Photo and Article via Jamestown Athletics 

JAMESTOWN, ND. (Jimmiepride.com) – After a one-year hiatus, one of the longest-standing rivlaries in college football returns as the University of Jamestown Jimmies travel to face the Valley City State (N.D.) University Vikings.

The 74th Paint Bucket Game is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. Thursday from Shelly Ellig Field at Lokken Stadium.

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Jamestown is looking to bring the Paint Bucket Trophy back to town after the Vikings took a 20-14 victory in Valley City to begin the 2019 season. UJ’s 28-26 win in 2018 snapped a streak of eight straight VCSU victories in the series.

Following Thursday’s game, the Jimmies will have a 16-day break in between games, with their next action coming the home opener against Mount Marty (S.D.) University on September 11. It will be the first game for Jamestown in the newly renovated Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium.

On offense, UJ returns quarterback Cade Torgerson (JR/Billings, Mont.), who completed 124-of-246 passes for 1248 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. Two of the Jimmies’ top rushers return, led by Frankie Ingraldi (FR/Colorado Springs, Colo.), who carried 47 times for 211 yards and a touchdown. Jamestown’s top three receivers from last season return, led by Steve Justice (SO/Henderson, Nev.) (24 catches, 338 yards, 3 TD), Javon Bowie-Monteiro (JR/Sacramento, Calif.) (19 catches, 196 yards, 1 TD), and Marcus Giles (JR/Coon Rapids, Minn.) (17 catches, 204 yards).

Three of the top five tacklers from last year’s defense are back, including Jordan Olson (JR/Prior Lake, Minn.) (49 tackles, 1 INT), Brooks Canfield (SO/Tempe, Ariz.) (38 tackles), and Aaron Mack (SO/Jamestown, N.D.) (35 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack).

UJ is coming off of a 1-7 season in 2020 and were picked ninth out of 11 teams in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll.