Vikings over Presentation College, Sunday Football

The Saints scored on their opening drive of the game, but it was all VCSU from there on out. The Vikings blocked two punts and forced four turnovers as they rolled off 35 unanswered points, building a 21-7 halftime lead and a 35-7 advantage early in the third quarter.

VCSU improves to 4-2 overall this season and is now 2-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Presentation College drops to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

Viking quarterback Jalen Pfeifer passed for 228 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday’s victory. Pfeifer and Jacob Gottenborg connected on a 25-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. It started a string of five straight Viking touchdowns.

Pfeifer also hit Matthew Krizan, Ben Carter and Jake Peterson for touchdowns to build a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter. The Viking defense followed with a blocked punt, which was picked up by Andrew Hanretty for an easy touchdown and a 35-7 lead with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

Valley City State’s defense forced four turnovers and limited the Saints to 259 yards of offense, including just 40 yards on the ground. Doniaj Smelker, Jerrod Williamson and Brandon Elton all intercepted passes for VCSU, and Sal Avila forced and recovered a fumble. Avila had a big game with 11 tackles, two sacks, five tackles for loss, a blocked punt and the fumble recovery.

Late in the first quarter, Avila forced and recovered a fumble at the Saints’ 14-yard line, setting up VCSU’s second touchdown. On Presentation’s next drive, Avila blocked a punt and recovered it at the Presentation 18-yard line, setting up the third Viking touchdown of the day.

The Viking defense totaled four sacks and nine tackles for loss. Dustin Kasowski finished with eight tackles, and Zachary Co had six tackles and half a sack. Smelker, Williamson, Marshaun Jones and Arron Martin all had five tackles each.

Pfeifer went 19-for-27 for 228 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Viking offense. Peterson caught six passes for 107 yards and a score. Jacob Gottenborg had two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Joshua McKnight caught four passes for 23 yards, and Caid Combs had three catches for 39 yards. Alex Sell carried the ball seven times for 31 yards to lead the rushing attack.

The touchdown catches by Krizan, Carter and Gottenborg were the first touchdown catches of their collegiate careers.

Up next: Valley City State hosts Mayville State University on Saturday, Oct. 19. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Valley City.