Jackrabbits beat Coyotes, earn bye in FCS Playoffs

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VERMILLION – No. 5/6 South Dakota State scored 14 consecutive second-half points and then held off No. 16/15 South Dakota down the stretch, winning 31-28 Saturday at the DakotaDome in the biggest game between the two teams since the rivalry was renewed.

Taryn Christion threw three touchdown passes to tie the career school-record mark of 65 set by Austin Sumner from 2011-14.

The Jackrabbits (9-2, 6-2), who tied for second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings with Northern Iowa, earned the No. 5 seed and picked up a first-round bye in the FCS Playoffs for the second season in a row.

SDSU has won five consecutive games.

“As always, playing in the Missouri Valley, playing on the road, I’m excited to get the win,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “Hats off to Coach (Bob) Nielson. That’s a good football team we were able to beat today.

“I’m really proud of our football team. They kept battling back and battling and making plays. It’s all about who’s ahead at the end and we were able to be ahead at the end, so I’m excited about that.”

The Jackrabbits have won the past nine meetings with the Coyotes, including all six in the DI era.

USD (7-4, 4-4), which has lost three games consecutively and four of five, still qualified for the postseason.

As for Saturday’s contest, Mikey Daniel scored on a 1-yard run to put SDSU up 24-21 with 22 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Daniel, a former Bobcat and current sophomore who missed last year’s matchup against the Coyotes due to an injury, now has 10 touchdowns on the year.

Christion picked up 13 yards on fourth-and-3 from the USD 17-yard-line earlier in the drive.

After the teams exchanged punts, USD’s Ryan Weese pushed a 42-yard field goal wide right.

The Jackrabbits countered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive.

Dallas Goedert made an incredible leaping one-handed catch for a 10-yard pickup on third-and-1 to move the ball to the USD 34.

Brady Mengarelli gained 4 yards on the ground, before Christion hit Alex Wilde for a 13-yard pickup.

Christion rolled right on the next play and then lobbed a pass – absorbing a big hit following the throw – to a wide-open Cade Johnson, who made the catch and strolled into the end zone for a 17-yard score.

That made it 31-21 with 4:52 showing on the clock.

It appeared as if the visitors had a chance to end things quietly after Eric Kleinschmit forced Coyote quarterback Chris Streveler to fumble and Christian Rozeboom recovered on the SDSU 23-yard-line.

But USD forced a quick three-and-out – burning all their timeouts – and Streveler led his squad downfield. He capped a five-play, 76-yard drive – which lasted just 60 seconds – with a 3-yard TD toss to Dakarai Allen on a fade route that cut the deficit to 31-28 with 2:14 to play.

Ethan James’ on-side kick was troublesome for the guests.

Jake Wieneke came through again, falling on the loose ball after a scramble 30-plus yards downfield.

Close to being able to kneel out the clock, the Jackrabbits needed to kill a few seconds on their next play to set things up properly. Christion scrambled around in the backfield to burn some time, but a penalty made things interesting.

Instead of a 40-second play clock, it was only 25 seconds due to the penalty.

Christion continued to maneuver his was around in the backfield the next two plays, eventually getting the two clocks – game and play – close enough in sync to be able to take a delayed knee on fourth-and-53 from his own 4-yard-line.

It worked out.

“We’ve done the math,” Stiegelmeier said, pulling a crib sheet out of his pocket. “We know what we need to do with victory rollout (the play Christion ran as opposed to victory kneel). The thing that messed that up, or put it in jeopardy, was when we got the penalty and it went back to a 25-second clock rather than a 40-second clock.

“It would have been over a lot easier than it was. But Taryn bought some more time, some additional time; he did what we asked him to do. Again, don’t get that penalty. Go ahead and block him but don’t leave anything to chance. I understand why you do those things sometimes, but you can’t do it.”

To open the game, SDSU punted twice and threw a pick while USD punted on each of its first three possessions.

And then the teams racked up 31 combined points in just 4 minutes, 28 seconds.

It began with Chase Vinatieri’s 45-yard field goal at the 12:07 mark of the second quarter.

SDSU’s Jordan Brown stepped up with an interception on the next play from scrimmage and Christion then tossed an 11-yard TD to Wieneke to make it 10-0.

