VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- The second guessing of Dennis McCulloch began with Dennis McCulloch.
"If anything," he said, "I'd have left our offense on the field for another play."
His team down by three in the final minute of regulation, the Valley City State football coach acted on "a gut feeling" and called a fake field goal on fourth-and-5 from the Dickinson State 9-yard line.
The play, a pitch from holder Chad Lueck to kicker Jay Dukes, went thud -- along with the Vikings' 16-game home winning streak.
No. 10-ranked VCSU fell 23-14 to the No. 17 Blue Hawks in a Dakota Athletic Conference tilt at Lokken Field Saturday.
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The biggest disappointment wasn't in the failure of a questionable call, but that the Vikings lost despite playing a phenomenal half of football.
"I think we should just move on," said VCSU junior running back Jimmy Newton, who nearly doubled his season totals for yards and carries with 133 and 34, respectively.
"We can win out and maybe good things will happen for us. It's a good lesson loss. Everybody played as hard as they could, we just came up short."
After falling behind 14-0, the Vikings (5-1, 4-1 DAC-10) were suddenly infallible upon the start of the third quarter.
They held the ball for 10 minutes, grinding out 110 yards and 14 points, while holding DSU (5-1, 4-1) without a first down on nine total yards.
However, the fourth quarter, and ultimately the game, was decided by special teams.
Attempting to punt from an offensive set, something it has done successfully for years, VCSU wound up giving the Hawks possession at the Vikings 24-yard line.
Three plays later, Jeremy Fagerland, who missed a late field goal in a 30-28 loss to the No. 4 University of Mary, made a 50-yard field goal behind a strong easterly wind.
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"This is a very good football team (DSU) which came out and went backwards and kicked a 50-yard field goal," McCulloch said. "When's the last time that kid made a kick?"
Still, VCSU responded from the improbable score by marching 71 yards on 17 plays in 7:44 to the Hawks' 9.
Facing a 25 mph crosswind from the right hash with a kicker who was previously short on a 33-yard attempt, McCulloch sensed over anticipation from the defensive ends and opted for trickery.
Two snaps after the botched fake, DSU quarterback Nick Walker raced 86 yards for the final score.
Dickinson St. 7 7 0 9 -- 23
Valley City St. 0 0 14 0 -- 14
DSU--Walker 15 run (Fagerland kick)
DSU--Nelson 11 pass from Walker (Fagerland kick)
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VCSU--Newton 2 run (Dukes kick)
VCSU--Newton 2 run (Dukes kick)
DSU--Fagerland 50 FG
DSU--Walker 86 run (kick failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
DSU VCSU
First downs 12 22
Rushes-yards 34-169 46-172
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Yards passing 82 146
Passes 8-11-0 13-31-1
Total yards 251 318
Punts-avg. 4-27.2 3-34.7
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Sacked-yards lost 1-9 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-37 6-48
Possession time 20:18 37:18
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: DSU, Walker 9-111, Luther 18-41, Schillinger 5-10, Renner 2-7. VCSU, Newton 34-133, Fabian 11-44, Dukes 1-(-5).
PASSING: DSU, Walker 8-11-0 82 yards. VCSU, Fabian 13-31-1 146.
RECEIVING: DSU, Anderson 2-21, Nelson 2-21, Renner 2-15, Luther 1-13, Eckert 1-12. VCSU, Battle 5-82, Oster 3-23, Payne 3-17, Anderson 2-24.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
