BROOKINGS—The South Dakota State Jackrabbits ran away from the South Dakota Coyotes Saturday night, defeating the in-state rivals 28-21.

The Jackrabbits proved to be able to get the victory in a different way.

The Coyotes limited the Jackrabbits to just 28 points and holding Jake Wieneke and Dallas Goedert both to under 50 yards and no touchdowns.

“I thought 28 would probably be a good number, obviously you got to stop the running game and they got too many big running plays,” said Bob Nielson, Coyotes head coach.

Despite holding the passing game to just 215 yards, the Jackrabbits ran for a total of 415 yards, and four touchdowns.
For the second straight week the Jackrabbits look to be a team that can also get it done on the ground just as well as they do in the air. Brady Mengarelli went for 161 and Isaac Wallace went for 102 yards. It was Wallace’s second 100-yard game of the season, and the first for Mengarelli.

Kyle Paris also saw action in the game as he had ten carries for 74 yards. Quarterback Taryn Christion also ran for 79 yards on 12 carries.

“We had over 400 yards rushing, that’s crazy, credit to those guys they’ve been working hard,” said Christion.

Opportunities were missed by both sides as the Jackrabbits turned the ball over twice, and missed two field goals. For the Coyotes, a questionable spot of the ball turned their first drive over to the Jackrabbits. Chris Streveler also threw an interception with time winding down.

Defensively, the Jackrabbits held Streveler, who came into the game as one of the top rushers in the Missouri Valley Conference to just 55 yards. Trevor Bouma had just 39 yards on the ground.

The defense was led by the Yankton native, Kellen Soulek who came up with two sacks in a crucial time. Jared Blum also had a tackle for a loss and Christian Rozeboom came up with thirteen total tackles to lead the Jacks in that statistic.

For South Dakota State, there was an emphasis to eliminate the big play and they did that by allowing just a 42-yard connection from Streveler to Riley Donovan.

The results give both teams different possibilities on the playoffs.
For the Coyotes, the playoffs look like a long shot, but the Jackrabbits look to be in good position.

“I wanted to be part of a class that could send the seniors with a trip to the playoffs now that’s going to be probably not possible,” said Coyote quarterback Chris Streveler.

The Jackrabbits can clinch the Missouri Valley Conference with a win next week against the Northern Iowa Panthers.

The South Dakota Coyotes have yet to beat the Jackrabbits in their Division I era.

Next up for the Jackrabbits, they will travel to Iowa to take on the Northern Iowa Panthers.

“It’s a big win (over USD) but we aren’t going to get to get up in it,” said Head Coach John Stiegelmeier.