The 4-1 Jackrabbits will hit the gridiron on Saturday against the Youngstown State Penguins for Hobo Day with a kickoff slated for 2 p.m. at the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
South Dakota State earned a huge win over Youngstown State last season with a final score of 34-0, last year’s final road game of the regular season.
In the 2023 Hobo Day football game, the Jacks faced Northern Iowa where they won 41-6.
“I think playing in front of a sold-out stadium definitely is important,” head coach Jimmy Rogers said. “People care here so because of that, it’s a different level of excitement knowing that you’re going to be playing in front of a sold-out stadium and I think that is kind of a no-brainer.”
South Dakota State
The No. 1 Jacks look to tie the high Missouri Valley Football Conference winning streak this week. Currently, the record is held by NDSU (2017-2021) with 19 conference game winning streak with SDSU one game behind with 18 to their name.
This season, South Dakota State averages 34.20 points per game while only allowing 14.80 points per game.
Mark Gronowski looks to pass 1,000 yards this game as he currently sits at 976 yards. This season Gronowski has thrown for nine passing touchdowns and five interceptions with a completion percentage of 61.94%.
In the receiving game, Griffin Wilde continues to lead the Jacks with 345 receiving yards and three scores by the air. Wilde is averaging over five catches a game.
With a 52-yard performance last week, receiver Grahm Goering passed the two-century mark in receiving yards with 219 on the year. Similar to Wilde, Goering has amounted to three receiving touchdowns this season.
Tailback, Amar Johnson, continues his dominance on the group with 316 rushing yards to his name this season. Amar Johnson has scored four touchdowns on 66 carries this season. The Missouri native has shown promise in the receiving game as well, tallying 112 yards on 15 receptions.
Kirby Vorhees has stepped up big for the Jacks, racking up 279 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
The linebacker duo of Adam Bock (36 tackles) and Caleb Francl (27 tackles) has been unstoppable this season, amounting to 63 total tackles.
Mathew Durrance and Graham Spalding follow Bock and Francl with 25 and 20 tackles respectively.
With two interceptions on the season, Steven Arrell is tied for second in the MVFC for most interceptions on the year.
On the defensive line, Jarod Depriest and Max Baloun each have three tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble to their names.
Youngstown State
This season, Youngstown State sits at 2-4 and 1-1 inside the Valley with a loss to Missouri State and a win against Indiana State.
Dual-threat quarterback Beau Brungard has been the guy for the Penguin offense this season, leading the team in both rushing and passing yards.
In the air, Brungard, a sophomore quarterback has thrown for 1,013 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions on 65.5%.
On the ground, Brungard has carried the ball 64 times, amounting to 473 yards and six touchdowns. Ethan Wright and Tyshon King join his company with over 280 yards each. Wright’s 393 rushing yards have off 71 carries while King has 283 yards on the season. Both backs have four touchdowns a piece.
“Offensively, they got playmakers on the perimeter and two really good running backs,” Rogers said. “Their quarterback kind have makes the whole thing go, great athlete, he’s sixth in the league in rushing right now. Great quarterback that has great speed and we’re going to have to try and minimize what he can do on us.”
Max Tomczack has been Brungard’s number-one target all season, racking up 392 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 28 catches. Joining him, Cyrus Traugh has brought in 19 catches for 248 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively for the Penguins, Makahi Shahid leads the team with 27 total tackles (20 solo, seven assisted). Preston Zandier follows suit with 24 tackles to his name while Devin Johnson and Stephon Hall have 23 each.
YSU has one interception this season by way of Jeremiah Robinson. The Penguins have two forced fumbles on the year as well as 15 total sacks.
“They’re going to come in with the belief that they can beat us and we have to make sure that we’re locked in and understand that anybody can beat you,” Rogers said.
