The 1949 Valley City State Teachers College Vikings football team represented Valley City State Teachers CollegeâÂÂnow known as Valley City State UniversityâÂÂas a member of the North Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (NDIC) during the 1949 college football season. Led by head coach Bill Richter, the Vikings completed the regular season with a perfect 8âÂÂ0 record and went 6âÂÂ0 in NDIC play, claiming the conference championship. The team outscored its opponents 235âÂÂ126 over the course of the season, and advanced to a postseason pick-up game against , where the Vikings suffered their only loss to finish 8âÂÂ1 overall.
Richter's 1949 squad is recognized as one of the early standard-bearers in Valley City State Vikings football history. The Vikings opened the year with a shutout of and followed with decisive victories over , , and . They then defeated NDIC rivals , and , and capped the unbeaten regular season by edging in a one-point road win.
The 1949 team was later inducted into the Viking Hall of Fame in recognition of its perfect regular season and conference title.
Team members recognized with the 1949 Viking Hall of Fame induction include Alton Urness, Leo Stumpf, Eugene Burns, Chuck Taylor, Marven Carlson, Larry Stenshoel, John Beitia, Kenny Koehn, Chuck Johnson, Ralph Undem, Francis Dahl, Leonard Ratzlaff, Al Johnson, Tommy Kerns, Don Nasseth, Pete Call, Bob Lentz, Dick Starke, Bill Woods, Brad Hanna, Ernie Janisch, Norman Furuseth, Erling Dahl, Dick Myatt, Clarence Laber, James Buehler, Harry Dalos, Bill Brinker, Paul Sundstrom, David Borchert, Glenn Berg, Duane Holly, Bud Dahl, Dick Oeffner, Vince Olson, Wayne Wilkins, Jim Detar, Dean Belwas, John Sinclair, Vern Hansen, Les Martin, Dale Thorstenson, Chuck Asker, Dick Schindler, Arnold Flath, John Grim, Hugo Carlson, Jack Moore, Gary Valiere, Ridgeway Koppi, Marvin Martilla and Jim Seminary.