VALLEY CITY, N.D – The Valley City State football team took home the Paint Bucket after a huge 38-7 victory over conference rival University of Jamestown Saturday at Shelly Ellig Field.

VCSU met UJ for the 125th time today, playing in the 77th Paint Bucket game. VCSU opened scoring with 5:52 left in the first quarter with a 34-yard rush by Laggarius Marshell. After a successful extra point, the Vikings led 7-0 to finish the first quarter. With 37 seconds left in the second quarter, the Vikings once again found the end zone via an Avery Thorsgard 14-yard rushing touchdown, taking a 14-0 lead into halftime.

After a slow start to the third quarter, the Jimmies responded with their own 5-yard touchdown run, making the score 14-7, with 2:16 left in the quarter. Exavian Westbrook immediately capitalized on a returnable kickoff, receiving the ball at VCSU’s 4-yard line, running to the right behind his blockers, then cutting back to the left recognizing his chance to make it on the outside. With only the kick to beat, Westbrook raced up to sideline taking the kick return all the way for a Viking touchdown.

After converting the extra point, the Vikings were set to kickoff. Kicker Yzan Lorenzo place a kick well close to the left side just outside of the endzone. Running to his right looking with pressure coming, the Jimmie returner was unable to secure the football resulting in a recovery by the Vikings. A few plays later, Viking kicker Lorenzo sent a 25-yard field goal through the uprights.

Entering the fourth quarter with a 24-7 lead, the Vikings only poured it on finding the endzone two more times after capitalizing on the Jimmie mistakes. The Vikings scored on a seven minute, 12-play drive capped off with a 2-yard Kolby Jones touchdown run. Later after another Jimmie fumble, quarterback Noah Chambers found the endzone with a 7-yard rush with 1:54 remaining, bringing the score to 38-7 where the game ended.

Head coach Dennis McCulloch said, “Avery [Thorsgard] did a great job at managing, finding ways to create a seam here and there. Today’s response was great.” He also said, “This is a great day to build from; We have a lot more to prove. There was a lot of positive pieces we can build off of.”

VCSU tallied 333 yards of offense, including 197 rushing yards. The Vikings were led by quarterback Avery Thorsgard who rushed 119 yards and a touchdown. He was followed by running back Laggarius Marshell who ran for 59 yards on 11 rushing attempts also good for one touchdown. Thorsgard was also 19-for-26 passing, good for 136 passing yards. Jake Deutsch caught six passes good for 53 receiving yards. On defense, Gavin Gerhardt led the team with eight tackles, three solo and five assisted, and one interception. On special teams, Exavian Westbrook had two returns good for 117 return yards and a touchdown, including a 96-yard return.

The Jimmies totaled 80 passing yards from quarterback Johnny Grann. They rushed for 152 yards, 85 of those yards coming from running back Zach Hammett. In total the Jimmies had 232 yards of offense. The Jamestown defense was led by Ezra Belingheri who had seven total tackles, five solo and two assisted.

VCSU now leads the all-time series against UJ 65-55-5 and are 44-33 in Paint Bucket games dating back to 1961. Their rivalry dates back to 1909.

UP NEXT: The Vikings now shift their focus to their rematch with Dakota State University. Viking Football does have a bye week with no competition giving them time to heal up and get ready to go on the road to Madison, S.D. on Saturday, Oct. 26.