ABERDEEN, S.D. – (vcsusvikings.com) – After a two-week delay, numerous safety precautions, COVID testing and a whole lot of uncertainty, the Valley City State football team was back to some normalcy Saturday – playing football.

The Vikings opened the 2020 season with a 21-3 road victory at Presentation College, scoring 21 unanswered points en route to the win.

Presentation College scored a field goal on its opening possession, but the Vikings rose to the challenge. VCSU’s defense shut the Saints down the rest of the way and set up all three VCSU scoring drives with turnovers.

VCSU Junior Zachary Co recovered a fumble with 6:55 left in the first quarter, giving VCSU the ball at the Saints 34-yard line. Five plays later Viking quarterback Jalen Pfeifer connected with tight end Jorun Hamre on a 15-yard touchdown as the Vikings took a 7-3 lead.

Early in the second quarter the Viking defense recorded a turnover on downs, coming up with a big stop on fourth-and-1 near midfield. The offense followed with a 15-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock. Junior running back Joshua McKnight finished off the drive with a touchdown, plunging in from 1-yard out to put the Vikings ahead 14-3.

The Vikings tacked on their final touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Defensive back Martin Jones intercepted the Saints near midfield with 5:42 remaining. Seven plays later Pfeifer hit freshman receiver Benjamin Dumond for a 16-yard touchdown. Freshman kicker Nico Magana added the extra point – his third of the day – for the final score of 21-3.

Pfeifer passed for two scores on the day to lead VCSU’s offense. Martin Jones and Anthony Russell each had interceptions for the defense. Complete stats for the game were unavailable as of Saturday night.

Up next: Valley City State (1-0) has its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 19, hosting Waldorf University at 1 p.m.