Jamestown (VCSU) – The 2022 college football season kicks off Thursday night in Jamestown.

Valley City State University hits the road on Thursday, traveling 35 miles west for the season opener at rival University of Jamestown. It will be the 123rd meeting in the rivalry’s storied history.

Thursday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. in Jamestown.

HISTORIC RIVALRY
The Vikings lead the all-time series with Jamestown, 64-53-5, and lead the Paint Bucket Series 43-31. Recorded meetings of the rivalry date back to 1909. The Paint Bucket Series and traveling trophy were established in 1961. VCSU won last year’s game 24-7 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.

“It’s intense,” VCSU head coach Dennis McCulloch said about the rivalry. “There are so many pieces to it, outside of football, that make it a bigger game: our schools are so close together; we’re public and they’re private; we recruit against each other year-round; and our community members take a lot of pride in being from Valley City or Jamestown. It’s a great atmosphere and a great opportunity for our guys to play a game like this.”

This will be the eighth time since 2013 that the two teams have played in the season opener. The Vikings won the previous season openers in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Jamestown won the opening game against VCSU in 2018.

LAST MEETING
Valley City State handily won last year’s Paint Bucket game in Valley City, 24-7. The Vikings held a 10-0 halftime lead and eventually led 24-0 before Jamestown scored its only touchdown. The VCSU defense dominated the line of scrimmage – holding Jamestown to negative rushing yards – and Jalen Pfeifer threw touchdown passes to Jacob Gottenborg, Michael Cornelious and Justice Bice.

LAST GAME AT JAMESTOWN
Jamestown won the last meeting of the rivalry on its home field, hanging on for a 28-26 victory back on Aug. 25, 2018. VCSU scored a touchdown with 43 seconds remaining, but the Jimmies stopped the game-tying 2-point conversion attempt to seal the 28-26 victory.

ALL EYES ON THE QB
For the first time in five seasons, Valley City State will have a new starting quarterback. Five-year starter Jalen Pfeifer graduated last year after setting career records at VCSU in several major passing categories. Making his first career start on Thursday night is sophomore Avery Thorsgaard. A native of Northwood, N.D., Thorsgaard is in his third year with VCSU football and played in all 10 games last year as the holder and backup quarterback. Thorsgaard completed 5 out of 8 passes for 36 yards, and also had seven carries for 27 yards.

Jamestown, meanwhile, returns senior quarterback Cade Torgerson, who passed for 2,973 yards and 23 touchdowns in a pass-heavy offense last season. Jamestown passed on 68 percent of its plays last year, totaling 521 pass attempts and just 250 rushing attempts.

“Their quarterback and wide receivers are very talented,” said McCulloch. “That’s going to be a challenge for us.”

Torgerson attempted 40 or more passes in nine games last season, including 72 attempts in a 31-25 loss at Dakota Wesleyan.

VIKINGS RETURN STRONG DEFENSE
All-American Riley Gerhardt and his team-high 10 sacks return to anchor Valley City State’s defensive line, which was dominant last season. While Gerhardt and Vance Dumas are back, a major loss is the graduation of defensive tackle Marshaun Jones. The 3-year starter commanded numerous double teams and was a two-time All-American before graduating last season. Stepping into starting roles on the defensive line for Thursday’s game are twin brothers Georgie Mageo and Georgia Mageo, who are redshirt freshmen from Anchorage, Alaska.

The Viking defense returns eight starters from last year’s squad that allowed just 12.9 points per game. All three starting linebackers are back – Jahidi West, Dustin Kasowski and Sal Avila – along with three starting defensive backs: Anthony Russell, Paco Baltazar and Martin Jones. West, Jones and Avila were all named All-Conference last season, while Kasowski and Russell were Honorable Mention All-Conference.

EXPERIENCED RUN GAME
Valley City State’s rushing attack looks to be a preseason strength with a pair of All-Conference running backs in the backfield. Justice Bice was named 1st Team All-Conference in 2021, and Taylor Simmons returns to the backfield this season after being named 2nd Team All-Conference in 2020. The offensive line features a pair of two-time 1st Team All-Conference players in Sammy Trejo and Troy Dietz, and another pair of experience returning starters in Joseph Salas and Kade Queen.

RECEIVING CORPS
Senior Jacob Gottenborg is expected to play a big role this year as the most experienced receiver in the Viking passing attack. Gottenborg was named Honorable Mention All-Conference last season and has 42 career receptions for 524 yards and seven touchdowns. He’ll be joined in the starting lineup by sophomore Faaris Amegankpoe and redshirt freshman Justin Cruz, both of whom are making their first career start.

LAST YEAR
Valley City State posted an 8-2 overall record last season and was 6-2 in the North Star Athletic Association, finishing second in the conference standings. The Vikings were ranked as high as No. 15 in the nation. Jamestown had a 2-9 overall record last season and was 2-8 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

PRESEASON POLLS
Valley City State was picked to finished second in the North Star Athletic Association preseason poll. The Vikings are also receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. Jamestown was picked ninth in the GPAC preseason poll.