South Dakota State scored 38 unanswered points Saturday in Grand Forks, North Dakota, cruising to a 38-7 victory over the No. 21 North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
Inside one of the most difficult places to play in the FCS, the No. 3 Jacks weathered an early UND storm with one of their own, scoring 28 second-quarter points to deflate the Alerus Center crowd.
After losing back-to-back games, the Fighting Hawks played like a team desperate to win and stay alive in the playoff race. They were able to pick apart one of the nation’s top defenses in the first two drives but could only muster one drive that ended in points.
“This team is tough here,” said SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers on UND. “I think they’re a good football team regardless of where they play, they’ve just had some tough losses. But came in here, capitalized fairly early. Weren’t really maybe the most crisp on both sides of the ball right away but got into rhythm, and kind of ran away with it in the first half.”
North Dakota kicker CJ Elrichs missed a 35-yard field goal on the opening drive, but UND still took control first. On the first play of its second drive, tailback Isaiah Smith took a carry 62 yards to the house to stun the Jackrabbit defense.
“The one touchdown, that’s just a missed tackle,” coach Rogers said. “You know those things can’t happen and we got to keep our heads up. Can’t give them momentum just in any way, but I was proud of the way played consistently throughout the game.”
Smith finished with 87 yards and a touchdown on nine carries for North Dakota.
This game was quickly looking similar to the last time SDSU played in Grand Forks two years ago, where the Jacks, after going down 14-0 early, stormed back to win it 49-35.
Facing yet another slow start against UND, the offense got to work.
Hunter Dustman followed the touchdown drive with a 31-yard field goal toward the end of the first quarter, and that little shred of success was all the Jacks needed to get into rhythm.
SDSU poured it on in the second quarter with four consecutive touchdown drives, starting with a 29-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Angel Johnson on the first play of the quarter.
Angel Johnson reached the century mark in rush yards for the second week in a row, finishing with 100 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, catching one pass for 13 yards as well.
“He’s explosive,” said coach Rogers on Angel Johnson. “If he can just get a little crevice, he can make something out of nothing.”
After a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Mark Gronowski to Griffin Wilde, the Jacks defense forced its first turnover of the game. Graham Spalding jarred the ball free from UND quarterback Simon Romfo, with defensive end Dawson Ripperda scooping up the loose football.
“We weren’t unstoppable on any third unit,” coach Rogers said. “But I would say we were really consistent and the communication and the consistency throughout the game was really good.”
The SDSU scoring continued on the short field seven plays later, this time with Amar Johnson running it in from six yards out. Amar Johnson totaled 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in the win.
One final stop from the Jackrabbit defense came on a 51-yard blocked field goal just before halftime, ending a disastrous quarter for UND.
In the second half, the Jacks turned on cruise control except for its second drive when Gronowski connected with Wilde yet again for a 47-yard touchdown, diminishing any chance of a Fighting Hawk comeback.
“It was good to see Mark take that drive shot down the middle of the field,” said coach Rogers. “Because he has all the ability to make all of those throws when his feet are underneath of him.”
The Jacks improved to 8-2, and 5-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. SDSU racked up 457 yards of total offense, including 264 yards on the ground, but it was the Gronowski to Wilde connection that made the biggest impact.
Gronowski completed 11-of-19 pass attempts for 193 yards and three touchdown passes with Wilde catching five passes for 140 yards and all three touchdowns in a career day for the sophomore from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“I was proud of Mark, proud of Griff. They work extremely hard. They put in extra work when nobody else is watching, and it showed up tonight.,” said coach Rogers.
Kirby Vorhees played a big role in the rushing attack as well, adding 66 yards on nine carries, Davin Stoffel caught two passes for 20 yards, while fellow tight end David Alpers had one catch for 13 yards in the win.
Safety Matthew Durrance racked up five tackles to lead the Jackrabbit defense, while linebacker Caleb Francl totaled three tackles (one for a loss), and one sack. Another safety, Tucker Large, snagged his second interception in as many weeks after returning from injury, while Adam Bock and Reis Kirschenman each had sacks in the victory.
The Jackrabbit defense as a whole totaled eight tackles for loss which played a big part in the shutout over the final three quarters of play.
“Outside of one play defensively, I thought we executed really well,” said coach Rogers. “We’ll continue to get better. It was good to get a lot of these young guys’ reps and get them used to what Missouri Valley play is. If we can stay healthy and execute the way we’ve been executing, we’ll be tough to stop.”
Up Next
It’s Senior Day next week as the Jacks are back home one final time this regular season against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Kickoff from Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be watched on Midco Sports, ESPN+, or listened to on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.