Coyotes continue win streak, beat Indiana State 56-6
The Coyote football team continues to dominate team after team this season, and Saturday’s game was no different.
USD left the DakotaDome with an impressive score of 56-6 against the Indiana State University Sycamores.
Though ISU scored the first point, a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter, the Coyotes completed play after play in all four quarters.
ISU scored one more field goal to end their score at 6. Wide receiver Brandt Van Roekel scored first for the Coyotes after a 10-yard pass from quarterback Chris Streveler in the first quarter.
Van Roekel scored his second touchdown, 55 yards, in the second quarter. The Coyotes scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter, one pass from Streveler to freshman Kody Case and one run from Streveler.
Case caught a 22-yard pass at 11:28 remaining in the third quarter to score his second touchdown.
Junior running back Michael Fredrick scored a 53-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left on the clock at the third quarter.
Quarterback Austin Simmons’ first pass to sophomore wide receiver Randy Baker resulted in a 52-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Redshirt freshman Ben Klett scored the final touchdown for the Coyotes, ending the game 56-6.
Van Roekel was a star player of the night, with two receiving touchdowns and 108 yards. Case also had two touchdowns and ran 62 yards. Baker ran 80 yards.
Though they didn’t score for the rest of the game, the Sycamores did have some memorable plays, Streveler said at a press conference.
“Those guys did a great job today,” he said. “Some of those playmakers, they had pretty good tackles, and making short, little throws in the game. The running backs ran hard and the offensive line did a really great job, too. We knew they were going to come hard in the box.”
Head coach Bob Nielson said the team’s confidence has definitely gone up, especially now being undefeated.
“In the second quarter, I really thought the team showed its confidence,” he said. “Offensively, we didn’t panic, we executed and with defense we just got better and better as the game went on.”
Van Roekel said many players on the team are capable of making great plays.
“It’s easy to make plays — you can’t focus on anyone on our team and that’s what makes it so tough in defensive play,” he said. “We have guys on our team who can make great plays anytime so we have to respect everyone. That really was proven today.”
Van Roekel said a “great week of practice” helped prepare the team for the game.
“Our coaches are always on top of it and we just executed and really did what we needed to do to come out and keep proving that we’re a good football team and that we’re gonna be ready to play every game we come to,” he said.
Nielson said the team really proved themselves during Saturday’s game.
“I’m very happy, very proud of our guys,” he said. “Our guys took a lot of pride today in executing (plays). This league forces you to prove yourself every week and I think we proved today that we’re a good football team.”
The Coyotes take on Illinois State Oct. 21 in Normal, IL. The next home game is Oct. 28 against Southern Illinois.
Correction: The Volante incorrectly stated the wrong team the Coyotes are playing on Oct. 21. The Volante regrets this error.
