VALLEY CITY, N.D. – The 76
th battle for the Paint Bucket takes place Thursday night as the Valley City State University football team hosts rival University of Jamestown in the 2023 college football season opener.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from VCSU's Lokken Stadium. It is the first NAIA or NCAA football game in the nation this season as all eyes turn to Valley City and the historic rivalry between the Vikings and the Jimmies.
Thursday night is also the 5
th annual VCSU Ag Bowl, presented by First Community Credit Union, as VCSU recognizes and thanks members of the agriculture industry – an important and vital part of North Dakota's culture and economy.
Follow Live – Radio | TV | Video Steam
KOVC 1490 AM/96.3 FM will have live radio coverage starting at 5 p.m. over the air and online at
www.newsdakota.com. BEK TV will produce a live TV broadcast of the game statewide. VCSU will produce a live video broadcast through Youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd2zcSVcxWg
Series History
Thursday is the 124
th all-time meeting between in the VCSU-Jamestown rivalry, which dates back to 1909. Valley City State leads the all-time series 64-54-5. The teams started playing for the Paint Bucket traveling trophy in 1961. Valley City State leads the Paint Bucket series 43-32.
Last Year
Jamestown won last year's game in thrilling fashion, defeating the Vikings 27-24 in overtime at Jamestown. Valley City State rallied from a 21-7 deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game with 31 seconds remaining to force overtime. In OT, Valley City State had the ball first and took a 24-21 lead on a
Masila Siua field goal. Jamestown found the answer through, scoring a touchdown on its possession for the 27-24 victory.
Recent History
The Vikings have owned the bucket in recent history, winning 10 of the last 12 meetings with Jamestown.
Returners
Valley City State is set to return 17 starters from last year's squad that went 5-5 overall and was 4-2 in the North Star Athletic Association. Leading the way are last year's All-Conference selections
Riley Gerhardt (DL),
Justice Bice (RB),
Troy Dietz (OL) and
Jahidi West (LB).
All-American Returns
Riley Gerhardt was named 2
nd Team All-American in 2022 after putting together an impressive season for the Vikings. Gerhardt led the NAIA with 12.5 regular season sacks and finished the season with 109 total tackles and 19.5 tackles for loss. He is back this year for his fourth season in a Viking uniform.
Young QBs
Valley City State junior quarterback
Avery Thorsgard is set to make his fourth career start on Thursday. Thorsgard made his first career start against the Jimmies last season, but missed the majority of the season due to injury. Jamestown quarterback Nicholas Martinez, a redshirt freshman, will make his first career start on Thursday against the Vikings.
Band of Brothers
Valley City State University football starts the 2023 season with seven sets of brothers on its team. Twins Georgie and
Georgia Mageo (Anchorage, Alaska) are back for their third season in a Viking uniform, while six other sets of brothers will play and practice alongside each other this season: Riley and
Gavin Gerhardt (Valley City, N.D.), Tarren and
Jonah Larson (Beulah, N.D.), Micah and
Levi Olson (Dawson, Minn.), Mason and
Easton Yoshino (Honolulu, Hawaii), William and
Zackary Pfahl (Dunseith, N.D.), and Lorenzo and
Ezekiel Luchi (Enumclaw, Wash.).
Ticketing
In order to speed entry into the stadium, VCSU is encouraging fans to pre-purchase their tickets online at
www.vcsuvikings.com/tickets.Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and non-VCSU college students. Adult tickets will be discounted to $12 if purchased online. K-12 students and VCSU college students are admitted free.
All the Ag Bowl sponsors below also have free tickets to share with their customers.
2023 Ag Bowl Sponsors
First Community Credit Union
Dacotah Bank
Barnes County Farm Bureau
Green Bison Soy Processing LLC
FEI, Inc.
ProSeed
AgCountry Farm Credit Services
Puklich Chevrolet
Valley Plains Equipment
John Deere Seeding Group
Bank Forward
