Jackrabbits squash Coyotes in rivalry blowout
The bleakness of the Coyotes’ football season made this year’s “South Dakota Showdown” one to forget for the University of South Dakota.
USD was dominated from start to finish by South Dakota State Saturday at its last game of the regular season, losing 37-14
“South Dakota State started fast, played fast,” USD head coach Joe Glenn said. “They really took it to us. It was over before it started.”
The Jackrabbits scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions, and the Coyotes were quickly down by 21 points.
It didn’t get any better from there. USD went into the half trailing 31-0 and didn’t get on the board until junior wide receiver Eric Shufford Jr. scored from 10-yards out early in the fourth quarter.
But by then it was too late.
The Jacks’ senior quarterback Austin Sumner had his way all afternoon. He threw for 395 yards and three touchdowns before SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier took him out with eight minutes to go in the game.
“(He’s a) good quarterback,” USD sophomore linebacker John Wessel said. “He made the throws he needed to make. He made the reads he needed to make.”
First-year SDSU wide receiver Jake Wieneke proved he’s going to be a menace for the Coyotes to stop for the next three years. He had 177 yards. It didn’t matter if the Coyotes were in man or zone coverage. They simply had no answer for him.
As for the Coyotes, their offense had no mojo all day long. Junior quarterback Kevin Earl took his fair share of hits and was inaccurate for the majority of the game. Earl finished 20-44 for 226 yards.
“We just couldn’t punch the ball in and get six points, which kind of hurt us,” Earl said.
The lone shining star of the game for USD was sophomore fullback/backup running back Drew Potter. Potter, who is not known for his speed, picked up a 53-yard in the fourth quarter that was good for the longest play of the season for the Coyotes.
Potter, who was only in because the Coyotes were so depleted with injuries at running back, racked up 103 yards on eight carries.
USD’s loss dropped its record to 2-10 (0-8 Missouri Valley) on the season. The 10 losses ties the amount they had two years ago in its inaugural season in the MVFC, when they went 1-10.
“We’re not very good,” Glenn said. “I don’t want to rag on my guys, but we are not playing with the athletes we are playing against right now. We have to do something. We have to improve.”
SDSU’s win improves their record to 8-4 (5-3) and gets them into the MVFC playoffs.
(Photo: Coyotes’ Jacob Warner tackles SDSU’s Connor Orgill Saturday afternoon during the rivalry match at the Coughlin Alumni Staduim in Brookings. Grant Bosiacki / The Volante)
Couldn’t make it to Brookings? No problem. The Volante’s got the complete recap of the USD-SDSU match below.
