VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State football team upset the No. 13 team in the country on Saturday, ending a six-game losing streak to Dickinson State with a come-from-behind victory.

Valley City State scored the final 13 points Saturday – the last a 40-yard touchdown run by Louis Quinones – as they rallied for a 23-22 victory over the Blue Hawks. The win snaps a six-game losing skid against Dickinson State and is the first win for VCSU’s seniors over the four-time defending conference champions.

“That was fun,” said VCSU head coach Dennis McCulloch. “That’s a huge win for our seniors. Those guys have been in our program and battled awfully hard and done a lot of good things here. A lot of those guys stepped up today and played awfully well.”

With the victory, Valley City State moves into a tie for first place in the North Star Athletic Association. The Vikings are now 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Dickinson State is also 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the NSAA. With two games remaining, the Vikings are Blue Hawks are now tied for the conference lead and could be in a three-way tie with Waldorf University after the conclusion of games Saturday night.

Louis Quinones carried the ball 30 times for two touchdowns and 158 yards – none bigger than his 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. With the Vikings trailing 22-17, Quinones broke free of the defense and raced into the end zone to put the Vikings ahead for the first time at 23-22 with 8:29 remaining. The 2-point conversion attempt was no good, but VCSU’s defense made the one-point lead stand up the rest of the way.

The Viking defense ended Dickinson State’s next two drives with a punt and turnover on downs. The Blue Hawks’s last-gasp effort ended at the VCSU 40-yard line as the clock ran out. After a first down with 2.7 seconds left, Dickinson State attempted a spike to stop the clock but by rule there needed to be three seconds left for a spike and the clock expired.

Valley City State’s defense smothered the Blue Hawk running game, holding Dickinson State to just 24 yards on 22 carries. VCSU gave up just 289 yards of total offense.

“Our defensive line played awfully, awfully well today with our linebackers,” said McCulloch. “I can’t say enough about the job that group did today making plays up front.”

The Viking offense racked up 451 yards, including 149 on the ground and 302 through the air. VCSU’s go-ahead drive spanned 85 yards in five plays, capped by Quinones’ big touchdown run. The drive was set up by a big defensive play as Viking safety Hunter Olson intercepted a Dickinson pass at the VCSU 15-yard line with 10:30 remaining.

Things looked bleak for the Vikings after Dickinson State opened up a 15-0 lead with two quick touchdowns late in the first quarter. Quarterback Hayden Gibson hit Alec Lovegren for a 16-yard touchdown for the first score of the game, and the Blue Hawks converted a broken 2-point play to go up 8-0. On VCSU’s next play from scrimmage Dickinson’s Paxton Miller picked off a tipped pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown and a 15-0 lead.

“I told our guys afterwards that I was so impressed with how they responded with adversity early,” McCulloch said. “We went down early 15-0 to a good football team, and our guys just went back to work. They didn’t panic.”

VCSU stymied the Blue Hawk momentum with a 13-play, 58 yard drive, capping it with a Landon Arredondo field goal to pull the Vikings to within 15-3. It would stay that way until VCSU’s first drive in the second half. The Vikings went 81 yards in eight plays and Quinones plunged into the end zone from two yards out to make it 15-10.

Dickinson State responded with a touchdown on its next drive. Gibson hit Jaret Lee on a 51-yard pass for the big play of the drive, and then running back Amad Andrews Jr. scored from one yard out, putting the Hawk back up big at 22-10.

The momentum turned again in VCSU’s favor with a huge special teams play in the fourth quarter. Punting from their own 22-yard line, Dickinson’s punt was blocked and deflected directly to VCSU’s Andrew Hanretty, who scooped up the ball and raced into the end zone for a touchdown. Landon Arredondo‘s extra point cut the deficit to 22-17, setting up the exciting finish sparked by Olson’s interception on the Blue Hawks’ next drive.

Viking quarterback Jalen Pfeifer completed 22 of 39 passes for 302 yards and one interception. The Vikings had five receivers record three or more catches. Caid Combs caught five passes for 92 yards, and Jake Peterson had five catches for 61 yards. Quinones caught five passes for 49 yards, while Matthew Krizan and Jacob Gottenborg each had three catches. With the Vikings trailing 15-0, Krizan had one of the biggest catches of the game as he hauled in a 30-yard pass on third-and-long – extending the Viking drive that ended in a field goal and started to turn the momentum.

Arron Martin totaled 12 tackles – including two for loss – to lead the Viking defense. Marshaun Jones had a big game as well with eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a strip sack. Dustin Kasowski totaled eight tackles and Doniaj Smelker had six. Nick Harberts collected five tackles and a sack, and Olson recorded two tackles and an interception.

Dickinson quarterback Hayden Gibson went 22-for-33 for 265 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Tyger Frye collected eight passes for 67 yards. Jaret Lee had four catches for 92 yards and Noah Sickler had four catches for 52 yards.

Nick Miller had 11 tackles – including two for loss – to lead the Blue Hawk defense. Kevin Brown and Crew Mathern each had nine tackles.

VCSU is now 4-0 at home. The Vikings are on the road next week at Dakota State before returning home for the regular season finale against Waldorf University on Nov. 9.