The Mayville State Football team hosted their in-state conference foe Valley City State at Jerome Berg Field on Saturday afternoon for another North Star Athletic Association contest. Both teams had to deal with wet conditions as they battled back and forth, but it was the Vikings coming away in the end with the victory over the Comets.
In the first quarter, Valley City State got off to a good start with a touchdown on their opening drive. Quarterback Jalen Pfiefer ran it in for 21 yards to get the Vikings up early with a 7-0 lead. The Comets tried to counter back with a drive of their own, getting two first downs in their opening drive, but were forced to punt. VCSU would then go on a 92-yard drive for their next score, finishing it with an 11-yard rushing TD from Joshua McKnight to take a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mayville State would answer back in the second quarter with a score after trading some punts with the Vikings.
Creighton Pfau would help bring the Comets onto the scoreboard with a nice mix of rushing and some passing, getting 3 first downs on the 56-yard drive and scooting into the end zone on a 3rd and goal for a 4 yard rushing TD. The two teams would trade a few more possessions before VCSU was able to string up a 39-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard pass from Pfeifer to Kellen Kessler to put the Vikings up 20-7. Another field goal by the Vikings towards the end of the first half from Landon Arredondo from 21 yards out would give them a 23-7 lead at the break.
MSU would strike first in the third quarter, this time putting together a nice series of rushes to bring the Comets into the end zone.
Preston Hamlette had a great effort on this drive, collecting 40 yards total within it, finishing it off with a 21-yard rush for the score to bring the Comets to within nine. The Vikings answered right back though with a drive for 71 yards which ended with a 19-yard pass from Pfiefer to Tyler Ukestad, extending their lead, 30 to 14.
The final quarter saw the Vikings scoring once again, this time completing the drive with a pass from Tyler Ukestad to Mark Wagner for 15 yards to go up 36-14. That score would be the only one from both teams as the game finished out, with the Vikings taking home the victory.
Jake Pfeifer had a big day for the Vikings, rushing for 140 yards on 15 carries, and passing for 180 yards and 3 TD's on 12 of 23 attempts to lead VCSU in both passing and rushing.
Creighton Pfau was also a leader in passing and rushing yards for the Comets, collecting 173 in the air by going 19 for 40, and gaining 82 yards on 16 carries for 1 touchdown.
Preston Hamlette followed Pfau in rushing with 68 yards on 16 carries for a touchdown as well. In receiving,
Darrel Wilson had a game-high 85 yards on 9 catches for MSU. Jake Petersen led the Vikings with 62 yards on 4 receptions. Leading in tackles for both teams were Tyler Masat with 10 tackles for the Vikings, while the Comets had
Josiah Walker and
Austin Robb with 8 tackles each.
The Comets move to 0-6 in the NSAA and 1-8 overall. The Vikings shift their NSAA record to 4-2 and 5-4 overall. MSU finishes their season next Saturday on the road at Waldorf University.
