Black Hills State football overcame a 21-point deficit Saturday to win an overtime thriller against Adams State, 51-48 on Swarm Day.

Down 24-3 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets, (3-1, 1-1 RMAC) sent the 2021 homecoming and hall of fame crowd of 2,784 home happy, earning the win in overtime after tying the game in the closing minutes.

Chance Eben and Nolan Susel each totaled three rushing touchdowns on the day. Eben ran 19 times for 113 yards, and also completed 16 of 27 passes for 190 yards.

Susel added 13 carries for 51 yards, while Matthew Collier finished with 174 yards on 23 carries.

In the air, Susel and Kielar Harpham each had four catches, Susel totaling 63 yards, and Harpham 55.

Doodles Quinones was everywhere on defense, totaling 21 tackles. Lovenski Simon broke up three passes, and Isaiah Tivis and Ryder Blair each had two.

The Yellow Jackets got an early stop on Adams State's first possession, but the Grizzlies went up 3-0 with a field goal on their second drive. BHSU answered on their next possession, driving down close enough for a 28-yard Jacob Parks field goal to tie the game at 3-all.

From there, Adam's State took advantage of some mistakes and outscored BHSU 21-0 over the remainder of the first half, making it a 24-3 score at halftime.

BHSU received the ball out of the break, and marched down the field, capping a 71-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from Eben to cut the deficit to 24-10.

The Yellow Jacket defense held ASU to another stop to give the ball back to the offense. The ensuing drive saw big runs from Collier, including a 29-yard rush, before Susel punched it in with an 11-yard run, making it a 24-17 ASU lead.

Adams State would later go up 31-17, but BHSU's offense wasn't done. Their next possession saw a big gain from Hasaan Williams for 15 yards before the drive was capped by a Collier 26-yard run to make it 31-24 with 13:10 in the fourth.

The two teams kept up the back-and-forth play as ASU added on to make it 38-24, and BHSU answered yet again on their following drive with an Eben 36-yard touchdown to make it a 38-30 game with 9:19 to play.

On their final drive of regulation, Eben found Susel deep down the right sideline, putting them at the ASU 1-yard line. Susel would run it in on the next play, and then used a successful pass to Harpham for the 2-pt conversion to tie things up at 38-38 with 1:41 to play. 

Both defenses held tough through the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Adams State won the toss and scored first, but BHSU answered with a 6-yard rush from Susel. The Yellow Jackets defense hunkered down on Adams State's next possession, and with the help of an offensive pass interference call, kept the Grizzlies to a field goal, making it 48-44.

BHSU kept the ball on the ground their next and final drive as they did the whole game, using four running plays to eventually seal the 51-48 comeback victory on a game-winning 17-yard touchdown run from Eben.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets hit the road again next weekend as they head to Fort Lewis to take on the Skyhawks Saturday, Oct. 2 at 12 p.m.