South Dakota State turned two first-half turnovers into 14 points and the Jackrabbit defense held Youngstown State out of the end zone in a 38-8 victory Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
The seventh-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Youngstown State, ranked 11th in the STATS media poll and 12th in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll, dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.
The Jackrabbits got off to a quick start, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff with Dallas Brown jarring the ball loose and recovering at the YSU 27. SDSU needed only two plays to score, collecting 23 yards on the first play on a pass from Taryn Christion to Trevor Wesley before Brady Mengarelli plunged in from four yards out.
A Youngstown State punt on its first offensive pinned the Jackrabbits at their own 2-yard line, leading to a safety on the first play of the SDSU drive as Mengarelli was tackled in the end zone by Nate Dortch.
After Jay Carlson gave the Jackrabbits a 10-2 lead early in the second quarter with a 37-yard field goal into a stiff wind, the SDSU defense came up with a turnover of its own as Je Ryan Butler picked off a Hunter Wells pass near midfield. Backup running back Kyle Paris accounted for all the Jackrabbit yardage on the ensuing drive, sandwiching two 20-yard runs around a 14-yard reception. Paris, a junior from Aliso Niguel, California, broke around right end for his second touchdown run of the season.
The Jackrabbit forced two consecutive three-and-outs before Youngstown State put together a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive in the closing minutes of the first half. Kintrell Disher recorded consecutive 12-yard receptions to move the ball deep into SDSU territory, but the Penguins had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Zak Kennedy on the final play of the half.
Kennedy opened the second-half scoring with a 40-yard field goal with 5 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the Jackrabbits quickly seized the momentum with an 81-yard kickoff return by Wesley to the YSU 7. Two plays later, Paris scored his second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard run around the left side.
SDSU put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter. After the Jackrabbit defense forced YSU to punt for the sixth time, Christion rambled 70 yards on a quarterback keeper for a touchdown. Christion hit Brandon Andrews on an 11-yard touchdown pass later in the stanza to close out the scoring. Christion finished the game with 75 yards on the ground and completed 8-of-14 passes for 122 yards.
The Jackrabbits finished with a 334-278 advantage in total yards, including a 212-125 edge in rushing yards as Paris tallied a career-high 128 yards on 27 carries. Wesley caught two passes for 42 yards and Jake Wieneke added two receptions for 39 yards.
Defensively, SDSU held the Penguins to 2-of-15 on third-down attempts and 1-of-4 on fourth down. YSU’s rushing tandem of Martin Ruiz and Jody Webb, who came in averaging a combined 172 yards per game, were held to 13 yards on 11 total carries. Webb gained 10 yards on nine carries, with Ruiz managing only two carries for three yards. Andre Stubbs led the Penguins with 51 yards on four carries.
Jimmie Forsythe and Jesse Bobbit shared team-high honors in tackles with eight.
Wells completed 18-of-39 passes for 153 yards for YSU. Webb led Penguin receivers with four receptions for 23 yards.
The Jackrabbits return home to face Northern Iowa next Saturday (Oct. 24) for the Hobo Day game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
