Spearfish, S.D. – The Black Hills State football team won its second-straight RMAC contest as the Yellow Jackets' defense and special teams carried BHSU to a 23-0 win over Fort Lewis on Saturday afternoon.
The cold and snowy weather definitely played a factor as BHSU had just 10 pass attempts for 18 yards in the first half. Bryar DeSanti led the ground attack for the Yellow Jackets in the first two quarters with 87 yards on 19 attempts and a score.
The story of the first half was the Yellows Jacket defense and special teams. The defense not only shutout the Skyhawks, but forced three turnovers. Austin Haynes recorded his fourth interception of the season. On the next Fort Lewis drive, linebacker Ryan Lee recovered a botched handoff that the Yellow Jackets couldn't capitalize into points. With 5:25 remaining the first half, Mitch McDevitt punched the ball loose from behind for the third turnover in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Yellow Jacket special teams also played an instrumental role in the first half. BHSU ran a fake field goal where placeholder Haynes flipped the ball to Scott Soderstrom for the first down. The play set-up the DeSanti two-yard touchdown run.
"We have had that play in our bag of tricks for the last couple weeks and this was just a good time to pull it out," said head coach John Reiners. "That was the kind of spark that we needed."
Punter Levi Millikin also pinned the Skyhawks deep inside their 20 yard line twice, including a punt that came to a stop on the one-yard line.
The Yellow Jackets led 7-0 going into halftime.
The third quarter went back-and-forth between the two teams and neither squad was able to put any points on the board.
The BHSU special teams came-up with another huge play at the beginning of the fourth quarter. On a Fort Lewis punt attempt, punter Steven Andrews bobbled the long snap. BHSU's Trent Butler made a big hit on Andrews that forced the ball loose and senior Mitch McDevitt scooped it up for the score. Unfortunately, Andrews was injured on the play and was carted off the field. The Yellow Jackets led 14-0 with 14:04 remaining in the game.
The special teams unit did not stop there. On the ensuing Skyhawks' drive, Fort Lewis attempted a punt deep in their own territory and it was blocked for a safety. Trent Butler put the exclamation point on the game with a 39-yard touchdown rush to put the Jackets up 23-0 and that would be the final.
The weather conditions influenced each team's offensive production, especially the passing games. Quarterback Ward Anderson finished the game 9-of-18 for 43 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
The ground attack propelled BHSU as DeSanti ran for a team-high 22 rushes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Butler added a spark for the Jackets with nine carries for 69 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown run.
"Trent has been putting the ball on the ground, but he has been doing well the past couple of weeks," said Reiners. "We knew if we just kept pounding it with those guys we could do something and I told Coach Fulton that one of them is going to "pop" and sure enough we did get that one."
The Yellow Jackets recorded 249 yards of total offense and held the Skyhawks to 160 yards.
The stifling defense was led by Sterling Boylan with 14 tackles. Scott Soderstrom added seven tackles. McDevitt had his best outing of the season as he forced a fumble and recovered a fumble for a touchdown. For the second-straight week, the Yellow Jackets' defense forced four turnovers.
All four of Millikin's punts landed inside the Skyhawks' 20-yard line, which caused field position troubles for Fort Lewis all day.
"Coach Tetrault does such a great job with our guys on special teams and they take so much pride in it. They are prepared every week," said Reiners. "Hats off to the way those guys finished today."
Despite the Jackets' losing record, Reiners still sees an ecstatic energy surrounding his team.
"Our team does not play like a team that has three wins and seven losses. Our team does not practice like that. We know there are a couple games that we would like to have back," said Reiners.
The Yellow Jackets will face off against in-state rival South Dakota Mines next Saturday at 1 p.m. for the final game of the season.
"You can take records, you can take field conditions, you can take anything you want, but next Saturday you can throw it all out," said Reiners. "Because for a rivalry game you better be ready to play and I have no doubt that our guys will be ready."
