Skip To Main Content

Dakota State University

Scoreboard

14
Winner Valley City State (N.D.) VCSU 5-2, 5-2 NSAA
6
Dakota State (S.D.) DSU 2-5, 2-5 NSAA
Winner
Valley City State (N.D.) VCSU
5-2, 5-2 NSAA
14
Final
6
Dakota State (S.D.) DSU
2-5, 2-5 NSAA
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
VCSU Valley City State (N.D.) 7 7 0 0 14
DSU Dakota State (S.D.) 0 0 0 6 6

Game Recap: Football |

Vikings win NSAA football defensive battle with Trojans 14-6

November 14, 2020

Photos credit by Mike Black and Karen Giles

MADISON, S.D. – Valley City State (N.D.) won the defensive battle with Dakota State (S.D.) in the North Star Athletic Association football contest Saturday afternoon at Trojan Field.  The Vikings jumped to a 14-0 lead by halftime and held off the Trojans by the score of 14-6.

Dakota State, who played their final home game in their 2020 season, fell to 2-5 overall/NSAA conference record.  Valley City State lifted their overall/North Star conference record to 5-2.  It was their only North Star conference meeting this season, with the Vikings winning the last four meetings with the Trojans.

FIRST QUARTER

  • Neither teams were able to produce a first down for the majority of the first quarter.  There was a total of seven punts combined by both teams in the first seven possessions of the game.
  • Valley City State was forced to punt for the fourth time with less than four minutes, forty-five seconds to go in the first quarter.  The Trojans committed a turnover on the punt return, fumbling the ball on DSU's 24-yard line and was recovered by VCSU's Nyle Perkins on DSU's 23-yard line with 4:33 on the clock. 
  • The Vikings produced the first down of the game after a 15-yard pass from Jalen Pfeifer to Jorun Hamre on a third-and-12 situation on DSU's 25-yard to DSU's 10-yard line.  VCSU fumbled the ball on the next play but was recovered by the Viking Sammy Trejo on DSU's 8-yard line.
  • Pfeifer followed up with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Gottenborg for the first lead of the game with 2:17 on the clock in the first quarter.  Nic Magana's PAT extra-point kick was good to give VCSU a 7-0 lead.
  • Dakota State produced three first-downs on the ensuing possession (three passing plays that resulted in first downs).  The first quarter closed with a nine-yard pass from Tyler Tappe to Payton Olson to VCSU's 36-yard line for a first down.
  • The Trojans had 42 total offensive yards in the first quarter and held the Vikings to 27 total offensive yards.  VCSU had two drives that resulted in negative yards, while DSU had one drive that had minus offensive yards.

SECOND QUARTER

  • Dakota State was unable to continue their drive from the end of the first quarter into the early second quarter.  The Vikings stopped the Trojans on a fourth-and-1 situation on VCSU's 27-yard line, turning the ball on downs with 14:06 on the clock.
  • As DSU was forced to punt on their own five-yard line with less than 1:20 to go in the second quarter, Benjamin Dumond fumbled the ball on the punt return, recovered it and returned it for five yards to DSU's 42-yard line.  The Trojans committed a personal foul penalty to start the Vikings' drive on DSU's 27-yard line with 1:11 remaining before halftime.
  • Pfeifer opened the drive with a 23-yard pass to Taylor Simmons to DSU's 4-yard line.  Pfeifer connected to Perkins for a 7-yard touchdown with 31 seconds to go in the second.  Magana added the PAT extra-point kick to extend the Vikings' lead to 14-0.
  • There were only two first-downs in the second quarter, both by Valley City State.  The Vikings had 102 total offensive yards compared to the Trojans 52 total offensive yards in the first thirty minutes of the game.

THIRD QUARTER

  • Dakota State and Valley City State were unable to move the ball into the opponents' side of the field, except a pair of drives.
  • DSU was unable to take advantage of the field position after VCSU's punt from their own 6-yard line to 40-yard line.  The Trojans began their drive on VCSU's 39-yard line with less than eight minutes to in the third and turned the ball on downs on a fourth-and-1 situation on VCSU's 30-yard line with 8:05 on the clock.
  • There was only one first down in the third quarter, which was a 10-yard pass from Pfeifer to Perkins near the end of the third quarter.
  • There was a total of seven punts combined by both teams in the third quarter.
  • Valley City State outgained Dakota State 15-3 in total offensive yards in the third.

