Through the air, on the ground, on defense and on special teams, the Viking football team brought it all Saturday as they blasted rival University of Jamestown, 48-17 in Jamestown.
The Vikings went down 7-0 early, but dominated from there as they spoiled the Jimmie Homecoming and retained the Paint Bucket Trophy. The Vikings would score the next 24 points to go up 24-7. After taking a 27-17 lead at halftime, VCSU outscored Jamestown 21-0 in the second half to pull away.
Valley City State is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. VCSU swept the season series with Jamestown by scores of 48-17 and 31-7. Jamestown drops to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in NSAA play.
VCSU scored touchdowns Saturday on an interception return by Mychael Bruce, a punt return by Antoine Griffin, twice on the ground and twice through the air. The Vikings recovered two Jamestown fumbles and picked off two passes as they won the turnover battle, 4-1.
After going down 7-0 early in the first quarter, the Viking struck back to tie the game on a 51-yard pass from Kurtis Walls to Demondre Boler. VCSU's Thomas Cortez followed with a 27-yard field goal to make it 10-7 after the first quarter.
With 12:26 left in the second quarter, VCSU's Mychael Bruce picked off a pass at the 30-yard line and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead. Antoine Griffin ended the 24-point scoring barrage with a 38-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:35 remaining in the half. Jamestown cut the lead to 24-14 on a touchdown pass from Beau Eriksson to Gavin Farley. Thomas Cortez (38 yards) and Jamestown's Grant Linde (47 yards) would trade field goals before the half to make it 27-17.
The second half was all Valley City State. Walls hit Zach Johnson for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 10:28 to go in the third quarter, building a 34-17 lead. Griffin added a 25-yard touchdown run and Trevor Goerts ran one in from 17 yards out for the final margin of 48-17.
Griffin racked up 193 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, affecting the game in a variety of ways. The freshman had six receptions for 72 yards, four carries for 47 yards and a touchdown, a punt return for 38 yards and a score, and one kick return for 36 yards.
Linebackers Nick McBeain (10 tackles) and Ethen Preston (8 tackles) were the Viking top tacklers. Defensive lineman Sam Cooke and Dalton Locke combined for 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
Up next: Valley City State (4-1, 2-0 NSAA) hosts Waldorf College on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. It is the Homecoming game for VCSU.
