(Peru, NE) – The Peru State College Football team hosted the visitors from the north as the Vikings of Valley City State visited the Oak Bowl.

The Vikings started off the game using their first possession to go 74 yards on 10 plays as Jason Beilke connected with Dan Hill for the games first score. The Bobcats first score came off a one yard run by John Noojin which capped off a 79 yard 11 play drive with one second remaining in the first quarter. Max Kathol pushed the score to

7-7 with his PAT kick. The Bobcats would strike again with 8:35 in the second quarter as Kathol booted home a 26 yard field goal to give Peru a 10-7 lead.

The Vikings answered back four minutes later as Beilke and Calhoun hooked up again for a one play 28 yard TD pass to move the Viking a head 14-10. The remainder of the half would be scoreless for both teams but the third quarter belonged to the Vikings. The Vikings found the end zone twice with a 94 yard 12 play drive, and a 33 yard three play drive to push their lead to 27-10. At the start of the fourth quarter the Vikings hit a 27 yard field goal by Marineo Toslluku to extend the lead to 30-10 but the Bobcats didn’t rest. Just four minutes later, Peru put a 55 yard eight play drive together that was capped off by John Noojin surging forward four yards for the score. Then the Bobcats would complete the two point conversion as quarterback Curtis Thompson connected with Cody Wallinger in the end zone to bring the score to 30-18. The Vikings would secure the win seven minutes later as they scored their final touchdown with 3:37 remaining to take a 37-18 victory.

Peru finished the game with 23 first downs and 354 yards of total offense. They had 226 yards on the ground on 52 carries. Leading the way for the Bobcats was John Noojin as he finished the game with two touchdowns on 20 carries for 149 yards. Peru finished with 128 yards in the air as quarterback Curtis Thompson was 13 of 19 with one interception. The Bobcats used numerous receivers as Cody Wallinger caught three balls for 31 yards and the two point conversion. Shane Mathis had three catches for 26 yards while Nate Jeter grabbed two for 20 yards and Tyson Ratliff had two catches for six yards.

On defense, the Bobcats were led by linebackers Derek Derr and Ryan Newell. The duo each finished with 10 tackles while teammates Taylor Spears had nine total tackles along with Dustin Sealey’s seven tackles. Spears added an interception on the day that he returned for 17 yards.

The loss moves the Bobcats to 0-3 on the year. The team will change gears to get ready for Iowa Wesleyan College next Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, IA. The kickoff is set for 1p.m.

GAME STATS