Vikings are looking to take the next step on the gridiron

The Bellevue Christian Vikings football program is undoubtedly careening in the right direction.

After going 1-9 during the 2014 season, the Vikings improved to 5-5 last year. Bellevue Christian started off the season strong, winning four of their first six contests.

The Vikings were focused on taking care of all the details during their spring football practice sessions in June. Vikings’ head coach, Todd Green, a field general who exudes positivity at every juncture of each practice session, makes sure his players hustle every time they are between the white lines.

If a player drops a pass during a drill, he instructed the player responsible for not hauling in the pass, to treat the loose ball as a fumble and to retrieve it immediately. Green’s maximum effort mantra is something his players enjoy about his coaching style. Vikings’ wide receiver/cornerback Joe Helton said Green is a coach who is very uplifting to his players.

“When you get down on yourself, he takes you back up,” Helton said. “He just really knows how to motivate you.”

The Vikings upperclassman see spring practice sessions as a golden opportunity to indoctrinate the incoming freshman and youthful players on the Vikings’ mode of operation. Vikings’ senior defensive end/left guard Christian Miller couldn’t wait to get back on the practice field with his teammates since the season concluded last November.

“It feels great to be back with all my brothers on the team. It is kind of like the first day of school but way better,” Miller said. “We got some big guys in the incoming freshman class this year. We are ready for this season. Our goal is to play every single down for that down and the games, wins and playoffs will come after that.”

Miller said while his team was encouraged by last season’s improvement in the standings, there were still a few games that left a sour taste in his squad’s mouth. The Vikings had a chance to go 5-2 in the seventh week of the 2015 season but lost 20-18 to the Charles Wright Academy. Charles Wright scored the go-ahead touchdown with 12 seconds left on the clock.

“It was a really rewarding season but the losses were even more painful,” Miller said. “We lost one game (Charles Wright) on the last drive. I think the guys coming back are going to remember from that loss and are going to work even harder to not have that happen again.”

Vikings’ safety/running back Daniel Ficca said he expects the underclassman to step up this year for the Vikings. The team graduated stalwart players Dylan Parsons (running back) and David Postma (quarterback) this June.

“There is a lot of freshman on this team so we’re really trying to build them up and get them up and running,” Ficca said of spring practices. “We can’t rely on just the seniors this year, we have to rely on all of our players. It’s exciting. I’m really pumped.”