Michael Fredrick sandwiched scoring runs of 49 yards and 17 yards around Wieneke’s 69-yard catch-and-run to paydirt on a short slant route as the score stood at 17-14 7:39 before halftime.

Jackrabbit punter Brady Hale pinned the Coyotes on the 3-yard-line early in the third quarter.

The hosts proceeded to move 96 yards on 14 plays, aided by a few SDSU penalties. It came away with zero points after twice getting stuffed on the 1.

The Coyote defense forced a quick three-and-out and then Streveler closed out a short drive with a 10-yard TD toss to Dakarai to put USD ahead 21-17 at the 3:54 mark of the third.

SDSU now has eight nine-win seasons, including five in the past six years. This is the Jackrabbits’ first nine-win regular-season in the Division I era (fourth overall).

SDSU NINE-WIN SEASONS

Year Rec. Div. Postseason

1928 9-1 none

1963 9-1 none

1979 9-3 II First round

2012 9-4 FCS Second round

2013 9-5 FCS Second round

2014 9-5 FCS Second round

*2016 9-4 FCS Quarterfinals

*2017 9-2 FCS TBD

   *received a postseason bye

FCS Playoffs

It marks SDSU’s sixth straight postseason appearance and seventh in the Division I era, the other coming in 2009 (eighth appearance overall – Division II, 1979).

The Jackrabbits play host to the winner of Saturday’s Northern Iowa (7-4)/Monmouth (9-2) game in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

South Dakota heads to Nicholls State (8-3) for a first-round matchup Saturday at 2 p.m.

No. 2 seed North Dakota State (10-1), the league champ, and Western Illinois (8-3) will also represent the MVFC in the postseason.

FCS PLAYOFFS

First Round – Saturday, Nov. 25

Lehigh (5-6, Patriot) at Stony Brook (9-2), 1 p.m.

Western Illinois (8-3) at Weber State (9-2), 3 p.m.

Monmouth (9-2) at Northern Iowa (7-4), 4 p.m.

Central Connecticut State (8-3, Northeast) at New Hampshire (7-4), 1 p.m.

Samford (8-3) at Kennesaw State (10-1, Big South), 1 p.m.

South Dakota (7-4) at Nicholls State (8-3), 3 p.m.

Furman (7-4) at Elon (8-3), noon

San Diego (9-2, Pioneer) at Northern Arizona (7-4), 7 p.m.

Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 2

Stony Brook/Lehigh winner at No. 1 James Madison (11-0, Colonial), 1 p.m.

Weber State/Western Illinois winner at No. 8 Southern Utah (9-2, Big Sky), 7 p.m.

Northern Iowa/Monmouth winner at No. 5 South Dakota State (9-2), 2 p.m.

New Hampshire/Central Connecticut State winner at No. 4 Central Aransas (10-1, Southland), 2 p.m.

Kennesaw State/Samford winner at No. 3 Jacksonville State (10-1, Ohio Valley), 1 p.m.

Nicholls State/South Dakota winner at No. 6 Sam Houston State (10-1), 2 p.m.

Elon/Furman winner at No. 7 Wofford (9-2, Southern), 1 p.m.

Northern Arizona/San Diego winner at No. 2 North Dakota State (10-1, Missouri Valley), 2:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals – Friday, Dec. 8-Saturday, Dec. 9

Semifinals – Friday, Dec. 15-Saturday, Dec. 16

Championship – Saturday, Jan. 6, noon, Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

   Note: Team with conference listed is automatic qualifier.

No. 6/5 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 31,

No. 15/16 SOUTH DAKOTA 28

SDSU (9-2, 6-2) 0  17  7  7  –  31

USD (7-4, 4-4) 0  14  7  7  –  28

Second Quarter

SDSU – Chase Vinatieri 45 FG, 12:07

SDSU – Jake Wieneke 11 pass from Taryn Christion (Vinatieri kick), 11:54

USD – Michael Fredrick 49 run (Ryan Weese kick), 10:38

SDSU – Wieneke 69 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 8:52

USD – Fredrick 17 run (Weese kick), 7:39

Third Quarter

USD – Dakarai Allen 10 pass from Chris Streveler (Weese kick), 3:54

SDSU – Mikey Daniel 1 run (Vinatieri kick), :22

Fourth Quarter

SDSU – Cade Johnson 17 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 4:52

