The Vikings were defeated 49-28 on Nov. 14 by College of San Mateo, the No. 5-ranked team in Northern California.

“The guys played pretty well,” head coach Mike Darr said. “We just gave up some plays on defense and made some mental mistakes.”

The Vikings committed five turnovers, including three interceptions thrown by the starting quarterback Blake Wayne.

Wayne threw for 128 yards off of 16 completions. But with the Vikings’ rushing yards totaling 287, compared to San Mateo’s 328, it was not enough to get past the 9-1 Bulldogs.

“The turnovers killed us,” sophomore Joe Jointer said. “We just didn’t execute well.”

The loss came after what Darr described as the best game the Vikings had played in two years.  

Despite that convincing 36-6 win against Santa Rosa Junior College, DVC will not be eligible to play in the Northern California Bowl Championship.

With a 3-7 overall record, the game marked the end of a disappointing season. But Darr said that record does not accurately reflect how the team played this season.

 “The coaches of the other teams made a lot of comments on the way we played,” Darr said. “[They] said we were one of the best teams to have come up to that conference in the past few years.” 

Many of this season’s players are sophomores who will not be returning next year, but freshman Jalil Turner said this will not be a problem. 

“We’re gonna be a lot better next year,” he said. “This has been a good experience… It was a good stepping stone for next season.”

But Darr said the most important change needing to be made is a rule that bars DVC from recruiting players from either Contra Costa or Los Medanos colleges. 

 “We need more depth,” he said.

Darr noted that the Bulldog’s second touchdown of the game was scored by a former Contra Costa College player whom DVC could not recruit.

But he conceded the rule is unlikely to be changed any time in the near future. So for now, the Vikings will have to hope to get that depth by going after players who can be recruited by DVC.