Offense got the win for South Dakota State and defense claimed victory for South Dakota in spring football performances Saturday for the two state schools.
Freshman quarterback Kanin Nelson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to spark the offense to a 62-47 win over the defense in the annual Jackrabbit spring football game Saturday afternoon at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.
A Mitchell native, Nelson completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Alex Wilde in the first quarter and ran for a 23-yard score in the second quarter. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Nelson hooked up with Marquise Lewis on a 45-yard touchdown.
With the score tied at 65 and USD’s offense just four yards away from a touchdown, the defense needed a goal-line stand to force a turnover on downs. They did just that to give them a 68-65 win over the offense in the Coyotes’ annual Spring Game Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
On top of the goal line stand, the defense forced the offense to punt five times, held them to a field goal three times and sophomore Isaac Armstead made an interception. Senior defensive lineman Sean Bredl led the defense with 2.5 tackles for loss.
South Dakota’s offense ran a total of 72 plays and averaged 5.7 yards per play. The unit ran 42 times for a total of 175 yards and completed 19 of 30 passes for 236 yards.
