The Valley City State football team and its nine seniors ended the 2021 season with an impressive victory Saturday, defeating Dakota State University 33-7 on VCSU Senior Day.

The Vikings led 14-7 at halftime and then broke the game wide open with 19 fourth-quarter points en route to their eighth victory of the season. It is the most wins by a VCSU football team since the 2014 season and gives the Vikings a bit of redemption after an Oct. 16 loss at Dakota State earlier this season.

"We couldn't ask for more from these guys in their leadership and the things they did," VCSU head coach Dennis McCulloch said of his seniors. "They showed up today. There's so many big plays that those guys made today. This is a good memory for these seniors leaving the field for the last time knowing how well they played and the things they did."

Valley City State intercepted two passes on Saturday, including an interception that Jerrod Williamson returned for a touchdown and the eighth interception of the season by sophomore linebacker Jahidi West. The interception by West tied VCSU's single-season school record.

Valley City State ends the season with an 8-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. The Vikings will finish second in the NSAA standings. Dakota State drops to 5-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play. The Trojans have one game remaining.

The Vikings scored on the first drive of the game Saturday, putting together an impressive 12-play, 75-yard drive that took six minutes off the clock. Receiver Michael Cornelious hauled in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Pfeifer to cap the impressive start to the game. It was one of two touchdowns hauled in by Cornelious on the day, and one of three touchdown passes by Pfeifer. VCSU's senior quarterback also hit Benjamin Dumond for a fourth-quarter touchdown and ran one in early in the fourth quarter.

Dakota State would tie the game late in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Brenner Furlong, but that's all the points the Trojans would muster against VCSU's defense. The Vikings limited the Trojans to just 121 yards of offense, including only 13 rushing yards. The Vikings picked off two passes and sacked Dakota State quarterbacks seven times in the victory.

One of the interceptions was a clinching touchdown by Williamson, who picked off a fourth-quarter pass and returned it 30 yards to give the Vikings a 27-7 lead.

"I hope people have appreciated watching our defense this year," said McCulloch. "This is a really unique and special group. When you're allowing just 13 points per game, the amount of sacks, pressures and interceptions they've had… They've played at a high level all year."

Linebacker Sal Avila had a team-high 10 tackles along with two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Garrett Pemelton had two sacks and both Riley Gerhardt and Marshaun Jones totaled 1.5 sacks.

Pfeifer went 27-for-39 for 231 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Justice Bice gained 58 rushing yards on 16 carries and also caught eight passes for 53 yards. Dumond had eight catches for 80 yards and a score, and Cornelious totaled six passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Up next: Valley City State ends the season with an 8-2 overall record. Dakota State closes out the season Nov. 13 at Presentation College.