Friday night’s football game between Omaha North and Papillion-La Vista came down to one question — which team would be able to bounce back better after its first loss?

Papio fell to top-ranked Millard North last week while the Vikings lost a tough one against Burke, falling in the closing seconds after place-kicker Hayden Guy booted his fifth field goal of the game.

The answer Friday night was North, which looked very impressive in a 49-21 win over the third-ranked Monarchs. Three running backs — Calvin Strong, Tre’Von Walker and JaVaughan Perkins — each had two touchdowns. Strong, a 5-9 sophomore, led the way with 298 yards on 23 carries.

He would have reached the 300-yard mark but he lost 3 yards on a carry midway through the fourth quarter. The play drew a loud cheer from the Monarchs fans because it was one of the few times all night the Papio defense was able to stop the shifty back.

The Vikings defense also played well, so don’t let those 21 points fool you. The score was 35-7 at one point and Papio never got closer than 21 points the rest of the way.

I’ve seen several games this season, but the Vikings’ performance Friday night was perhaps the most impressive. If it plays like that the rest of the way, North definitely could be in the hunt for its first state title.