SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University football team guaranteed itself a winning record in 2016 with a 33-20 victory Saturday night against NAIA No. 12 Dickinson State.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 6-3 overall after the nonconference victory, their second victory over a ranked opponent this year. The BlueHawks fall to 7-2 overall.
After coming back from an injury, redshirt junior running back Phydell Paris made his presence known with 192 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He moved past the 1,000-yard mark on the season, the second consecutive that he has accomplished the feat. He was responsible the for Yellow Jackets 14-0 lead in the first quarter when he capped a 5-play, 58-yard drive with a one-yard rush early in the first quarter.
He then accentuated a 13-play, 67-yard drive with a three-yard run into the end zone with 4:24 remaining in the opening quarter and the 14-0 Yellow Jacket lead.
The BlueHawks responded with 12:48 in the second stanza when Jed Fike ran six yards to cap a quick four-play, 27-yard drive.
There was little offense the remainder of the second quarter until the final Yellow Jacket drive of the half when Ryan Hommel ran two yards into the end zone to cap an eight-play, 59-yard drive for the 20-7 lead. Hommel completed passes of 21 yards and eight yards to Eriq Swiftwater, 13 yards to Trey Fleming and 12 yards to Paris on the drive.
Receiving the kickoff to open the second half, the Yellow Jackets marched 60 yards over five plays to open a commanding 27-7 lead as Paris scored his third touchdown of the game on a five-yard run.
Drew Hebel snagged his seventh and eighth interceptions of the season, and it was his eighth of the year that set up Trey Fleming to connect on a 43-yard field goal. Hebel intercepted the Klaer Ray pass in the end zone for the touchback. Nine plays and 54 yards later, Fleming lined up for his first field goal in four games after missing time with an injury, and split the uprights for a career-long.
After the Yellow Jackets owned the 30-7, Dickinson State scored twice in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 30-20 after Karsten Mack scored on a six-yard rush with 14:25 remaining in the game. Ray then hit Dalton Reid for a 17-yard touchdown.
However, the Yellow Jackets put the final touches on the game after Fleming hit a 30-yard field goal after the Yellow Jackets took 5:21 seconds off the clock.
With time ticking off the clock for Dickinson State, the BlueHawks marched down the field and looked prime put themselves within a touchdown of the Yellow Jacket 33-20 lead until Conrad Rice snagged the interception with 1:37 left in the game, to seal the victory. The interception was the 20th on the year for the Yellow Jackets, who entered the weekend ranked third in the nation in the category.
Black Hills State then moved into victory formation for the sixth time this year, the first time the Yellow Jackets have won six games since 2010, the same year they last had a winning record.
The Yellow Jackets pounded out 481 yards of total offense with 266 on the ground and 215 through the air from Hommel who completed 19-of-33 passes including a touchdown. Hommel's top target was Swiftwater with 97 yards on five receptions while Fleming caught two passes for 45 yards.
On the ground, Paris had the game-high 192 yards on the ground, pushing his season total to 1,014 yards and moving him just 78 yards shy of the Black Hills State career record held by Jeff Englund, when he competed from 1988-1991. Payten Gilmore ran 12 times for 58 yards to assist Paris in the backfield.
Defensively, Travis Groves tallied 12 tackles and a pass breakup while Luis Bach and Jared Tiefenthaler had seven tackles apiece. Tiefenthaler had two tackles for a loss and a sack for a loss of 13 yards. The Yellow Jackets had the three interceptions and two pass breakups for a total of five passes defended in the game.
After the only nonconference game in the season, the Yellow Jackets have two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games remaining including Saturday at Chadron State. The Yellow Jackets currently sit in third place in the conference with a 5-3 record while CSC is 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Kickoff is slated for noon in Chadron, Nebraska.
