Vikings hoping for bounce back season

Aug. 24—PETERSBURG, W.Va. — After missing the playoffs the past two seasons, the Petersburg Vikings look to turn it around in 2022.

The Vikings went 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the Potomac Valley Conference. One of their losses was by forfeit to Philip Barbour. After losing 17 seniors in 2020, Petersburg only had two seniors in 2021. This year the Vikings have eight. They also have 19 starters coming back in 2022.

"We have a lot of young guys back, we started a lot of freshmen and they'll be back," head coach Donny Evans said. "We'll look for them to be more aggressive. They understand what we're asking out of them. They're looking pretty sharp in the preseason."

It's a balanced group of upperclassmen and underclassmen this year. Of the 38 players on the roster, 18 are upperclassmen. The roster contains eight seniors, 10 juniors, 11 sophomores and nine freshmen.

Petersburg had several times last year with limited players available due to COVID-19. There were three instances that left them with a limited number of players to prepare for upcoming games. There were several times where, because of positive cases, only six or seven players were able to practice on Monday for Friday's upcoming game.

"We didn't have a lot of consistency, we had so many guys coming in and out of practice," Evans said.

Petersburg opened their season with a victory over Berkeley Springs (58-56). The Vikings then went on a five-game losing streak to Pendleton County (20-13), Pocahontas County (21-12), Moorefield (41-0), Hampshire (35-14) and Page County, Virginia (57-12).

Petersburg bounced back with back-to-back wins over Clear Spring (34-16) and Tucker County (18-14). The Vikings were shut out in their final game of the season to East Hardy (26-0).

Last year's offense was led by two players who did it all.

Cody Nuzum, who has since graduated, recorded passing, rushing and receiving statistics. As a quarterback, he went 15-for-51 for 166 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He rushed 73 times for 439 yards and four scores. He also caught six passes for 84 yards and a touchdown and also contributed on special teams with one punt returned for a touchdown.

Peyton Day (5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Sr.) was a Swiss Army knife on both sides of the ball, and he'll be expected to contribute this year. He rushed 129 times for 617 yards and two scores. He also caught 20 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned a kick for a touchdown.

"He's gonna produce in the game, he's gonna play 100%," Evans said. "He's gonna give us everything he has, he's a skilled running back but also a skilled receiver."

Of the three quarterbacks on the roster, two attempted a pass last season. Caden Arbaugh (6-1, 165, So.) went 28-for-58 for 351 yards, three touchdowns and six picks. William "Bumby" Van Meter (6-1, 190, Sr.) went 13-for-30 for 152 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. The other quarterback is Zeke Landis (5-7, 130, Fr.)

Evans said Van Meter is the projected starting quarterback entering the season. He only played four games last season due to injury.

"He's come back bigger and stronger, a little more aggressive," Evans said. "He's ready to play for his junior season."

Day and Logan Thorne (5-8, 185, Sr.) lead the backfield among returning players. Cameron Alt (6-0, 190, Jr.) is also expected to have a significant role in the offense. Van Meter, Landis, Brycen Keplinger (5-4, 155, Fr.), Lucas Wolford (5-6, 145, Fr.), Riley Swick (5-9, 180, So.) and Issac Kimble (5-10, 170, Jr.) are the other backs.

"We're looking for some good things out of him," Evans said of Thorne. "He's a change of direction type of scat back. Alt is more of a power runner for us. He'll do a lot of good things for us when he's an H back, tight end and other things."

Day also led the team in receiving last season. He caught 20 passes for 236 yards and three scores. Trace Rohrbaugh (5-9, 160, So.) was second on the team with 13 catches for 162 and three touchdowns. VanMeter finished third with seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Evans said that Ethan Taylor (59, 140, Jr.) and Peyton Tingler (60, 170, So.) along with Rohrbaugh have impressed him the most this offseason. Tingler had one catch for 25 yards last season.

"I've really been impressed with him, he's a very hard-nosed man," Evans said. "He will go up and catch that football. He's very athletic, we just need to get him in space."

The Vikings have 16 players listed at receiver. The others are Kuhn, Landis, Wolford, Christian Rodriguez (5-10, 155, Sr.), Colton Vance (6-1, 155, Jr.), Colson Bobo (5-6, 115, Fr.), Spencer Rochette (6-0, 155, So.), Alex Halterman (5-10, 135, Fr.), Ashton Cost (5-4, 120, Fr.), Corey Kisamore (5-7, 125, Jr.), Hunter Miller (5-2, 120, Fr.) and Ryan Riggleman (5-6, 165, Sr.). Max White is a senior listed on the roster, but will not play due to injury.

The offensive and defensive lines are mostly made up of the same players. The most notable is Blake Turner (6-0, 200, Sr.). He received three votes for the 2021 All-Area team as an offensive lineman. The rest include Andy Flemming (5-8, 200, Jr.), Gunner Pratt (5-11, 190, So.), Jackson Alt (5-11, 225, Jr.), Logan Bachman (5-7, 145, Fr.), Christian Miller (5-7, 200, So.), Landon McGinnis (6-1, 215, Jr.), Luke Adkins (5-9, 160, So.), Meguel Van Meter (5-11, 260, Jr.), McKale Schultz (5-10, 195, Sr.), Colin Mauzy (5-11, 190, So.), Josh Biggs (6-5, 215, Jr.), David Shreve (5-6, 225, So.) and Hunter Kisamore (5-9, 200, So.). Riggleman is also listed as an offensive lineman and White as a defensive lineman.

Evans said he's been impressed with the progression of Schultz this offseason.

"McKale has gotten a lot faster," he said. "We wanna be faster than our opponent and that's one thing McKale brings us. He's very quick, him and Turner will do a good job for us with our younger linemen if there's any mistakes. They're always there to jump in and help our younger guys. It's been refreshing to see the team concept come together."

Evans said that along with Turner and Schultz, Alt, Van Meter, Riggleman, McGinnis and Biggs will be either starters or key rotational pieces.

Of the returning defensive linemen, Turner led the group last season with 21 tackles. Biggs finished with 16, one sack and one forced fumble.

"They've been looking fast, we wanna be fast and physical," Evans said. "We wanna get into the offensive schemes and wreck havoc into their scheme. We wanna dictate what the offense does. When everyone's moving downhill, we see a lot of good things so far."

Not only did Day lead the team in rushing and receiving, he also led the defense in sacks. He had three sacks and was the only player with multiple sacks. He also had 37 tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception.

"You can put him at any position," Evans said. "He's athletic enough and smart enough to know what to do in those positions."

The other linebackers consist of Tingler, Keplinger, Wolford, Swick, Thorne, Day, Alt, Kimble and Riggleman.

Alt led the team last year with 55 tackles. He also had one sack, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble and a pass breakup. Alt received one vote for the All-Area team in 2021. Day finished with 37 tackles, three sacks, one interception and two fumble recoveries.

"He's one of those linebackers that we can just trust him," Evans said. "Against East Hardy he had 10 tackles and was reading the holes and showing his speed and aggressiveness. I think what he's going to bring to the table is his strength, getting downfield and getting to the ball carrier. Everyone will be playing off of him."

The Vikings defensive backs feature Bumby Van Meter, Rodriguez, Taylor, Vance, Bobo, Landis, Arbaugh, Rohrbaugh, Rochette, Halterman, Cost, Kisamore and Miller. Rohrbaugh was the only Petersburg player with multiple interceptions last year. He led the team with two and also had three pass breakups.

"He just goes after the football," Evans said of Rohrbaugh. "We wanna have fun and Trace has fun when he plays. That allows his athletic ability to come out. He's always around the football, he knows football and he's an athlete. If he makes a mistake, his athletic ability helps him overcome some of that."

Evans said that Taylor and Van Meter will start alongside Arbaugh and Rohrbaugh. He expects Rochette and Rodriguez to also rotate in throughout the season. Rodriguez is playing football for the first time since his freshman year. Evans said he's been impressed with how Rodriguez has progressed since his freshman year.

"He's shown a lot of athletic ability for us," Evans said. "Hopefully, he can make some plays for us on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball."

Petersburg does not have a kicker listed. The Vikings will use several players in kicking and punting roles. Van Meter and Tingler will both kick and punt. Schultz could also see some time at punter.

Petersburg's season opens on the road at Berkeley Springs on Friday. Kickoff from Morgan Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.

"We just wanna be more competitive and be a fast and physical football team," Evans said. "If we can improve on the small things, the big things will take care of themselves."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.