AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley football team finished strong Friday night.

It was just a case of too little, too late for the Vikings.

Visting Northfield built a huge lead en route to topping Valley 41-28 in a Three Rivers Conference matchup.

The Norsemen, who improve to 3-1 overall, led 34-7 after three quarters thanks to big plays.

The Vikings scored three touchdowns in the final stanza, but it was not enough to keep them from falling to 0-4 on the season.

Northfield scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on a 74-yard run and a 50-yard pass play to take a 12-0 lead.

The Vikings responded as Alex Morrison scored on a 15-yard touchdown run in the second period to cut the deficit to 12-7.

The Norsemen came right back with a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kyle Reed to take control for good. Northfield then scored on a seven-yard run and a 28-yard pass play.

Valley got a one-yard touchdown run by Noah Miller and a 10-yard scoring run by Wes Melanson in the fourth quarter. Tanner Trippiedi also tossed a 30-yard scoring pass to Miller for the Vikings.

Trippiedi finished 9-14 passing for 154 yards. Miller had four receptions for 96 yards and Morrison had 10 rushes for 50 yards.

Valley plays at TRC foe Whitko next Friday night. The Wildcats dropped to 0-4 with a 37-7 loss to Rochester Friday night.