USD – Allen 3 pass from Streveler (Weese kick), 2:14

SDSU USD

First Downs 20 31

Plays-Yards 73-386 83-583

Rushes-Yards 37-87 44-297

C-A-Int.-Yards 23-36-1-299 37-79-1-286

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 7-52 7-82

Punts-Avg.-I20-TB 6-42.2-1 6-30.5-3

Kickoffs-Avg.-TB 6-59.5-4 4-59.5-0

Punt Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 2-8-0

Kickoff Returns-Yards-TD 4-85-0 1-38-0

Interception Returns-Yards-TD 1-23-0 1-17-0

Fumble Returns-Yards-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0

Miscellaneous Yards 0 0

Possession Time 31:51 28:09

Third-down Conversions 4-of-14 5-of-15

Fourth-down Conversions 1-of-3 1-of-2

Red Zone Chances-TD-FG 3-3-0 4-3-0

Sacks By-Yards 0-0 3-14

Field Goals 1-for-1 0-for-1

RUSHING: SDSU – Isaac Wallace 10-69, Brady Mengarelli 9-36, Mikey Daniel 5-4, TEAM 1-(-3), Chase Vinatieri 1-(-9), Taryn Christion 11-(-10). USD – Michael Fredrick 15-123, Kai Henry 17-109, Chris Streveler 12-65.

PASSING: SDSU – Taryn Christion 23-36-1-299. USD – Chris Streveler 27-39-1-286.

RECEIVING: SDSU – Dallas Goedert 11-117, Cade Johnson 3-39, Jake Wieneke 2-80, Isaac Wallace 2-22, Jacob Brown 2-20, Brady Mengarelli 2-8, Alex Wilde 1-13. USD – Dakarai Allen 7-83, Shamar Jackson 5-26, Kai Henry 4-50, Brandt Van Roekel 3-68, Michael Fredrick 3-25, Brett Samson 2-23, Josh Hale 2-11, Aaron Ramsey 1-0.

DEFENSE: SDSU – Christian Rozeboom 10 tackles, FR; Chris Balster 9 tackles; Nick Farina 8 tackles; Eric Kleinschmit 5 tackles, FF; Dalton Cox 5 tackles; Ryan Earith 4 tackles; Marshon Harris 4 tackles; Jordan Brown INT. USD – Isaac Armstead 9 tackles, sack, INT; Jim Litrenta 8 tackles; Phillip Powell 5 tackles; Andrew Gray 5 tackles; Alex Gray 5 tackles; Kameron Cline 5 tackles; Nathan Schultz sack; Darin Greenfield sack.

   A – 10,147.

Missouri Valley Football Conference

MVFC Overall

STATS/Coaches W-L PF/PA W-L PF/PA Streak

A-North Dakota State 7-1 261/115 10-1 429/135 W2

q-South Dakota State 6-2 279/198 9-2 412/248 W5

q-Northern Iowa 6-2 224/159 7-4 314/263 W3

q-Western Illinois 5-3 260/201 8-3 391/245 W3

q-South Dakota 4-4 259/218 7-4 416/259 L3

Illinois State 4-4 182/163 6-5 287/213 L3

Youngstown State 4-4 217/173 6-5 327/210 W3

Southern Illinois 2-6 18/238 4-7 301/302 L4

Missouri State 2-6 195/294 3-8 266/421 L2

Indiana State 0-8 90/388 0-11 158/494 L14

   A-FCS Playoffs automatic qualifier

   q-FCS Playoffs qualifier

  Notes: As in 2016, the following matchups did not take place in 2017: SDSU-InSU, NDSU-SIU, UNI-IlSU, WIU-YSU and USD-MSU. … UNI (26th) is receiving votes in the coaches poll. YSU (36th) is receiving votes in the STATS poll. … The MVFC went 20-10 in nonconference games, including an 18-5 mark versus FCS schools and a 2-5 record against FBS teams. The Valley won the inaugural Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series 5-3.

