Valley City – Valley City State rushed for a season-high 228 yards on Saturday afternoon as the Vikings finished the 2023 season with a 31-21 win over Waldorf University.

After honoring its 12 seniors prior to kickoff for Senior Day, the Vikings went out and delivered a victory in their final game. VCSU scored 24 unanswered points in the first half to take a 24-7 lead at the break, and then chewed up clock in the second half, keeping possession for nearly 22 minutes after halftime.

“Our guys take a lot of pride in what they do,” said head coach Dennis McCulloch. “We definitely wanted our seniors to go out with a win in their last game at Shelly Ellig Field. We wanted to send them out the right way.”

The 228 rushing yards, 382 total yards and 37 minutes of possession time were all season-highs for VCSU’s offense, which put together three touchdown drives over 70 yards on Saturday. The offensive line – which included seniors Troy Dietz and Kade Queen – and the running game took control in the second half, including a touchdown drive that featured 14 straight running plays.

VCSU’s defense forced a pair of turnovers and limited Waldorf to 272 total yards. The defense was headlined by five seniors who have been fixtures in the lineup since their early seasons: Riley Gerhardt, Jahidi West, Paco Baltazar, Anthony Russell and Vance Dumas. Gerhardt had a team-high 17 tackles on Saturday and finishes his Viking career with school records of 37 career sacks and 59 tackles for loss.

The Vikings end the season with a 7-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play, finishing second in the NSAA standings.

“I told our seniors, your legacy is not the wins and losses this year,” said McCulloch “It’s really about the effect you’ve had on this team and those younger guys carrying on the things that you’ve done. The level that you’ve set for us with our culture and how you treat each other and how hard you work. Those are the legacy things we’ll see and remember.”

VCSU fell behind 7-0 midway through the first quarter but went on to score 24 unanswered points to end the first half, taking a 24-7 lead after Andrew Nielsen made a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

The Vikings kept control with a strong running game in the second half, rushing for 138 yards over the final two quarters. VCSU’s lone second-half touchdown came after a 14-play, 74-yard drive that chewed up 7 minutes and 49 seconds. All 14 plays were running plays, capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Marty Gohn.

Senior running back Justice Bice had seven carries for 21 yards before suffering an injury in the first half. Ka’Ua Nishigaya and Marty Gohn stepped up in his absence, rushing for 112 combined yards. Nishigaya had 13 carries for 65 yards, and Gohn finished with 11 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown. Quarterbacks Avery Thorsgard and Noah Chambers combined to rush for 92 yards and both scored a touchdown. Kolby Jones also rushed for a VCSU touchdown.

Chambers quarterbacked the offense for much of the first half, going 10-for-16 for 132 yards and leading two long scoring drives. Thorsgard ran the offense in the entire second half as VCSU went with a run-heavy offense to chew up the clock. Freshman Mason Yoshino led the receiving corps with six catches for 61 yards.

Taye Buchanan led Waldorf with 115 rushing yards, including a 55-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Waldorf quarterback Jordan Cooper rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns.