RAPID CITY, S.D. – Six consecutive wins by the road team and three consecutive BHSU wins at O’Harra Stadium was the outcome on Saturday night as Black Hills State built an early lead and never looked back as they defeated South Dakota Mines by a score of 21-13. The Yellow Jackets scored their fourth opening drive touchdown of the season and jumped out to a 21-0 advantage in the first half, while the defense shutdown Hardrocker scoring opportunities with a pair of 4th down stops and holding them to just two field goals in the second half.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 21, (RV) South Dakota Mines 13
Team Records: Black Hills State 5-2 (3-2 RMAC), (RV) South Dakota Mines 5-2 (3-2 RMAC)
Attendance: 5,782
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the fourth time this season, the Black Hills State offense marched down the field and found the end zone in the opening drive of the game. The drive featured four of the 12 first downs in the contest for the Yellow Jackets as they went 75 yards in eight plays and took 4:39 off the clock. They moved the chains with passes by Kade Weber of 11 yards to Thomas Mabe, 14 yards to Jayden Williams, 20 yards to Williams, and then capped the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Randle as he caught the ball by leaping up and over a South Dakota Mines defender on the left sideline of the end zone. Madden Aquino added the extra point to make it a 7-0 game with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter.
- Following punts on each of the next two possessions, the Hardrockers picked up momentum as their second drive of the night began with a 34-yard rush up the middle by Dawson Dunbar; however, they would not capitalize with points. SDM moved the ball down to the BHSU 27-yard line, but on 3rd and 5 Kaleb Tulloss and Lelend Cevedia hurried Gage Baker and forced an incomplete pass. The possession came up empty as Sam Eccles pushed the 44-yard field goal attempt wide right with 1:05 remaining in the opening quarter.
- The teams then again traded punts, which allowed for Bryce Coulson to once again show why he is one of the top return men in the nation as with 11:57 to play in the second quarter he received a 37-yard punt from Eccles at the BHSU 31-yard line and proceeded to turn on the jets down the left sideline for a 69-yard punt return touchdown. The punt return touchdown was the first of his career, adding to an already three kickoff return touchdowns through a year and a half in Spearfish. Aquino tacked on the extra point to push the lead to 14-0.
- After another two punts, the Yellow Jackets forced the lone turnover of the match-up when Joshua Faulkner was able to get a hand on the ball and rip it out of the hands of Baker as he attempted to scramble and Tulloss was able to fall on it at the SDM 44-yard line with 4:01 left in the first half. The offense capitalized on the Hardrocker turnover the ensuing drive, rushing the ball for 36 yards while the additional eight came as a result of a targeting penalty. Of the 36 rushing yards, Wyatt Trembly accounted for 23 of those yards, including a 16-yard rush to the right side of the field and then a 7-yard rushing touchdown as he took the option pitch from Weber and raced to the right pylon with 2:18 left on the clock before the halftime break. Aquino added the extra point as BHSU took a commanding 21-0 advantage.
- South Dakota Mines answered the ensuing drive, scoring their lone touchdown of the contest in the closing minutes of the first half. Aided by a pair of personal foul penalties, the Hardrockers moved the ball 75 yards in nine plays and just 1:19 of game time. After moving the ball into the red zone with a 15-yard pass from Baker to Hayden Shawcroft to the BHSU 15-yard line, four plays later they needed to capitalize on a 4th and 3 at the BHSU 8-yard line with a 5-yard rush by Baker to the right side of the field. SDM capped the drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown up the middle by Dunbar. Eccles added the extra point to cut the deficit to 21-7 with 59 seconds remaining on the clock till halftime.
- Following the halftime break, the Hardrocker offense again moved the ball down the field with three first downs; however, the Yellow Jacket defense regrouped and were able to get the stop. Facing 4th and 3 at the BHSU 21-yard line, Baker looked to find Tobin Frost down the right sideline at the BHSU 2-yard line, but Jack Gentile was able to make a play and breakup the pass to force the turnover on downs.
- A 33-yard rush by Ty Harris, despite being tripped up by Maliik Edwards down the left sideline, sparked the lone scoring drive of the third quarter. South Dakota Mines moved the ball inside the 10-yard line to the BHSU 9-yard line, however, an incomplete pass from Baker intended for Blake Borchers across the middle forced them to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Eccles with 3:23 on the clock to make it 21-10 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
- The teams exchanged 4th down stops in the fourth quarter, first as the Black Hills State offense strung together their best drive of the second half as they moved the ball into the red zone to the SDM 18-yard line with the help of four first downs. The Hardrocker defense ultimately stopped Trembly for no gain on 4th and 1 as Cooper Stevens and Gabe Frerichs made the tackle with 8:07 remaining in the game. Then on the ensuing drive South Dakota Mines picked up three first downs and moved the ball across midfield to the BHSU 40-yard line, but Cort Catlin and Caden Wasden provided pressure and forced a pass into the ground by Baker as he attempted to scramble on 4th and 7 and turned the ball over on downs with 4:12 left in the game.
- South Dakota Mines tacked on the final points of the game with just 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Black Hills State defense forced them to a 44-yard field goal from Eccles to make it 21-13 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Prior to the field goal attempt, Baker looked to have potentially found Kooper Koehn in the right side of the end zone, but Luke Clay made the pass breakup at the final moment to rip the ball out of his hands to have the pass fall incomplete.
- Zayne Huber sealed the win for Black Hills State by recovering the onside kick attempt and allowing Weber to line up in victory formation.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Kade Weber: 9-16 passing, 101 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 10 rushes, 48 rushing yards
Wyatt Trembly: 15 rushes, 59 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Jayden Williams: 3 receptions, 57 receiving yards
Joseph Randle: 4 receptions, 28 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Bryce Coulson: 3 punt returns, 100 punt return yards, 1 punt return touchdown
Jayshon Liles: 12 total tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss
Caden Stansbury: 10 total tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss
Jack Gentile: 8 total tackles, 1 pass breakup
Jacob Nelson: 8 total tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss, 1 pass breakup
UP NEXT
Black Hills State returns to Lyle Hare Stadium for the first time in a month as they host No. 6/6 Western Colorado on Saturday, October 24. The 1 p.m. kickoff will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and RYZ Network, and available on linear tv on KNBN-3 (Rapid City) and KSFL (Sioux Falls).
