– Valley City State In Saturday Shutout Football Home Win

Valley City State 32 Iowa Wesleyan University 0

VALLEY CITY STATE – The Viking defense forced four turnovers and recorded a shutout on Saturday as the Valley City State football team rolled to a 32-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan University.

Georgia Mageo and Jahidi West each had interceptions, and both Riley Gerhardt and Moziah Rogers-Tivao recovered fumbles during a dominant performance by the Viking defense. VCSU held the Tigers to just 177 yards of total offense.

Valley City State improves to 2-4 overall and is now 1-1 in conference play with the first conference victory of the season coming on Saturday.

“It’s a relief off of our players and coaches shoulders,” said head coach Dennis McCulloch. “We’ve played some good football without the results we want this season. I’m proud of how our guys came out in the second half and finished it off today.”

On the first offensive play of the game, Mageo intercepted a Tiger pass that was bobbled by the receiver. Three plays later, Justice Bice scored on an 11-yard rush and the Vikings had a lead less than 2 minutes into the game. Noah Chambers added a 13-yard rushing touchdown later in the first quarter to put the Vikings ahead 14-0, and the defense earned a second-quarter safety after an Iowa Wesleyan punt attempt went awry and the ball ended up out the back of their own end zone.

Valley City State carried a 16-0 lead into halftime, and then doubled it in the second half with a Rodrigo Castaneda field goal and touchdown runs by Taylor Simmons (15 yards) and Justice Bice (2 yards).

Valley City State’s offense relied heavily on the ground game, racking up 214 rushing yards on 53 carries. Facing a stiff wind half the game, the Vikings only needed to attempt 11 passes.

“Our running game did a really good job, especially going into the wind when they know you’re going to run,” said McCulloch. “It starts with the offensive line up front, and then running backs Justice Bice and Taylor Simmons did a good job getting positive yards.”

Bice finished with 22 carries for 94 yards and two scores, while Simmons had 16 carries for 73 yards and one touchdown. QB Noah Chambers gained 62 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts.

Riley Gerhardt had a hand in 12 tackles to lead the Viking defense, while Ashton Aquino and Dustin Kasowski each had seven stops. West total six tackles, an interception and two pass breakups.

Saturday’s victory was VCSU’s first shutout since a 49-0 win over Mayville State back on Oct. 2, 2021.

The Vikings will now go on the road for two weeks, facing Waldorf University and Dickinson State University – the top two teams in the conference.

“We want to play at the highest level on Saturdays, so the next two weeks will be a measuring stick for where we want to be at this year,” said McCulloch.

Up next: Valley City State travels to face Waldorf University on Saturday, Oct. 22. Iowa Wesleyan will play at Presentation College on Oct. 22.