Sports : Decorah stretches win streak to 20 with win at VS

Coach Aric Chvala speaks to the offense before the game.

Chase Overton looks for running room.

Kickers Steve Henry and Colton Sojka warm up on Pink Night.

Sean Noeller returns a kick off.

Sean Noeller returns a kickoff Friday vs. Decorah, on Pink Night.

Pink Night and mud; the wet turf conditions resulted in more mud.

Joel Barnes tackles a Decorah runner for a loss.

Coach Jim Womochil speaks to the offense during a time-out.

Double handoff: Jordan Womochil to Chase Overton to Nick Hyland.

Matt Wilden wraps the injured hand of lineman Andrew Freeman.

Punter Aaron Henderson averaged 40 yards per kick.

For more than 42 minutes, the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings played the Decorah Vikings about just as close as anyone else has in the past two years. The VS Vikings held the other ones to just two touchdowns, while the VS offense twice entered the red zone.

But the first six minutes of Friday's game in Vinton left V-S down, 21-0 to the Decorah team that hasn't lost since the 2011 State Championship Game.

Decorah won the toss, elected to receive, and scored in less than two minutes. They then stopped the VS Vikings on their next two possessions, once with a turnover, quickly scoring two more touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

VS was unable to move the ball in the first half, and never reached Decorah territory until late in the third quarter. The biggest scoring chance for VS came after a fumbled punt, but the Decorah defense stopped VS on downs.

Decorah scored on two 29-yard rushing plays, and pass plays of 70 and 40 yards.

Jordan Barnes led the VS offense with 68 yards on seven carries, while recovering a fumble on defense. Michael Neal and Tanner Spies led the defense with 11 tackles each; Spies also intercepted a Decorah pass and returned in 17 yards.
See complete stats HERE.

20-game winning streak

Union defeated Decorah by a touchdown for the Class 3A title in 2011. Since then, Decorah, the 2012 State Champion, has won 20 straight games, by an average of 31.1 points per game. They are currently ranked second in Iowa in Class 3A, behind Sioux City Heelan.