Fergus spoils VCC home debut

by Tom Coombe

Once again Vermilion had some early success, but eventually wore down against a deeper oppponent.

Tied at seven early on,  M State-Fergus Falls took over in the second quarter and downed the Ironhawks 42-7 in a Sept. 16 community college football contest at Ely School Stadium.

The Spartans’ Rashd Madden ran for 91 yards and had three touchdowns as his team improved to 2-1.

Vermilion fell to 0-2 for the season, heading into a road game at North Dakota School of Science today.

The Ironhawks gave the Parents’ Weekend audience something to cheer about early in last weekend’s home opener.

They tied the game on a touchdown pass and extra-point kick late in the first quarter and it was 7-7.

That would be the high-water mark for Vermilion, which suited up about 28 players and has had to work several into double-duty at times.

Madden had a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, and quarterback KJ Cooper hooked up with Marquan Tucker on a 35-yard touchdown throw for a 28-7 lead at the break.

Madden found the end zone again in the third quarter while the Spartans’ Sam Tagg ran it in from two yards out in the fourth to close out the scoring.

Fergus Falls finished with more than 400 yards of total offense with Cooper going 10-for-22 for 214 yards.

J.C. Johnson had three receptions for 121 yards and Jaion Slaydon-Brown ran for 46 yards for the winner.

Vermilion returns home for a Sept. 30 matchup with Minnesota West.