

AHSTW Head Coach GG Harris rolled the dice on a fourth down attempt on their own 40 to begin the second half. It came up empty and IKM-Manning would drive the short field and cap it off with a Trey Jasa 3-yard touchdown run. The PAT failed and it became 16-7. The Vikings didn’t let that get them down and responded with a 15-play drive capped by a Denver Pauley 4-yard touchdown plunge. The PAT put the Vikings within two at 16-14.

The teams then traded three straight punts before AHSTW got the ball back with 4:07 left on their own 18. The Vikings worked their way down the field and then gave their star receiver a chance to go get one. Quarterback Kyle Sternberg threw a beautiful back pylon ball that Grobe hauled in from 19 yards out in the back of the endzone. A 2pt conversion attempt that would of pushed the lead to 6 failed. IKM-Manning had a few last chances and Amos Ramussen haulded in a pass and tried to weave through defenders on the final play but he tripped up trying to turn the corner and time ran out.

AHSTW Head Coach GG Harris said they wanted to give Grobe a chance to make a play late in the game

Coach Harris was proud of the resolve that his team showed, even when things didn’t always go their way.

Grobe said he was confident he could go get the ball in the big moment.

This win should help the Vikings carry momentum into week two and Grobe thinks this will make them even more confident.

The Vikings will next travel to face the Earlham Cardinals. IKM-Manning travels to Westwood in Week 2.