Saturday’s conference football openers for South Dakota State and South Dakota saw the Jacks score a big win at home and the Coyotes drop a road game.
Dallas Goedert tied a school record with four touchdown receptions and the South Dakota State defense returned two second-half interceptions for scores to rout eighth-ranked Western Illinois, 52-14, in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams Saturday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The 15th-ranked Jackrabbits, who scored the final 45 points of the game, improved to 2-2 overall. Western Illinois suffered its first loss of the season, falling to 3-1.
Ricky Davis led 15th-ranked Youngstown State with 281 yards passing and 66 yards rushing, and the Penguins got a late pick-six off a deflected pass to get past South Dakota 30-20 Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium in the MVFC opener for both teams.
Youngstown State (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) won its eighth consecutive Valley opener while the Coyotes (1-3, 0-1) are winless in Valley openers in five tries. YSU has won all five meetings with USD since the series began in 2012.