   *MVFC game

WEEK 12 – Saturday, Nov. 18

*No. 6/5 South Dakota State 31, No. 15/16 South Dakota 28

*No. 4/6 North Dakota State 20, No. 21/25 Illinois State 7

*No. 24/— Northern Iowa 41, Indiana State 3

*No. 8/10 Western Illinois 28, Southern Illinois 14

*Youngstown State 38, Missouri State 10

Notable games

Montana State 31, Montana 23

Drake 52, Jacksonville 7

Bryant 38, Duquesne 29

   Open: North Dakota (3-8, 2-6 Big Sky)

END OF REGULAR SEASON

Saturday’s games

 No. 4/6 North Dakota State 20, No. 21/25 Illinois State 7

NORMAL, Ill. – The Bison clinched their third outright MVFC title – and seventh consecutive league championship overall – on a cold, wintery day at Hancock Stadium.

Early on, driving rain and wind gusting around 30 mph made passing nearly impossible. A quick-moving snow storm hit late in the second quarter.

It was a scoreless game at halftime.

The Bison took advantage of a roughing-the-punter penalty on their first possession of the second half.

Bruce Anderson had rushes of 9, 11 and 3 yards to move the ball to the Redbird 10-yard-line. Easton Stick ran 10 yards to the end zone on second down to open the scoring.

Jabril Cox then picked off a Jake Kolbe pass and returned the ball 32 yards to the ISU 25.

Ty Brooks opened the ensuing drive with a 16-yard pickup and Anderson capped it with a 1-yard plunge soon thereafter, pushing the margin to 13-0 at the 3:56 mark of the third.

ISU’s James Robinson found paydirt on an 11 yard run with 3:21 to play in the game, pulling the Redbirds within 13-7.

Two plays later, Stick took off for a 56-yard run before fumbling at the ISU 12; however, Anderson recovered the ball on the 1-yard-lin. Stick scored on the next play to close out the scoring.

Anderson ran for 95 yards, Stick 87, Brooks 51 and Dmitri Williams 29.

NDSU held a 267-106 advantage on the ground.

Stick went 2-of-8 for 15 yards.

Chris Board and Robbie Grimsley paced the defense with seven tackles apiece, while Jalen Allison and Blake Williams both added six.

For ISU, Robinson picked up 96 rushing yards. Kolbe was 8-of-22 for 113 yards with the INT. Brannon Barry 10 tackles. Dalton Keene two sacks;

Total offense: NDSU 64 plays-282 yards (56-267 rushing/2-8-15 passing), ISU 5 plays-219 yards (30-106 rushing/8-22-113 passing). Turnovers: NDSU 0, ISU 1 (1 INT). Time of possession: NDSU 36:27, ISU 23:33.

 No. 24/— Northern Iowa 41, Indiana State 3

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Marcus Weymiller ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns, and Daurice Fountain had five receptions for 80 yards and two TD tosses from Colton Howell as the Panthers handed the Sycamores their 14th consecutive loss to cap an 0-11 season.

Howell was 17-of-26 for 216 yards with the two scores and an INT.

The Sycamores grabbed a 3-0 lead on Jerry Nunez’s 48-yard field goal 2 1/2 minutes into the game.

Fountain had a 4-yard TD catch, Sam Drysdale kicked a 24-yard field goal and Weymiller scored on a 22-yard run to make it 17-3 after a quarter.

Dysdale added a 23-yard field goal and Fountain’s second scoring grab – a 23-yarder – pushed the margin to 27-3 at halftime. Weymiller scored from 5 yards out in the third and J’Veyon Browning on a 3-yard run in the fourth to round things out.

Rickey Neal, who tallied a sack, Nikholi Jaghai, who picked off a pass, and Duncan Ferch each recorded six tackles. Xavior Williams and Keelon Brookins each had an INT.

ISU’s LeMonte Booker ran 19 times for 99 yards. Katrell Moss made 12 tackles and Anthony Tucker intercepted a pass.

Total offense: UNI 76 plays-386 yards (50-170 rushing/17-26-216 passing), ISU 58 plays-247 yards (34-123 rushing/12-24-124 passing). Turnovers: UNI 1 (1 INT), ISU 3 (3 INT). Time of possession: UNI 36:27, ISU 23:33.

