Viking Football is back home Saturday as they begin the second half of conference play eyeing a North Star Athletic Association conference title.
 
After going 3-1 through the first round of conference play, the Vikings still control their own destiny to a share of the conference championship – needing to go 4-0 in their remaining games. That starts Saturday, Oct. 21, as the Vikings host Dakota State University.
 
Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. Saturday at VCSU's Lokken Stadium. Radio coverage will be on KOVC 1490 AM and www.newsdakota.com starting with the pregame show at 3 p.m. VCSU produce live video and live stats at the links below. Tickets can be purchased in advance, speeding fan entrance into the stadium.
 
Purchase Tickets  |  Listen  |  Watch  |  Stats
 
Record Check: Valley City State is 4-2 overall this season and 3-1 in conference play. Their lone NAIA loss is to conference leader Dickinson State University. Dakota State is currently 0-7 overall and 0-5 in conference play.
 
Last Time Out: The Vikings are coming off a historic comeback win on Oct. 7 at Waldorf University. After trailing 24-0 at halftime, VCSU rallied for a 28-24 victory over the Warriors. Dakota State is coming off a 34-14 loss to Waldorf on Oct. 14.
 
Last Meeting: Valley City State's defense stifled Dakota State in the first meeting back on Sept. 17 in Madison, S.D. The Vikings allowed just 215 yards and six points en route to a 14-6 victory. Justice Bice scored both of VCSU's touchdowns, and Riley Gerhardt had three sacks.
 
Series History: Dating back to 1986, Valley City State has a 29-5 record against Dakota State. The teams have split their last four meetings.
 
Down The Stretch: Valley City State is coming off its second bye week of the season. VCSU finishes the season now with four straight Saturday games, traveling to Mayville State (Oct. 28) and Dickinson State (Nov. 4) before closing the year at home against Waldorf (Nov. 11).
 
Sack History: VCSU senior defensive end Riley Gerhardt is on the verge of becoming the all-time sack leader in Viking history. Gerhardt has 34 career sacks and is just one sack away from breaking the career record held by Lloyd Joseph (34.5 sacks). Earlier this year, Gerhardt became the all-time tackles for loss leader and now has 54 career TFL.
 
NAIA Ranks: Gerhardt leads the NAIA with 9 total sacks this season, and both linebacker Jahidi West and Gerhardt rank Top 5 in the NAIA in tackles per game. West's 12.0 tackles per game rank him 2^nd in the NAIA and Gerhardt is 4^th at 11.5 tackles per game.