Western Illinois scored on its first seven possessions, including three touchdown drives out of halftime, to push past South Dakota 40-21 Saturday at Hanson Field.
The Leathernecks (3-2, 2-0 MVFC) racked up 514 yards of total offense to open 2-0 in Valley play for the first time since 2010. South Dakota (2-3, 0-2) scored touchdowns on the opening drive of each half and totaled 345 yards.
Nikko Watson carried 24 times for 139 yards and a touchdown and became the 11th Leatherneck to surpass 2,000 career yards rushing. He scored on a 1-yard plunge with 8:08 to go in the third quarter that gave Western Illinois a 33-14 lead. The Leathernecks averaged nearly five yards a tote in rushing for 226 yards.
Western Illinois quarterback Trenton Norvell completed 16 of 25 passes for 288 yards. He threw touchdowns of 21 yards to Lance Lenoir, 61 yards to Joey Borsellino and 42 yards to Jaelon Acklin. He also scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening possession. Norvell has nine touchdown passes against one interception in three starts against South Dakota.
Ryan Saeger passed for 197 yards and true freshman Michael Fredrick rushed for a season-high 90 yards on 19 carries to lead South Dakota. Saeger completed 17 of 29 passes and hooked up with Brandt Van Roekel on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 6:17 remaining for the final score of the game.
Western Illinois scored two touchdowns and kicked two field goals on four first-half possessions and took a 19-7 lead into halftime. Watson had 107 yards by then. Nathan Knuffman, who missed his first extra point try, made field goals of 23 and 38 yards.
Saeger threw a 55-yard pass to Eric Shufford down the left sideline on the first play of the second half. Shamar Jackson carried around right end for a 10-yard score on the next play and it was 19-14 just 35 seconds into the third quarter. It was the first collegiate score for Jackson, a true freshman from Panokee, Fla.
Three plays later, Borsellino got behind the defense for the 61-yard strike to make it 26-14. Borsellino caught four passes for a game-high 112 yards. Lenoir had four catches for 83 yards.
South Dakota went three-and-out on its next two possessions while the Leatherneck offense continued with two 10-play touchdown drives. Acklin’s 42-yard catch in the end zone made it 40-14 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.
The teams exchanged fumbles early in the fourth quarter for the only turnovers of the game. Colin Olson’s strip of Saeger was the only sack of the game. Both teams possessed the ball 10 times.
South Dakota next takes on four-time defending champion North Dakota State (4-1, 2-0) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday in Fargo, N.D. The Bison scored in the final minute to get past UNI, 31-28, on homecoming Saturday at the Fargodome.
