Black Hills State football hosts its final game of the 2022 season on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 12 p.m. to take on CSU Pueblo, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the region.
The Yellow Jackets will also be honoring their seven seniors with a recognition ceremony prior to kickoff.
BHSU is currently 7-3 on the season after going 5-0 to open the year, and has now won of its last two games by a total score of 113-7.
A win on Saturday would give the Yellow Jackets eight wins on the season, something that the BHSU football program has only done three times in its history, last reaching the milestone in 1984 when the team finished 8-2 and were SDIC Tri-Champions.
Currently in fourth place, the Yellow Jacket defense ranks second in the RMAC, allowing only 19.2 points per game. BHSU also hold the fifth-best offense in the league averaging 31.0 points per game while having scored 41 touchdowns and kicking nine field goals.
BHSU may be able to continue its success on the ground, as their league-leading rushing offense in the RMAC, averaging 172.6 yards per game, goes up against Pueblo's fifth-ranked rush defense.
Nationally, the Yellow Jackets' currently lead all of DII with an .844 4th-down conversion percentage. The team is also top-15 in the nation in several other categories, ranking seventh in interceptions (15), 11th in 4th-down conversion defense (.259), 12th in gained turnovers (23), and 13th in sacks per game (3.4).
CSU Pueblo
The Thunderwolves currently sit in second place in the RMAC standings behind only No. 8/11 Colorado Mines. CSUP is 7-3 overall and 6-2 in RMAC play.
Pueblo ranks second in the conference in offense, scoring 37.0 per game, and third defensively, allowing 21.8 points per game. They do have a very strong pass defense, sitting second in the RMAC while giving up 201.0 passing yards per game, and a league-leading 17 interceptions as a team.
Series History
Black Hills State is 0-9 all-time against CSU Pueblo dating back to 2012. Although BHSU was shutout by Pueblo in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Yellow Jackets tested them last year, holding them to only 19 points while falling 19-16.
League Leaders
Nolan Susel ranks second in the RMAC with 14 total touchdowns, and second in total rushing touchdowns (13). He also sits second in total rushing yards (712), second in rushing attempts (153), and fourth in rushing yards per game (71.2).
Cameron Goods, while ranking T-15th in rushing attempts (64), ranks seventh in total yards (481) and second in yards per carry (7.5).
Receiving,
Hasaan Williams ranks third in the RMAC in receptions per game (6.0) and total receptions (60), while ranking ninth in receiving yards (591). Williams is tied for sixth in receiving touchdowns with six.
Redshirt freshman receiver
TJ Chukwurah is currently leading the RMAC with an average of 23.9 yards per catch.
Special teams has also been a bright spot this season, as redshirt freshman kicker
Coleman Chapman is tied for fourth in the RMAC with nine field goals this season, and ranks tied for 10th in the RMAC in all offensive scoring with 64 points scored this season.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets have three of the top-10 in the RMAC among passes defended, and five in the top 15.
Lovenski Simon and
Deunte Moody are both tied for second with 11, and
Doodles Quinones is tied for seventh with seven.
Nicc Quinones has four interceptions this season which is tied for second, and his two touchdowns on 278 return yards both lead the RMAC. Klaus Souffrant and
Zechariah Rodriguez-Brown each have three interceptions and are tied for fifth.
Ryder Blair and
Aaron Thiele rank both rank top-10 in the league in tackles. Blair is sixth with 72 tackles, and Thiele is seventh with 71.
True freshman Keenan Eck and Cooper Brown have also been outstanding this season. Eck is currently second in the RMAC with 6.5 sacks, and also leads the league with three forced fumbles as he is making a strong case for RMAC Freshman of the Year.
Brown is tied for sixth in the RMAC with 5.5 sacks this season and ties for the league lead with two fumble recoveries.
RMAC Weekly Honors
Week 2, 9/12
Linebacker
Ryder Blair was named Defensive Player of the Week and kicker
Coleman Chapman earned Special Teams Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Week 3, 9/19
Sophomore linebacker
Aaron Thiele was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Week 4, 9/26
Redshirt freshman kicker
Coleman Chapman was named RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his second time this season.
Week 9, 10/31
Redshirt freshman kicker
Coleman Chapman was named RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his third time this season.
Week 10, 11/7
Sophomore safety
Nicc Quinones was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
RMAC All-Academic
On Nov. 9,
Ryder Blair was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, the first Yellow Jacket to earn the honor.
He was also named First Team All-Academic along with
Aaron Thiele on the defensive side, while
Anthony Rosenstrauch and
Nolan Susel earned First Team All-Academic on offense.
12 were named to the RMAC Honor Roll list, including
Nate Clay,
Claysen Davis,
Harold Dobbin,
Chance Eben,
Wes Koenig,
Cameron Reiman,
Derek Riederer,
Lewin Runde,
Caleb Simons,
Morgan Tigner,
Trey Tremblay, and
Jamin Wurtz.
National Rankings
Black Hills State football received votes on the Week 6 AFCA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Oct. 10 for just the second time in program history, and the first time since Oct 10, 2016.
Coverage
Yellow Jacket fans can now catch Steve Ammerman on KDSJ 980 AM/103.5 FM, or live online at https://listen.streamon.fm/kdsjam. Ammerman is the voice of Yellow Jacket Athletics and can be heard for every football, and women's and men's basketball game throughout the year.
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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