VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City traveled to Wahpeton take take on the Huskies who were coming off a 47-6 loss against Jamestown. The game would come down to the bitter end as Valley City would have to swallow their toughest defeat of the season.
In the first quarter Wahpeton would march the ball down the field against the normally stout Hi-Liner defense after a fake punch before the drive appeared to stall in Hi-Liner territory. But after a pass interference call on third down the Huskies would capitalize with a 20-yard touchdown toss to take a 7-0 lead.
On more than one occasion in the first half the Hi-Liners marched it deep into Wahpeton territory only to stall and walk away with zero points. A combination of turnovers, snap miscues and a lack of intermediate yardage success resulted in a pair of stalled drives that shaved at least 10-points of the scoreboard for Valley City. Both teams defenses were superb as Valley City stonewalled the Huskies after the first drive and Wahpeton fully embraced the bend but don’t break philosophy.
A big turning point in the first half was a 70 yard touchdown run for Wahpeton that was taken off the board with a holding penalty. Wahpeton’s luck would turn around late in the second quarter as a late INT for the Huskies gave them a drive with under a minute to go inside the Hi-Liner 20-yard line. The Valley City defense would hold to force a field goal which gave Wahpeton a 10-0 lead at the half.
The Hi-Liners coming out motivated out of the break marched right down the field with a dominant run game and Carter Borg punched in a short run to make it a 10-7 game. The defense for Valley City remained strong as they forced a Wahpeton punt which set up the next drive for Valley City. The Hi-Liners would once again drive deep into Wahpeton territory, but would have to settle for a 33-yard field goal attempt they would miss to keep the game at 10-7. The game remained at 10-7 as the game entered the fourth quarter.
The Hi-Liners would start their first drive of the last quarter at their own 45 after a holding penalty wiped out a monster punt for the Huskies that would’ve pinned Valley City at their own 15. The drive would yield some quick fruit as Ethan Miller and Bryson Heck would connect for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Hi-Liners their first lead of the game at 14-10.
Deep in their own territory with just over nine minutes to play the Huskies would go to the fake punt well one to many times as they would turn it over on downs deep in their own territory. A pivotal fourth and two would play out deep in Wahpeton territory as the Huskies defense once again took advantage of a poor Hi-Liner snap to blow the play up in the backfield and turn Valley City over on downs with seven and a half minutes to play.
The Huskies would take their newly found momentum as they would commence a long drive down the field trailing by four points late in the ballgame. But a penalty for illegal man downfield combined with a tackle for loss on third down set up a fourth and very long as a potential first down pass sailed over the head of the intended Wahpeton target giving the ball back to Valley City with just under four minutes to play.
That drive for the Hi-Liners would stall at mid-field before a Hi-Liner punt would pin the Huskies on their own goal line which would result in a turnover on downs. In stead of trying for a first down that would’ve iced the game the Hi-Liner chose to take four knees to run the clock down to 34 seconds before Wahpeton would take over at their own 18-yard line.
The first play for Wahpeton would an 82-yard wheel route out of the backfield that would be taken to the house for a touchdown with less than 20 seconds to play that would seal a 16-14 win for the Huskies. Valley City’s record now drops to 4-2 while Wahpeton now moves to 2-4 on the season.
The next game for Valley City will be against the defending state champion Jamestown Blue Jays next Friday.