Iowa Wesleyan hits the road

VALLEY CITY, ND. — The Iowa Wesleyan football team has four games left on its schedule, and with the North Star Athletic Conference just two games into league play, the Tigers have plenty ahead of them in the final month.

Iowa Wesleyan currently sits at 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the North Star, with its only loss coming last Saturday against Dickinson State. After a thrilling 42-38 homecoming win over Mayville State one week prior, Dickinson shut out the Tigers 23-0.

Now it’s time for the Tigers to get their road uniforms ready to go, as Iowa Wesleyan plays three road games in the last four contests, including back-to-back weeks in the Dakotas.

This week, Iowa Wesleyan heads to Valley City, North Dakota, where they will take on the Valley City State Vikings (1-4, 0-1). The Vikings are one week removed from a 31-17 home loss to Dakota State, a squad that defeated Iowa Wesleyan 24-7 in a non-conference game in September.

Iowa Wesleyan will be looking for revenge from a 28-14 home loss last season. Valley City State came into Mt. Pleasant ranked and unbeaten last year and beat the Tigers 28-14, but Iowa Wesleyan has been a totally different animal since that day.

Iowa Wesleyan was 0-5 after the loss to the Vikings last season, but finished the second half of the year 2-4, and have now already won three games in 2022.

The Tigers have been competitive in every game this season, though turnovers spoiled any chance of upsetting the defending champs last week. Iowa Wesleyan has a shot to get right back into the conference race if they can beat Valley City State this weekend, especially considering a trip to Presentation College, the Tigers’ only North Star win from last year, awaiting them next Saturday.

The Tiger defense has been fantastic this year, holding teams to an average of 19 points per game so far this season. The offense has been up and down all season. In the Tigers’ three wins, the offense has put up 41 points, 55 points and 42 points. The Tigers have mustered just 43 total points in their four losses.

Despite the loss last week, Iowa Wesleyan did throw for 319 yards, but unfortunately an 0-4 touchdown to interception ratio for starting quarterback Zach Chevalier and a couple of untimely fumbles led to the first shut out of the year.

The Tigers and Vikings will play at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live video of the game will be available through Valley City State’s YouTube page, at ‘VCSU Athletics.’