Bucket is back: Jimmies edge Vikings in Valley
If the Jimmies and Vikings played a third time this season, that one would probably end 13-10 too.By: Dave Selvig, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
- Paint Bucket
- Defenders
If the Jimmies and Vikings played a third time this season, that one would probably end 13-10 too.
They don’t, though, so the Paint Bucket will reside in Jamestown for a while.
Freshman quarterback Beau Eriksson capped his first collegiate start with a go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown pass to Trent Roemmich as the Jimmies nipped Valley City State 13-10 Saturday afternoon at Shelly Ellig Field.
It was the identical score when the longtime rivals met in Jamestown three weeks earlier, but this time the Jimmies (3-5) were the ones carrying the much-desired trophy off the field as they snapped a three-game losing streak to the Vikings (5-3).
“We know how hard it is to win a college football game, particularly on the road against a good team, so we feel pretty good,” JC coach Shawn Frank said. “We certainly want to keep things in perspective. We still have two games to play, but I feel like we became a team today.
“This is a good step forward for our program. Clearly, we still have a long ways to go, but we’re on the move a little bit and the blinker is on.”
It was a typically tight game between the two rivals. Statistically, things were nearly identical, much like the Sept. 22 meeting played here.
But this time the Jimmies made the clutch plays late, particularly Eriksson.
After driving inside the Valley City State red zone, the Jimmies faced a fourth-down-and-nine with less than six minutes to play. After a timeout, Eriksson rolled to his right, threw a strike to Roemmich in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead score.
“It was a great call by coach (Tim) Belmore, a great route by Trent and (Beau) put it right on the money,” Frank said.
The JC defense still had to get one more stop and they did, getting a key tackle-for-loss from Logan Hord on third down to stifle the Vikings’ drive. After forcing a punt, the Jimmies took the ball with just over three minutes left and never gave it back.
“It sounds like a broke record, but it takes four quarters in all three phases,” Frank said. “We played four pretty good quarters, not perfect, but there were a lot of good things.”
Eriksson completed 12 passes for 164 yards. Lance Johansen gained 84 yards on the ground, including a 23-yard touchdown run for the game’s first points early in the second quarter.
“They’re good defensively and can make things miserable for you on offense, so you just have to stay patient and stay away from big mistakes and we were able to do that for the most part,” Frank said.
The Vikings finished with 272 yards of offense, nine more than the Jimmies. Cornerbacks A.J. Downs (11) and Rob Gibson (9) combined for 20 tackles in the win.
Looking ahead, the Jimmies appear to have a good shot at a .500 season. They head to Madison, S.D., Saturday to play Dakota State (1-8) before closing at home against Mayville State (4-4) Nov. 10 following their second bye week.
“We want our players to enjoy this, but we don’t want to get too bent out of shape,” Frank said. “We have to get ready to go back on the road and play Dakota State.”
Jamestown College 13, Valley City State 10
Jamestown College 0 6 0 7 — 13
Valley City State 0 3 7 0 — 10
Scoring summary
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
JC—Lance Johansen 23 yard run (kick failed), 12:12.
VCSU—Thomas Cortez 30 field goal, :29.
Third quarter
VCSU—Ken Eliacin 19 pass from Tommy Zinke (Cortez kick), :41.
Fourth quarter
JC—Trent Roemmich 16 pass from Beau Eriksson (Craig Anderson kick), 5:30.
Team statistics
JC VCSU
First downs 14 15
Rushes-yards 36-99 34-137
Comp-Att-Int 12-23-1 13-22
Passing yards 164 135
Total offense 263 272
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Punts-avg. 7-40 8-32
Penalties-yards 7-118 3-20
Individual statistics
Jamestown College
Rushing: Lance Johansen 17-84, Matt Mithaugen 10-11, Steve Nelms 1-5, Beau Eriksson 8-(-1).
Passing: Eriksson 12-32-1 1 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving: Michael Sena 5-71, Jacob Erbes 4-54, Johansen 1-23, Trent Roemmich 1-16, Mithaugen 1-0.
Valley City State
Rushing: Taylor Cino 20-96, Derek Elliot 12-38, Tommy Zinke 2-3.
Passing: Zinke 13-22 135 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: Charles King III 1-36, Ken Eliacin 4-29, James Gaynor 2-24, Elliot 3-17, Zach Johnson 1-15, Jacob Miller 1-8, Colby Lum 1-6.
Interceptions: Troy Still.
Sacks: Dwayne Fearon 1, Garrett Jackson 1, Aaron Freije .5, Josh Hooey .5.
Records: Jamestown College 3-5; Valley City State 5-3.
Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com
Tags: sports, football, vikings, jimmies
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