 No. 8/10 Western Illinois 28, Southern Illinois 14

MACOMB, Ill. – The Leathernecks built a 28-0 lead, taking a shutout deep into the game to post their eighth win of the campaign.

Sean McGuire finished 16-of-27 for 158 yards with a pair of TDs, while Max Norris ran for 68 yards and a score. Jaelon Acklin, who picked up 93 yards on six receptions and ran for 19 yards, found the end zone twice.

McGuire had touchdown passes of 14 yards to Steve McShane and 52 yards to Acklin in the second quarter.

Norris scored on a 17-yard run in the third, before Acklin had an 8-yard rushing TD with 7:50 left in the fourth to make it 28-0.

WIU’s Brett Taylor had 16 tackles, while David Griffith and Xavier Rowe both had an INT.

SIU’s Matt DeSomer went 6-of-10 for 62 yards with two TDs and two INTs. He had scoring tosses of 44 yards to Darrell James and 10 yards to Raphae Leonard.

Ryan Neal had nine tackles and Blake Parzych recovered a fuble.

Total offense: WIU 71 plays-327 yards (44-169 rushing/16-27-158 passing), SIU 46 plays-209 yards (35-147 rushing/6-11-62 passing). Turnovers: WIU 1 (1 fumble), SIU 2 (2 fumbles). Time of possession: WIU 35:58, SIU 24:02.

 Youngstown State 38, Missouri State 10

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Tevin McCaster ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns as the Penguins posted the win.

Zak Kennedy kicked a 30-yard field goal midway through the first period.

Samuel St. Surin recovered a fumble in the end zone soon thereafter to push the margin to 10-0.

McCaster (6 yards) and Joe Alessi (34 yards) both found the end zone on the ground in the second, making it 24-0 at the break.

The Bears got on the board via Zach Drake’s 29-yard boot at the 3:13 mark of the third.

McCaster (28 yards) and Ricky Davis (10 yards) sandwiched TD runs around a 4-yard scoring rush by MSU’s Myron Mason in the fourth to provide for the final margin.

YSU’s Jalyn Powell had nine tackles. Cash Mitchell and Curtis Parks both added a fumble recovery, while Armand Dellovade recorded a sack.

MSU’s Peyton Huslig ran for 124 yards and was 5-of-21 for 45 yards through the air. Jared Beshore made nine stops and Angelo Garbutt eight.

Total offense: YSU 57 plays-389 yards (36-284 rushing/13-21-105 passing), MSU 66 plays-223 yards (43-178 rushing/5-23-45 passing). Turnovers: YSU 0, MSU 3 (3 fumbles). Time of possession: YSU 31:07, MSU 28:53.

Notable games

 Montana State 31, Montana 23

BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Bobcats (5-6, 5-3) racked up 322 yards on the ground in the defeat of the rival Grizzlies (7-4, 5-3). The teams tied for sixth in the 13-team Big Sky Conference.

Nick LaSane picked up 121 yards and a TD. Chris Murray ran for 99 yards and a score. Troy Andersen scored twice while totaling 64 yards.

MSU used a 21-point second quarter to move ahead 21-13 at halftime and were up 24-13 through three.

Montana’s Gresch Jensen finished 30-of-49 for 326 yards with a TD and an INT.

 Drake 52, Jacksonville 7

DES MOINES, Iowa – Grant Kraemer went 15-of-18 for 268 yards with four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs (7-4, 6-2) over the Dolphins (7-4, 5-3).

Connor Ostrander had six receptions for 102 yards and Steven Doran added two for 104 as both players posted a pair of scores.

Brock Reichardt, Tyler Updegraff and Alex Bonds added a TD rush apiece.

 Bryant 38, Duquesne 29

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Price Wilson threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs (6-5, 4-2) rallied past the Dukes (7-4, 4-2) in a Northeast Conference game.

Wilson had an 11-yard TD toss to Matt Sewall with 9:54 to go to make it 30-29 with 9:54 remaining. Jake Wiswall found the end zone from 2 yards out with 6:30 left and then added the two-point conversion run to provide for the final margin.

Duquesne’s Tommy Stuart was 25-of-42 for 259 yards with two TDs and two INTs. A.J. Hines for 107 yards.