Robert Morris rushed for 353 yards Saturday as the No. 17-ranked Eagles defeated No. 20 Valley City State, 28-14 in VCSU's home football opener.
The Vikings used a pair of big plays to build a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, but Robert Morris scored the final 21 points in the battle of NAIA Top 25 teams.
VCSU drops to 2-1 on the season. Robert Morris improves to 2-0. The Vikings begin North Star Athletic Association conference play next Saturday at Waldorf College. Game time is 1 p.m. in Forest City, Iowa.
On Saturday in Valley City, VCSU used an 81-yard touchdown pass from Kurtis Walls to Colby Lum to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. The Vikings took a 14-7 lead when Ben Bruenjes blocked a Robert Morris punt and then picked it up and returned the ball 27 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Robert Morris came back to tie the game at 14-14 late in the second quarter on a fourth-down two-yard TD run from Raheem Gardner. The Vikings were able to drive the length of the field before halftime, but stalled out at the Eagles' 2-yard line and had their field goal attempt blocked to end the first half.
"Overall, I thought we had a good first half," VCSU head coach Dennis McCulloch said. "Our offense performed well on the last drive, got the ball down to the 2, and it would have been nice to get in and score. That would have given us a lot of momentum going into the second half. Instead, I elected to kick a field goal; it got blocked and that took a little bit of wind out of us."
The second half belonged mostly to Robert Morris, which scored early in the third quarter by forcing a fumble and recovering it in the end zone. The Eagles added another score late in the third on a 2-yard run from Barrington Thomas.
Robert Morris out-gained the Vikings, 353-39 on the ground, and 482-275 overall. Raheem Gardner carried the ball 24 times for 183 yards, and Barrington Thomas had 28 carries for 154 yards. The Viking defense was on its heels most of the second half after losing three starters to injury. Two All-Conference players, linebacker Nicholas McBeain and defensive back Mychael Bruce, went down with injuries in the first half and watched the rest of the game from the sideline.
Viking quarterback Kurtis Walls finished 15-35 for 236 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Colby Lum caught six passes for 159 yards and a TD. DJ Ewards had three catches for 21 yards, and Josh Tovar had two catches for 34 yards. Jacob Duilio carried the ball 11 times for 18 yards.
Viking linebacker Ethen Preston had a monster game with 20 total tackles, including six solo tackles. Linebacker Nicholas McBeain had 14 tackles in the first half before leaving with injury. Jawuan Pugh added 12 tackles and Jesus Munoz had 10 tackles in the loss.
Up next: VCSU (2-1) opens conference play Saturday, Sept. 19, at Waldorf College. Kick off is set for 1 p.m. in Forest City, Iowa.
