BILLINGS, Mont. – After consecutive games decided in the closing seconds, the Valley City State University football team heads to Montana looking to turn its offensive momentum into a victory.
The Vikings face Rocky Mountain College on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Herb Klindt Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central Time/1 p.m. Mountain Time as both teams open Frontier Conference East Division play with 1-3 overall records.
VCSU is coming off a 50-45 loss at Simpson University, where the Vikings piled up 572 yards of total offense before the Red Hawks scored the winning touchdown with 33.9 seconds remaining. The setback followed a 46-39 Homecoming loss to Eastern Oregon, which scored with just 12 seconds left. Saturday offers an opportunity for the Vikings to finish on the winning side of another competitive matchup.
Sophomore running back Laggarius Marshell has provided a powerful spark for the Viking offense. After rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Eastern Oregon, Marshell followed with 216 yards and two more scores at Simpson. His production has given VCSU a strong complement to its passing attack.
True freshman quarterback Brayden Medeiros also enters Saturday following a standout performance. Medeiros threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns against Simpson, connecting with Jake Deutsch for three scores. Deutsch finished with six catches for 133 yards, while Exavian Westbrook added four receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. Nick Mears contributed another 64 receiving yards on four catches.
Defensively, Aiden Russell leads the Vikings with 47 tackles this season, while Gavin Gerhardt has recorded two interceptions and a blocked kick. VCSU will look to slow a Rocky Mountain rushing attack featuring Jae'sean Pete and Ty Battle, who has scored three rushing touchdowns over the Bears' last three games.
Saturday marks VCSU's first visit to Billings and the second meeting between the programs. Rocky Mountain won last season's matchup, 31-21, in Valley City. The Vikings were tied with the Bears midway through the third quarter before Rocky pulled away.
With divisional play beginning, the Vikings have an opportunity to reset their season. Carrying their offensive production into Billings and pairing it with timely defensive stops could help VCSU turn recent near misses into a conference-opening victory.
