Fresh off a season-opening win against its main rival, the Valley City State football team is on the road this weekend to face an old rival.
 
The Vikings will play former conference foe South Dakota School of Mines on Friday night in Rapid City, S.D. SD Mines is now an NCAA Division II school, but previously was a member of the NAIA and VCSU's old conference: the Dakota Athletic Conference.
 
The Vikings are off to a 1-0 start this year after defeating University of Jamestown in the first college football game of the season. Friday's game will be the season opener for South Dakota Mines.
 
Kickoff is at 7:07 p.m. CT/6:07 p.m. MT from Rapid City, S.D. Valley City radio coverage can be heard on Q101 (101.1 FM) and online at www.newsdakota.com. Ryan Cunningham will have the play-by-play call with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m.
 
The game will be televised by Midco Sports (Channel Finder) on all their affiliates throughout North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. The broadcast will also be available to stream for a fee at www.midcosportsplus.com
 
Live Links
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Last Week
The Vikings opened the season with a 23-15 win over rival University of Jamestown on Thursday, Aug. 24. VCSU trailed 8-0 late in the first half but scored 20 straight points to take control en route to the victory and a 1-0 record to start the season.
 
Players of the Week
Defensive end Riley Gerhardt and quarterback Avery Thorsgard both picked up awards from the North Star Athletic Association after their performances against Jamestown. Gerhardt had 14 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble as he was named the NSAA Defensive Player of the Week. Thorsgard accounted for 263 yards and two touchdowns to earn Offensive Player of the Week honors.
 
Leading the NAIA
It's early, but Riley Gerhardt's 2.5 sacks last week was tops in the entire NAIA. That's on par with last season when Gerhardt led the entire NAIA with 12.5 regular season sacks. Gerhardt now has 27.5 career sacks and 45 career tackles for loss. He is within striking distance of both VCSU career records held by Lloyd Joseph (34.5 sacks) and Joe Maresh (46.5 TFL).
 
Extra Possessions
VCSU's defense forced three turnovers in the season-opening win. Freshman Emanuel Spiyee made an immediate impact with his first career interception after a tipped pass by linebacker Jahidi West. West then made his own interception later in the game, which was his 13^th career pick. Gerhardt also forced a fumble that VCSU recovered after a strip sack.
 
Field Position Matters
VCSU kicker and punter Masila Siua quietly put together a good game in last week's win against Jamestown. Siua averaged 61 yards per kickoff and had two touchbacks. Jamestown's average starting field position after a kickoff was its own 25-yard line. Siua also dropped three punts inside the 20-yard line, including pinning Jamestown at the 1-yard line and the 8-yard line.
 
Series
Valley City State leads the all-time series with SD Mines, 14-4. The Hardrockers won the last meeting, a 39-28 game back on Sept. 29, 2012, in Valley City.
 
Last Year
South Dakota Mines posted a 7-4 overall record last season and a 6-3 mark in conference play. SD Mines plays football in the 10-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, where they finished fourth last season.
 
Hardrocker to Watch
SD Mines returns its starting quarterback in Jayden Johannsen. As sophomore last season. Johannsen passed for 3,199 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also rushed for 742 yards and eight touchdowns as a dual-threat quarterback.
 
Next Week
Valley City State has a bye next week before beginning conference play with a Sept. 16 road game at Dakota State University.