1. Valley City Times-Record • www.times-online.com
By Jake McNeal
trsports@times-
online.com
It’s do or die Friday
night at Hanna Field
when third-place Val-
ley City hosts fifth-
place Central Cass for
the fourth and final
AA East playoff spot.
Nate Rodriguez car-
ried 17 times for 48
yards and a pair of
touchdowns in Satur-
day night’s penultimate
game at No. 2 Fargo
Shanley, but senior
running back Daniel
Stasch, senior wide
receiver Trevian Fort
and the host Deacons
denied Valley City a
playoff-clinching win,
40-13.
“[Shanley]’s a dang
good team, and we’re
not so dang bad either,”
said Hi-Liner head
coach Scott Roehrich,
eager for Friday’s one-
game season.
A win Friday gives
Valley City or Central
Cass a Nov. 1 State
Quarterfinal matchup
with the West Region
champion.
Shanley keyed in on
Rodriguez early on
Saturday, and Stasch
took an option pitch 33
yards down the right
sideline for a score and
a 7-0 lead with 10:07 in
the opening frame.
Eli Allen returned
a kick 54 yards left to
the Shanley 37, and Ro-
driguez went 12 yards
up the middle on 3rd-
and-6 at the Deacon 22
and finished the drive
up the middle from
two yards out. Shanley
stuffed John Halgrim-
son’s wildcat sweep
to the right and main-
tained a 7-6 advantage
with 7:36 to play in the
first.
Valley City’s subse-
quent kickoff sailed to
the right out of bounds,
Shanley started their
drive at the 40, sopho-
more quarterback Mat-
thew Burd took a keeper
57 yards up the middle,
and Stasch’s touchdown
on 4th-and-2 at the Hi-
Liner 2 pushed the lead
to 14-6 at 5:15 left.
Fort took a short catch
51 yards to the right for
a score and the lead was
21-6 with 3:02 to play.
Shanley freshman
defensive back Adam
McTaggart came up
with a Hi-Liner fumble
at the Valley City 8, and
Stasch run seven yards
for a 28-6 margin at in-
termission.
Fort took a reverse
57 yards down the left
side to the Hi-Liner 6,
and senior back Zach
Burd’s score put the
Deacons up 34-6 with
6:29 in the third.
Shanley senior defen-
sive back Jake Erholtz
picked Jared Lentz over
the middle on 4th-and-3
at the Deacon 21, and
Fort’s 37-yard touch-
down catch to the deep
right gave Shanley a
40-6 count with 10:21
left in the fourth.
Rodriguez’s one-yard
touchdown off the left
tackle and Harrison
Hammel’s point-after
cut the deficit to 40-13
with 3:28 to play, and
Drew Jacobson recov-
ered a fumbled Shanley
exchange at 1:14.
Lentz went 10 of 20
for 90 yards and the in-
terception, and found
Ben Baasch four times
for 33 yards.
Allen and Rodriguez
both made 4.5 tackles.
Valley City hosts
Central Cass at 7 p.m.
Friday.
SportsPage 10 • Monday, October 20, 2014
Running
Down a
Dream
Valley City Faces
Central Cass for
4th Seed Friday
Jake McNeal/Times-Record
TOP LEFT: Valley City had no shortage of fans on hand in Saturday’s 40-13 loss at No. 2
Fargo Shanley.
TOP RIGHT: John Halgrimson (22) and Jared Lentz (8) line up to cover Shanley senior wide
receiver Kelvin Caga (4).
MIDDLE: Jared Lentz (8) and the Hi-Liner offense set up shop near the Shanley end zone.
ABOVE: Eli Allen (12) returns a first-quarter kickoff 54 yards down the left sideline to the
Deacon 37.
Vikings Finish
Dickinson State
VCSU Athletics
Jake Miller (86) and George Trujillo (67)
enjoy the final seconds of Saturday’s 22-17
win.
By Mark Potts
VCSU Sports
Information Director
It certainly wasn’t
easy, but the win
streak continues.
Valley City State took
their sixth straight game
Saturday, holding off
Dickinson State for a
hard-fought 22-17 victo-
ry at Shelly Ellig Field.
After trailing 17-13 at
halftime, the Vikings
held Dickinson State
scoreless in the second
half, rallying past the
Blue Hawks for a confer-
ence victory on VCSU’s
Senior Day.
The No. 22-ranked
Vikings improve to 7-1
overall and 4-0 in con-
ference play.
The Vikings struck
first and fast as quarter-
back Kurtis Walls found
Antoine Griffin for an
86-yard touchdown with
11:13 remaining in the
first half, capping off
a 98-yard drive. Walls
again found Griffin ear-
ly in the second quarter
for a five-yard fade to
the corner, giving the
Vikings a 13-0 lead after
VIKINGS,Page9