BROOKINGS – Isaac Wallace scored the winning touchdown in overtime as the No. 3/4 Jackrabbits beat Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent Indiana State 54-51 on Saturday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in a Hall of Fame Game/Precision Ag Bowl that saw Taryn Christion throw for a career-high-tying five TDs and break the South Dakota State school record for career passing yards.
“I’m excited about the win,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “Like I told the team in the locker room, a win is a win. In every football game there is a ton of stuff to work on, and this is no different. We talked about how Indiana State is a good football team and a team that is getting better every week, and they obviously showed that.
“We need to play better defense if we’re going to accomplish any of our goals from here on out, but we will – I promise you that.”
Christion went 20-of-31 for 229 yards.
“It was definitely a dog fight; they brought their ‘A’ game,” the senior quarterback from Sioux Falls said. “They were ready to go and they gave us everything they had, so credit to them, they played a great football game.
“But, I mean, that’s kind of why you play football, to be a part of things like that – just exciting games, dog fights going back and forth; you think you’re comfortable and then you get put in a stressful situation like that. But I’m just glad we were able to finish it out in the end.”
Christion pushed his career passing yardage total to 9,597, eclipsing the previous Jackrabbit mark of 9,458 held by Austin Sumner (2011-14). He moved into second on the MVFC’s all-time list.
The Jackrabbits led 21-17 at halftime and appeared to take control after tallying a trio of third-quarter touchdowns.
Wallace scored on a 4-yard pass from Christion to make it 28-17.
Chase Vinatieri found the end zone for the second time in as many seasons, scoring on a 15-yard run on a fake field goal. The junior kicker took a short lateral from holder Brady Hale and raced around the left side to push the margin to 35-17.
Ja’Quan Keys got loose for a 62-yard TD scamper soon thereafter to keep the Sycamores in it.
Pierre Strong Jr.’s 69-yard run set up Christion’s 3-yard scoring pass to Adam Anderson, which capped a five-play, 91-yard drive and made it 42-24 heading to the final period.
ISU’s Ryan Boyle had a 4-yard TD plunge with 14:53 remaining to polish off a nine-play, 84-yard march.
Vinatieri sandwiched field goals of 30 yards and 27 yards around Boyle’s 34-yard touchdown toss to Rontrez Morgan, leaving the score at 48-38 with 3:16 to go. Morgan’s touchdown came after Jonas Griffith gained 27 yards on a fake punt on fourth-and-6.
Keys got loose for another long dash to paydirt, scoring from 57 yards out with 2:08 showing on the clock.
The Sycamores nearly recovered the on-side kick but forced a quick three-and-out and got the ball back on their own 1-yard-line with 1:39 to play following Brady Hale’s 43-yard punt.
Boyle had completions of 30 yards to Dante Jones II and 47 yards to a leaping Morgan to quickly move the ball into field-goal range.
ISU got the ball to the SDSU 7 but struggled with clock management down the stretch, settling for Jerry Nunez’s 25-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into OT.
In the extra period, the Sycamores had a second-and-goal from the 1-yard-line but twice got stuffed by the Jackrabbit defense – Dalton Cox was in on both stops, getting an assist from Ryan Earith on the latter – as Nunez had a 20-yard kick to give the visitors a 51-48 advantage.
Christion had a pair of 9-yard completions on third-and-8 – the first going to Wallace and the second to Cade Johnson – to set SDSU up at the ISU 3. A pass interference penalty put the ball at the 2.
Wallace took care of the rest, powering to paydirt through the right side of the line to seal the win.
Boyle ended up 19-of-29 for 276 yards with two TDs while running for 60 yards and a pair of scores. Keys rushed for 159 yards. Morgan totaled 155 yards and two touchdowns on nine catches.
South Dakota State (3-1, 1-1) plays host to Youngstown State on Saturday at 2 p.m. for Hobo Day. Indiana State (2-3, 0-2) is host to Missouri State at 2 p.m. in Terre Haute, Ind.
Notes: Christion is 690-of-1,126 in his career. Sumner finished 737-of-1,267. … It marked Christion’s sixth five-TD-toss game. … Mikey Daniel had a 5-yard TD reception – the first of his career – to put the Jackrabbits up 21-17 late in the second quarter. He ran 10 times for 70 yards. The junior from Brookings has 16 total touchdowns and 888 all-purpose yards in his career. … Eddie Miller didn’t start but did see time on the offensive line. Preston Tetzlaff made one tackle. … Vinatieri totaled 18 points on the night, going 2-for-2 on field goals and 6-for-6 on PAT kicks. He moved from sixth to fifth on SDSU’s career field goals list with 28, passing his uncle, Adam Vinatieri (27 from 1991-94). … The Jackrabbits and Sycamores combined for a stadium record 105 points. … SDSU improved to 5-5 in overtime games.
No. 3/4 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 54, INDIANA STATE 51 (OT)
First Quarter
SDSU – Adam Anderson 12 pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kick), 11:53
ISU – Ryan Boyle 1 run (Jerry Nunez kick), 5:41
ISU – Nunez 33 FG, :05
Second Quarter
SDSU – Jacob Brown 9 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 12:49
ISU – Rontrez Morgan 22 pass from Boyle (Nunez kick), 4:50
SDSU – Mike Daniel 5 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), :29
Third Quarter
SDSU – Isaac Wallace 4 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 9:38
SDSU – Vinatieri 15 run (Vinatieri kick), 6:34
ISU – Ja’Quan Keys 62 run (Nunez kick), 5:57
SDSU – Anderson 3 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 3:55
Fourth Quarter
ISU – Boyle 4 run (Nunez kick), 14:53
SDSU – Vinatieri 30 FG, 11:04
ISU – Morgan 34 pass from Boyle (Nunez kick), 9:09
SDSU – Vinatieri 27 FG, 3:16
ISU – Keys 57 run (Nunez kick), 2:08
ISU – Nunez 25 FG, :00
Overtime
ISU – Nunez 20 FG
SDSU – Wallace 2 run
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: ISU – Ja’Quan Keys 19-159, Ryan Boyle 13-60, Chris Covington 6-37, Jonas Griffith 1-27, Titus McCoy 2-11. SDSU – Pierre Strong Jr. 6-95, Isaac Wallace 21-81, Mikey Daniel 10-70, C.J. Wilson 1-18, Chase Vinatieri 1-15, Taryn Christion 10-12, Adam Anderson 0-2.
PASSING: ISU – Ryan Boyle 19-29-0-276. SDSU – Taryn Christion 20-31-0-229.
RECEIVING: ISU – Rontrez Morgan 9-155, Dante Hendrix 6-46, Dante Jones II 1-30, Joe Wildt 1-29, Chris Covington 1-8, Ja’Quan Keys 1-8. SDSU – Kallan Hart 4-57, Adam Anderson 4-57, Cade Johnson 4-48, Isaac Wallace 4-39, Jacob Brown 1-9, C.J. Wilson 1-7, Blake Kunz 1-7, Mikey Daniel 1-5.
DEFENSE: ISU – Jonas Griffith 18 tackles; Jamal Jones 17 tackles; Denzel Bonner 10 tackles; Michael Ghant Jr. FR; Rondell Green FF; Jake Sager FF; Filip Zacok FF; Rex Mosley sack. SDSU – Dalton Cox 10 tackles, FR; Brandon Snyder 6 tackles; Logan Backhaus 5 tackles; Makiah Slade 5 tackles; Seven Wilson 5 tackles; Eric Kleinschmit 5 tackles; Krockett Krolikowski sack.
A – 10,318.
