The Grand View Vikings (6-2, 4-0 MCC) football team took their three game win streak on the road Saturday afternoon against NCAA Division II Kentucky Wesleyan (1-5) and left with a 24-12 win. Grand View didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard at Steele Stadium, scoring on their first possession of the afternoon. The Vikings offense drove 65 yards on the opening possession on 10 plays, capping it off with an eighteen yard touchdown pass from Taylor Bennett to Brett Opdahl. Grand View's defense put together another strong performance, holding Kentucky Wesleyan to -20 yards rushing.
The second quarter started off much like the first quarter did for the Vikings. Greg Charles, who replaced Bennett at quarterback, found Opdahl for another 18-yard touchdown. On the scoring drive for the Vikings, running back Daryl Ford carried four times, while Gregory carried for two runs of his own. The ensuing kickoff was returned to the Kentucky Wesleyan 18-yard line, but a Kentucky Wesleyan personal foul moved the ball back to the home team's 9-yard line. After a completion for no gain, the Vikings Tyler Andersen recovered a fumble in the end zone for another Grand View touchdown. With the Vikings leading 21-0, Grand View made their first mistake of the afternoon. Kentucky Wesleyan's Eric Rhodes blocked Trace Ball's punt at the Grand View 25-yard and returned it for the Panthers first touchdown. The Vikings took a comfortable 21-6 lead into halftime.
The Panthers gained some momentum on their first drive of the second half. Starting their 49-yard line, the Panthers put together a 7 play drive ending in a 1-yard touchdown run from David Howard. Grand View's Ford took control on the ground midway through the third quarter. Ford carried six times on the Vikings second possession of the third quarter for 16 yards. Blake Steil capped off the drive for the Vikings with a 24-yard field goal. The kick by Steil was the final score of the afternoon for either team, as the Vikings controlled the ball for much of the fourth quarter.
Offensively, Grand View was led on the ground by a great performance from Ford who carried 39 times for 156 yards. Back-up quarterback Charles was the second leading rusher for the Vikings, carrying 8 times for 54 yards. Starting quarterback Bennett finished the afternoon throwing 21 times completing 10 passes for 81 yards. Both Charles and Bennett completed a touchdown pass to Opdahl. Opdahl caught 7 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, the Vikings proved to be dominant once again. Grand View yielded only 8 first downs and held the Panthers to a total of 87 offensive yards. Kentucky Wesleyan turned the ball over three times, fumbling twice and throwing one interception. Leading the Vikings in tackles was Josh Monette with 8 total tackles. Finishing behind Monette with 7 total tackles was E.J. Peterson. Peterson also recovered one of the two Panther fumbles. The other fumble was recovered by Anderson, resulting in a Vikings touchdown. Return specialist, Titus Bland made an impact defensively Saturday afternoon with an interception.
Grand View will return to action next Saturday as they return to conference play against Iowa Wesleyan (2-6, 1-4 MSFA). The Vikings football team will finish their second season with two home games on November 7 and 14 against Saint Ambrose University and McKendree College.
