South Dakota State and South Dakota continued their winning ways Saturday and maintained their positions in the battle for a Missouri Valley Football Conference title.
South Dakota State scored a pair of touchdowns in the first four minutes of the game and the Jackrabbit defense held Youngstown State out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter as SDSU took over sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 24-10 victory on the inaugural Hobo Day game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
. Playing before a school-record crowd of 17,730, the Jackrabbits improved to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in league play. Youngstown State dropped to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the MVFC. SDSU entered the day ranked seventh in the STATS Football Championship Subidivision media poll and 11th in the coaches’ poll, while the Penguins held respective rankings of 13th and 12th.
South Dakota redshirt freshman Austin Simmons threw two touchdown passes and the Coyote defense forced three turnovers and held Illinois State to seven points in the second half in a 27-24 victory Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
It was the third win in a row for South Dakota (4-3, 3-1 MVFC), which matched its best start in Valley play. The Coyotes stand in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with four games remaining. South Dakota hosts Western Illinois next Saturday in Vermillion.
Illinois State (3-5, 1-4 MVFC), the two-time defending Valley co-champions, lost for the fifth time in six games and for the first time in six games against the Coyotes. The Redbirds racked up 474 yards of offense, but the three turnovers – two of which occurred inside the 10-yard line – were costly. Illinois State faced 4th-and-8 from the USD 44 with 1:20 remaining, but the ensuing pass was broken up by Coyote cornerback Adam Harris.