FOURTH QUARTER

  • The Vikings continued their drive to DSU's 27-yard line and turned the ball on downs on fourth-and-13 situation with 11:46 remaining.  VCSU recorded 10 plays for 40 yards in 5:07 in the drive.
  • After a 66-yard punt by Caleb Nielsen to VCSU's 3-yard line with 7:12 to go, Valley City State marched down the field with 9 plays for 61 yards in 3:38, including a long play of 48 yards (Pfeifer's pass to Dumond from VCSU's 14-yard line to DSU's 38-yard line).  The Vikings then was forced to punt with 3:34 left in the game.
  • Dakota State closed the fourth quarter with 19 plays for 90 yards with a touchdown.  The Trojans produced six first-downs in the scoring drive.  Tappe threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Hirsch as the time expired, falling short by the score of 14-6.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • DSU's Tappe made his collegiate debut by completing 16 passes in 38 attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown.  Daniel McAuliffe also made his collegiate debut as he finished with 23 passing yards.  A total of 10 received caught at least a pass in the game.
  • Cooper McDermott led the Trojans with four receptions for 23 yards.  Josh Giles added three catches for 24 yards.  Hirsch had three receptions for 14 yards and a touchdown.  Cole Siegfried had two receptions for 18 yards.  Olson had two catches for 16 yards.  Brenner Furlong had a 14-yard catch.  Cole Sylliaasen recorded a 10-yard catch.
  • Cole McCarty paced Dakota State's defense with 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss of 5.3 yards.  Mahdi Benalshaikh and Conner Tordsen each added eight tackles.  Wyatt Sanford, Riley Janke, Devonte Murphy and Braedon Wallenstein each tallied seven tackles.  Tordsen and Sanford each registered 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
  • Noah Guse had an interception, forced fumble and broken-up pass for the Trojans.  Jason Sakamoto added two broken-up passes. 
  • Pfeifer finished the game by going 13-of-29 for 160 yards and two touchdowns for Valley City State.  He also rushed seven times for 23 yards.  Simmons caught three passes for 31 yards.  He also rushed 26 times for 26 yards.  Shayden Luna added 10 rushes for 25 yards. 
  • Joshua McKnight recorded seven receptions for 21 yards for the Vikings.  Hamre had two catches for 22 yards.  Perkins had two receptions for 17 yards and a touchdown.  Dumond recorded a 48-yard catch.  Gottenborg had a touchdown reception.
  • Gavin Wright led VCSU's defense with eight tackles.  He also had 1.5 quarterback sacks (12 yards), 2.0 tackles-for-loss of 13 yards, two pass break-ups and an interception.  Jerrod Williamson had seven tackles and an interception.  Sal Avila tallied five tackles and 1.5 sacks (13 yards).
  • Paco Baltazar caught two interceptions for Valley City State. 

TEAM COMPARISONS

  • Both teams registered nine first downs in the game.
  • Valley City State outgained Dakota State 234-135 in total offensive yards.  The Vikings had 74 rushing yards and held the Trojans to four rushing yards.  VCSU recorded 160 passing yards compared to DSU 131 passing yards.
  • The Vikings caught four interceptions in the game compared to the Trojans one interception.
  • VCSU was whistled for 12 penalties for 90 total yards.  DSU had four penalties for 35 yards.
  • A total of 24 punts and 912 punting yards combined were recorded in the game.  The Vikings had 14 punts for a total of 469 yards by Pfeifer, averaging 33.5 yards.  The Trojans registered 10 punts for a total of 443 yards by Nielsen, averaging 44.3 yards per punt.
  • Valley City State converted 3-of-18 on third down situation, while Dakota State was 2-of-17 on third downs.  DSU was 3-of-5 on fourth-down situations.  VCSU failed to convert on two fourth-down plays.
  • The Vikings had the ball control for a total of 37 minutes, 38 seconds.  The Trojans recorded a time possession of 22 minutes, 22 seconds.

UP NEXT

Dakota State visits Mayville State (N.D.) in the North Star Athletic Association conference contest on Thursday evening.  Kick-off is set for 5 p.m. at Jerome Berg Field in Mayville, N.D. 

Valley City State awaits until Nov. 24 as they host Mayville State in Valley City, N.D. at 2 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

Print Friendly Version