By Nathan Kanter

Vikings duo as tight knit as they come

Sep 15, 2016 | 10:04 AM

Damon Dutton and Zach Wolfe go way back.

Way, way back.

They’ve been playing football together for more than half their lives.

The 16-year-olds – Dutton the senior Vikings’ quarterback and Wolfe a slotback – said it was in grade two when they first played touch football together. Tackle football alongside one another came a little later, in grade six, but that still brings with it a huge sense of familiarity.

Perhaps it’s what helped them connect for three scores in last week’s 42-7 pummelling of the Tommy Douglas Tigers. 

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But if you ask each of them why they were so successful in week one, both humbly credit their teammates.

“I had good guys blocking for me,” Wolfe said after Wednesday’s practice at Rueben Mayes Field. “They just made holes and I just had some good runs. Got lucky a couple times.”

The Vikings offensive line was also credited by Dutton.

“I had no issues having to fight for myself,” Dutton said. “Those guys always had my back and receivers ran great routes. So everyone else around me made me look good I guess.”

Vikings head coach Mike Humenny attributes a lot of the duo’s on-field success to their attitudes.

“Very unselfish guys, not only as players but also … as young citizens at our high school,” Humenny said. “The classroom comes first … and football comes to them because they work hard in other ways.”

In addition to his skills on the field, Dutton is a star shooting guard on the high school basketball team. Last season, high school basketball coach Jamie Sutherland called Dutton the team’s “best all-around player,” and he was only in grade 10 at the time.

But right now, basketball season isn’t on Dutton’s mind.

Dutton and Wolfe are both focused on football and trying to get better every day.

That work ethic helped the Vikings win their opener by a landslide and the team is looking far beyond just one game. Expectations are much higher than last season, when the club went 2-5.

“We’ve got good guys at every position so we don’t really have a weak spot,” Dutton said. “We don’t have any selfish characters on the team.”

As the team prepares for the Prince Albert Crusaders on Wednesday evening, it’s clear the level of talent on offence goes far beyond just these two close friends.

Humenny is proud of what he’s seen so far from all of his offensive players and said the plan is to score by committee.

“They’re two parts of 12 on offence,” Humenny said. “They were highlighted last week. It might be the same tomorrow but we’ve got to see what happens.

“We’re very excited about the possibilities in PA.”

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.Kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11.