Coming into Friday’s opener, Fieldcrest knew it was going to have to play near perfect ball against Class 2A No. 2-ranked Tri-Valley, but the Knights’ six turnovers were too much to overcome as they fell 52-12 in Minonk.

Fieldcrest took the opening kick, but ended up punting as the quickness of the Vikings showed up early, disrupting the Knights’ offense.

The quickness showed on both sides of the ball for the Vikings as Preston Johnson took the opening handoff for a 14-yard gain.

On third-and-4, Tommy Harris kept the drive alive with a 6-yard gain and then big No. 70 Kyle Reeser made a great block that sprung Harris free for a 52-yard touchdown run.

The first of the Fieldcrest turnovers came on the next possession when quarterback Kash Klendworth was hit dropping back to pass and fumbled the ball.

Johnson took the next handoff and went up the middle for 12 yards and quickly followed that with a 17-yard touchdown run through the heart of the defense to put Tri-Valley ahead 14-0.

The Knights started to move the ball on their next possession when Lucas Anson had two carries for 26 yards.

Zach Overocker then ran off the left tackle for 15 yards before Anson broke several tackles for a 15-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit to 14-6 after the failed extra point.

The Vikings powerful offense continued to roll as Harris had runs of 13 and 9 yards that set up Johnson, who bounced outside and bolted for a 27-yard touchdown run and a 21-6 advantage.

It looked as if Fieldcrest was going to creep back into the contest as Anson got a great block from Braydin Eplin and turned it into a 45-yard jaunt.

Then on third-and-6, Anson rattled off 26 more yards, but on the next handoff fumbled and the Vikings recovered.

It only took Tri-Valley two plays to make the Knights pay as Johnson ran for 13 yards and then Harris outran everyone for a 77-yard touchdown run to put the Vikings ahead 28-6.

“You can’t turn the ball over against anyone, let alone the No. 2 team in 2A,” Fieldcrest coach Nick Meyer said. They got size and speed and every time we turned the ball over they scored. I think we did some nice things and Lucas Anson ran well, but we have to clean up some things, especially against a tough conference.”

On the very next play, things didn’t get any better as Klendworth threw a pick 6 to Grayson Coughlin to put the Vikings ahead 35-6 heading into the half.

The Vikings got the ball to start the second half and again went right to work as Harris tallied a run of 18 yards and then finished off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 42-6.

On fourth-and-3, Fieldcrest appeared to have a first down, but a blindside block brought the play back and forced the Knights to punt.

The Vikings did not slow down as the bench was brought in. Kix Yaklich started the series with a 28-yard run and then Koen Rebenszki went for 16 yards before finishing the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and a 49-6 lead for the running clock.

Another Fieldcrest turnover led to a 28-yard field goal from Rebenszki that made it 52-6 Vikings.

On the next Fieldcrest possession, Anson finished off his strong night with a 45-yard touchdown run.

“I thought we did some great things on offense tonight,” Tri-Valley coach Josh Roop said. “But I think we have some things to clean up on defense as the season goes on.”

For the game, Anson led all rushers with 223 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

For the Vikings, Harris had 139 yards and two scores on eight carries, while Johnson had 99 yards and two touchdowns on seven attempts.

Fieldcrest returns to action Friday when the Knights travel to El Paso-Gridley.