SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University football team (0-7, 0-5 RMAC) welcomed the student-athlete's families into town for the annual Family Day game versus the No. 3 Colorado St.-Pueblo ThunderWolves (8-0, 6-0 RMAC) on Saturday afternoon at Lyle Hare Stadium.
The ThunderWolves won the contest, 51-17, after compiling 638 yards of total offense on 80 plays (345 pass, 293 rush). The Yellow Jackets did move the ball throughout the game offensively after finishing with 456 total yards (343 pass, 113 rush).
Pueblo did not waste any time on their opening drive after wide receiver Josh Sandoval took a screen pass from quarterback Chris Bonner to the house for a 62-yard touchdown, just five minutes into the game. Pueblo running back, Chris Ashe, then scored on a 50-yard run up-the-middle to put the ThunderWolves up 14-0 after the first quarter.
Roughly five minutes later, Pueblo scored on the first play of the second quarter on a one-yard run by Darius Millines to make the score 21-0. The Yellow Jackets answered back to stay within two scores after Luke Whalen caught a 31-yard touchdown from BHSU quarterback Ward Anderson to make it 21-7 with 5:19 left in the half.
Sandoval and Ashe again scored on consecutive drives after another 60-yard screen pass and a 15-yard touchdown run in a span of only two minutes to give Pueblo a commanding 38-7 lead to begin the third quarter.
The last touchdown of the game for the Jackets came with over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter after true freshman wide receiver and Northern California native, Bradley Adamson, hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to make the score, 38-14.
The ThunderWolves turned in two more touchdowns in the second half to reach the 51-point total, while Yellow Jacket freshman kicker, Christian Parr, hit a 41-yard field goal and eighth on the season, towards the end of the fourth quarter to give the Jackets 17 points on the day.
BHSU's W. Anderson finished the game 35-of-58 for 296 yards and two touchdowns and added five rushes for 44 more yards (8.8 avg) with a long of 24 yards on the ground. Senior running back, Drew Nielsen, added six carries for 21 yards while back-up quarterback, Matt Rasmussen, carried the ball six times for 22 yards.
Senior wide receiver-tight end, Luke Whalen was Anderson's favorite target on the day after Whalen turned in an impressive eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Adamson finished with a career-high seven receptions for 42 yards and one touchdown.
Special teams was a factor in the game as the Jackets tried three fake kicks, which included one successful fake on a punt from midfield that saw defensive back, Travis Groves, take a pitch around the left side for a 21-yard gain for a first down on a fourth down conversion. Parr eventually missed just his first field goal of his career late in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard try that went wide-right to give make him 8-of-9 on the year. Punter, Oscar Bengtsson, had six punts for 233 yards with a long of 55 which was downed inside the Pueblo 20 yard-line. Return man, sophomore running back, Harrison Dollins, finished with six kick returns for 136 yards with a long of 33.
Sophomore linebacker, Trent Boner, continues his impressive sophomore campaign defensively after grabbing a game-high 15 tackles (0.5 TFL) on the afternoon, to keep him third in the RMAC in that category with 75 tackles on the season.
The Jackets will take on New Mexico Highlands next Saturday at 1 p.m. MT from Las Vegas, N.M as they look to win their first game of the 2013 season.
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