The South Dakota State offense played turnover-free football and booted seven field goals en route to a 45-35 victory over the defense in the annual Jackrabbit Spring Game Saturday afternoon at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

 

Using a scoring system that rewards big plays on both sides of the ball, the offense raced out to a 15-3 first-quarter lead. Sam Koob’s 34-yard field goal gave the offense an early 5-2 advantage, which was followed by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Chris Little to Trevor Wesley two possessions later.

 

The Jackrabbit offense pushed the margin to 23-3 early in the second quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kyle Paris. A junior, Paris led SDSU ball carriers with 56 yards on 12 carries.

 

Andrew Kirschenman and Koob added respective field goals of 25 and 24 yards to close out the first half for a 29-14 lead for the offense.

 

Kirschenman, who made four field goals on the day, added a 30-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, and Koob connected on a 42-yarder moments later to push the margin to 39-20.

 

However, the Jackrabbit defense began to assert itself, recording a three-and-out on four of the next five possessions for two points apiece. The defense also tallied three tackles for loss to pull to within 42-35 early in the fourth quarter.

 

Kirschenman capped the scoring with a 34-yard field goal in the closing minutes.

 

The Jackrabbits rotated three quarterbacks throughout the game, with Little completing 7-of-18 passes for 71 yards. Dalton Douglas was 7-of-12 passing for 55 yards and Tyler Finnes ended the afternoon 7-of-12 passing for 54 yards.

 

Wesley caught three passes for 39 yards, with Larves Jones and Matt Raymond each notching three catches for 21 and 17 yards, respectively. In all, 13 different Jackrabbit players caught passes on the afternoon.

 

T.J. Lally and Chris Balster led the defensive effort with seven tackles each.