Nathan Beitler/MDN Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison Aggie junior wide receiver Brady Hauff takes the ball downfield during their home game against the Bishop Ryan Lions on Friday, Oct. 10.

The Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison Aggies will keep the Penny trophy for the fourth year in a row after their home game victory against rival Bishop Ryan Lions 41-14 on Friday, Oct. 10.

Every year, the Aggies and the Lions compete to take home the coveted wooden Penny trophy. The trophy was designed and contributed by the Aggies foundation and has each schools’ logos adorned on either side of the coin.

Every season when they compete, the winner of the penny gets to bring it home to their school and proudly display it until the next season’s game. This season marked the 13th year the two teams have competed for the Penny trophy.

“We knew this was going to be a great game and [the Lions] were going to come out firing because it’s the Penny game, everyone wakes up for this game,” said Velva senior quarterback Cooper Kittleson. “I trusted in my team, trusted in myself and went out here and made plays.”

And make plays they did. The Aggies came out firing on their first possession of the ball, taking themselves the full 92 yards in just two plays. The drive ended less than two minutes into the first quarter with a 60 yard passing play from Kittleson to senior wide receiver Grady Crawford. The Aggies would fail the extra point, but it wouldn’t slow down their momentum. The Aggies scored again in the first quarter on an eight yard passing play, this time to junior Slade Nordstrom. The first quarter ended with two unanswered touchdowns for the Aggies, and a successful two-point conversion on the second touchdown left the score 14-0 heading into the second quarter.

The Aggies scored again on their third possession of the game on another Kittleson-Crawford passing play, this time just covering seven yards. The Aggies would once again fail the extra point, leaving the score 20-0. With nine minutes 34 seconds remaining in the half, the Lions were able to put some points of their own up on the board. Their quarterback, sophomore Jake Altringer was able to successfully pass the ball to junior wide receiver Peyton Seay on a 58 yard play to give the Lions their first six points of the game. The Lions secured the extra point to give them a new score of 20-7. Just before the end of the first half, the Aggies widened their lead against the Lions with another Kittleson touchdown. This time, Kittleson was the one running the ball in on an eight yard rush. The two point conversion was successful, leaving the Aggies ahead 28-7 heading into the second half.

The third quarter saw the Aggies settle back into their groove with their fifth touchdown of the game. Kittleson once again ran the ball in on a six yard run and secured the extra point for a 35-7 lead over the Lions. The Aggies scored again not soon after with just 40 seconds left in the quarter on a three yard run from senior running back Brody Seidler. This was the Aggies’ only touchdown of the night that did not have Kittleson pass the ball or run the ball in to score. The Aggies had a 41-7 lead after a failed extra point attempt as they headed into the fourth quarter.

Neither team scored in the fourth until the Lions’ Altringer threw another touchdown pass, once again to Peyton Seay. The extra point gave the Lions a losing score of 41-14 at the end of the ball game.

The Aggies improved to a season record of 7-1 after Friday night’s game and will take on South Prairie-Max away for their last game of the regular season. The Bishop Ryan Lions fell to a 3-4 record for the season and will take on Tioga for their last regular season game.