Valley City  (CSi-VCSU)   The Valley City State football team has announced the signing of seven more recruits for the 2017 season.

The seven are high school seniors who recently signed letters of intent to attend VCSU and play for the Vikings this fall. Three of the recruits are from North Dakota, three from Minnesota and one from Alaska. They join a group of 14 student-athletes who signed with Viking football earlier this year.

Coach Dennis McCullock says, “Our staff continues to work hard recruiting student-athletes who fit our culture in the locker room and our culture on campus.  With each new signing, it’s exciting to see the 2017 class come together.”

North Dakota (3)
Josh McKnight – New Rockford, N.D. – New Rockford-Cheyenne High School, RB, 5-10, 150 lbs
Trevor Schimke – Harvey, N.D. – Harvey High School, WR, 6-1, 158 lbs
Marshall LeRoy – Underwood, N.D. – Underwood High School, DL, 6-2, 250 lbs

Minnesota (3)
Hunter Carlson – Staples, Minn. – Staples-Motley High School, OL, 6-5, 275 lbs
Lavontae Carlisle – Minneapolis, Minn. – Richfield High School, DL, 6-3, 207 lbs
Jason Stewart Jr. – Richfield, Minn. – Richfield High School, RB, 5-8, 172 lbs

Alaska (1)
Cooper Sant – Palmer, Alaska – Colony High School, DL, 6-1, 205 lbs

The Valley City State University football team opens the 2017 season at home against the defending conference champion, head coach Dennis McCulloch announced Friday with the release of the 2017 schedule.

VCSU will host Dickinson State on Saturday, Sept. 2, for the season opener at Shelly Ellig Field. It is the first of two meetings between the Vikings and Blue Hawks, who have combined to win the last six conference championships.

The Viking schedule includes 10 regular season games, eight of which will be North Star Athletic Association contests. The Vikings play two games each with Dickinson and University of Jamestown, and with a new conference rule this year both those games will count in the conference standings.

Valley City State hosts University of Jamestown on Sept. 16. Other home games include a non-conference game against Finlandia University on Sept. 23, Mayville State on Oct. 14 for Homecoming, and Dakota State on Oct. 21.

The Vikings begin their road schedule Sept. 9 with a non-conference game at Hastings College. Other road games include Sept. 30 at Waldorf, Oct. 7 at Dickinson, Oct. 28 at Presentation and Nov. 4 at University of Jamestown.

Valley City State went 6-4 last season with two victories over Top 20 teams. The Vikings finished second in the North Star Athletic Association with a 4-2 conference record.

VCSU Football – 2017 Schedule
Sept. 2 – vs. Dickinson State, TBA
Sept. 9 – @ Hastings College, 1 p.m.
Sept. 16 – vs. University of Jamestown, 1 p.m.
Sept. 23 – vs. Finlandia University, 1 p.m.
Sept. 30 – @ Waldorf University, 1 p.m.
Oct. 7 – @ Dickinson State, 3 p.m.
Oct. 14 – vs. Mayville State, 1 p.m.
Oct. 21 – vs. Dakota State, 4 p.m.
Oct. 28 – @ Presentation College, 1 p.m.
Nov. 4 – @ University of Jamestown, 1 p.m.