Coyotes staying positive for final three games

The month of October went by without the University of South Dakota football team notching a single victory. November didn’t start out much better.

This past Saturday the Coyotes fell to Youngstown State 28-17, despite entering the fourth quarter leading 17-7. The loss dropped the team’s record to 2-7 (0-5 in the Missouri Valley).

Despite losing, junior wide receiver Eric Shufford said the team’s spirits remain high.

“It’s all a learning experience. There’s no frustration,” Shufford said. “Of course we want to win, but we’re learning, we’re growing and we’re becoming better. It’s either a lesson or a blessing.”

Senior running back Jasper Sanders agreed with Shufford and said the positivity trickles down from the coaching staff.

“We follow the coaches and their positivity,” he said. “It trickles down from top to bottom. Everyone is positive.”

Sanders is coming off what he called his best day as a Coyote. Against Youngstown State, quarterback Kevin Earl said Sanders was someone the offense could lean on.

The senior running back ran for 105 yards and led the team in receiving with 47 yards and a touchdown.

“Overall, it was probably my best game,” Sanders said. “I try to do the best I can, and I just happened to play well last week.”

The Coyotes now turn their attention to another one of the few unranked teams on their schedule, Western Illinois.

The Leathernecks are just 3-6 on the season, although their one conference win this season was against Youngstown State.

“They’re a pretty healthy team and just beat a ranked opponent,” said head coach Joe Glenn. “In my mind, they’re a ranked opponent. They beat Youngstown, and we know how good Youngstown is so we better play our hearts out.”

Western Illinois has the fifth best rushing defense in the conference, so a repeat of Sanders’ performance may be hard to come by. Sanders said the Coyotes’ offense realizes it is going up against a defense that is good in its own right.

“It’s nice not going up against a ranked opponent, but they have a pretty solid defense,” Sanders said. “You can’t take anyone lightly in this conference and we know that.”

Earl said the team needs to play a full four quarters this Saturday if they are going to win.

“For three quarters, I felt like we did a good job protecting the ball and played a clean game overall,” Earl said of last week’s game. “But this week, we’ll have to remain focused and not allow the other team to make big plays to swing the game around when we had the momentum.”

South Dakota ranks as the lowest scoring team in the Missouri Valley. Through eight games, the team is averaging just 18.2 points per game. Shufford doesn’t care if it’s the offense, defense or special teams that makes a big play, whatever gets them back in the winning category.

“We’re going in to every game with the thought that we’ll win the game,” Shufford said. “But right now, we need to find a way to win. Whether it’s a close game or a blowout, we don’t care. We just need to win.”

The contest against Western Illinois kicks off Saturday at 4 p.m. in the DakotaDome.

The Coyotes’ final three games will all be hosted in South Dakota. After this weekend, the team will play at home vs. Illinois St.

Then the season finale against South Dakota State Nov. 22. The Coyotes are still looking for their first win over the their biggest rival since transitioning to Division I.