DURANGO, Colo. – Black Hills State football took care of business Saturday afternoon, defeating Fort Lewis 45-17 at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

The Yellow Jackets (4-1, 2-1 RMAC) are off to their best start since the 2016 season when they started 5-1 and finished 7-4 overall.

BHSU totaled 543 yards of total offense, led by running backs Matthew Collier (103 yards) and Nolan Susel (100 yards), who each also had a receiving touchdown.

Chance Eben had another big game, scoring five total touchdowns, including three passing and two rushing. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 169 yards while adding 58 yards on the ground.

Connor Boyd led receivers with six catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the first (and second) touchdowns of his collegiate career.

On defense, Doodles Quinones led the way again with nine tackles. Aaron Thiele made five while Cody Hooker and Favour Maurice each made three.

Senior offensive lineman, Joseph Moraga took advantage of his opportunity as an eligible receiver on one play, finishing with a one-yard catch.

Fort Lewis opened the scoring to take an early 7-0 lead on their opening drive. The two teams traded possessions before BHSU answered, driving down the field using an Eben 19-yard rush and a Susel 18-yard catch before Eben punched it in with a 5-yard rush to even the score at 7-all.

The Skyhawks went back on top early in the second quarter with a field goal, making it 10-7, but the Yellow Jackets would answer again.

BHSU got the ball back and fed running back Clarence Johnson four straight times for a total of 47 yards before Eben capped off the drive again, this time with a 4-yard rush to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead, 14-10.

BHSU took advantage of good field position their next drive, getting close enough for a 40-yard field goal from Jacob Parks to extend the lead to 17-10, a score that held into halftime.

The Yellow Jackets would pad their lead out of the break with a quick 3-minute drive to extend their lead to 24-10 on a 26-yard touchdown catch by Susel. They scored again on their next drive with a 5-yard catch by Boyd to make it 31-10 through three quarters of play.

Boyd found the endzone again at 13:30 in the fourth quarter to build the BHSU lead to 38-10. FLC would score again to make it 38-17, but the Yellow Jackets scored one more time on a Collier catch and run 8-yard touchdown to make it 45-17 which would hold the rest of the way.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets return to Spearfish next week for their Heroes Day Game on Saturday, Oct. 9 as they host Colorado School of Mines. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.