Coyotes defeat Illinois State 27-24, win third straight game

After starting Missouri Valley conference play with a 20-30 loss to Youngstown State, the Coyotes have rallied back winning three straight games with their latest victory coming Saturday in the DakotaDome against Illinois State.

They took down nationally ranked Northern Iowa on Dakota Days and survived in double overtime against Indiana State. Last season Illinois State crushed USD 46-0. The then ranked number six Redbirds ended their season on a high note and dashed USD’s hopes of a playoff berth.

This season the two teams entered this game on very different notes. The Coyotes seemed to be finding their groove in conference play, while the Redbirds were struggling after an impressive start that saw them take down Northwestern.

Due to a concussion junior quarterback Chris Streveler was out for the game. This meant senior Ryan Saeger would start for the Coyotes. Saeger’s first drive led to a 29 yard field goal by senior Miles Bergner to put USD on the board first.

Illinois State would respond with 66-yard drive, capped off with a 17-yard touchdown run. The Coyotes came back with a long drive of their own, going 76 yards before sophomore running back Michael Fredrick punched it in from four yards out.

The Coyotes would keep it rolling with back-to-back scoring drives. One ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Austin Simmons, who after switching off with Saeger for two drives would take over, to junior wide receiver Riley Donovan. The next was another pass from Simmons, this one a 26 yard throw to sophomore Tacari Carpenter. This put USD up 24-7.

The Redbirds would close out the first half with two scores and great clock management. The first was a 44-yard field goal. The second was a quick, 50-second drive near the end of the half that went 43 yards and ended with a two yard touchdown rush. Going into the half the Coyotes held a 24-17 lead.

The second half saw both offenses grind to a halt. The Coyotes only score of the half came in the third quarter off of a 39 yard field goal from Bergner.

Illinois State would threaten late after a 42 yard touchdown pass made it 27-24 with nearly eight minutes to play. Neither team would be able to make something happen on offense however and the Redbirds threw away a shot at a late drive when they were called for roughing the kicker with nine seconds remaining. This gave the Coyotes a new set of downs and effectively ended the game, giving the Coyotes a 27-24 win.

Starting quarterback Ryan Saeger would finish the game with 42 yards on 4-7 passing. Simmons finished with 205 yards for two touchdowns and one interception on 13-30 passing. He also picked up 36 yards on the ground. Senior running back Trevor Bouma led the Coyote ground attack. He finished with 55 yards. Donovan was the leading receiver for USD, he had one touchdown and 64 yards on two receptions. Senior linebacker Jet Moreland led USD on defense with 11 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, as well as a fumble recovery. Senior defensive back Jacob Warner had three tackles and an interception with a 28 yard return.

With the win the Coyotes improve to 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. The three wins ties their mark from last season, when they went 3-5 in conference play. Coyotes will remain at home for next week’s game against Western Illinois, head coach Bob Nielson’s former team. Kickoff time is set for 2 p.m. in the DakotaDome.