VALLEY CITY, ND (NewsDakota.com, photo courtesy of vcsuvikings.com) While the Vikings did not help themselves, Dickinson State showed they are the class of the North Star Athletic Association at the midway point of the season.
Braden Zuroff rushed 24 times for 178 yards, the latest runningback to sting the Vikings, leading to a Bluehawk 34-10 win at Lokken Stadium and Shelly Ellig Field Saturday.
Zuroff was the third back to go over 100 on the ground against the Vikings in two weeks. The Vikings have surrendered 941 yards rushing in five games.
Complicating affairs were three Viking fumbles, two by runningback Justice Bice and a hit on quarterback Avery Thorsgard as he attempted to throw. All of the turnovers led to Bluehawk points in the rout.
“It felt like a good, old-fashioned butt-kicking today,” said Viking head coach Dennis McCulloch. “They capitalized on every mistake we made, and we capitalized on just one of theirs.”
The mistake McCulloch referred to was a muffed punt catch by the Bluehawks in the third quarter, which set the Vikings up at first-and-goal from Dickinson State’s six-yard line. Bice would score from three yards out, trimming a Bluehawk lead to 24-10.
But two promising drives by the Vikings ended with fumbles. A fumble by Bice on the game’s opening possession ended a threat that was built on a passing attack that drove the Vikings to the Bluehawk 35. Another near the end of the game cut down the Vikings at Dickinson State’s 28.
Thorsgard completed 21 of 33 passes for 205 yards, but the Vikings were again unable to stretch the field to threaten a deep play. Dickinson State blitzed frequently, pressuring Thorsgard and cutting down the run game, which managed only seven yards on the day.
“The frustrating part is that we think we can run the ball,” said McCulloch. “We just haven’t shown that yet. We have to find a way to get rolling in that part of the game.”
Being unable to stop the run can be attributed to injury in the linebacker corp. Reigning NSAA Defensive Player of the Week Jahidi West c0-led the team with 10 tackles, but again had to play at the middle linebacker position due to injury, a position not natural to his background.
“We’re still learning those things, and we have to get back and get those adjustments made. We think we will get some players healthy, and be better, but we need to make it work,” McCulloch explained.
Defensive lineman Georgie Mageo recorded two sacks, highlights for the Viking defense. Sophomore defensive back Hunter Phelps, standing in for Anthony Russell, who was lost on a targeting call, intercepted a pass late in the game as well.
The Vikings are now 3-2 overall, 2-1 in NSAA play, and travel to Waldorf University in Forest City, IA next week.