Black Hills State football kicks off with New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. is its homecoming game.
The Yellow Jackets were dealt their first RMAC loss of the year last week after receiving votes on the Week 4 AFCA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll for the third time in program history.
Yellow Jackets Ranked
Through four games this season, BHSU ranks top-20 nationally in four different statistical categories, including 13th in blocked kicks (3), 17th in passing offense (275.2), 18th in passing efficiency (167.0) and 19th in completion percentage (65.8%).
Among individual ranks,
Tanner Clarkson sits 11th in the nation in passing yards (1,363), total offense (310.0), and yards per pass attempt (9.47). He is also 13th in passing efficiency (167.9) and passing yards per game (272.6).
Hasaan Williams is 13th nationally in receiving touchdowns (5), 14th in receiving yards (465), 15th in receptions per game (6.6) and 19th in receiving yards per game (93.0).
Nolan Susel ranks 15th in the nation in total touchdowns (7) and 22nd in total points scored (42).
TJ Chukwurah is 12th in the nation in yards per catch (22.7).
Coleman Chapman's average of 1.6 field goals per game ranks him fifth in the nation.
New Mexico Highlands
The Cowboys are 2-3 this year, having earned wins over Western New Mexico and Fort Lewis and are now coming off a pair of losses to South Dakota Mines (42-7) on Sept. 23 and Adams State (21-14) last weekend.
While they have struggled offensively this season, ranking last in the conference in passing offense, NMHU has been solid defensively, specifically against the run game, allowing just 139.8 yards per game on the ground. They are also sixth in the nation in sacks allowed (0.6 per game), 12th in fewest turnovers lost (4) and 14th in defensive touchdowns (2).
Their linebacker, Ethan Simley currently leads the nation with three fumble recoveries.
Series History
The Yellow Jackets and Cowboys are even at 5-5 in their 10 matchups all-time. The two teams have been evenly matched over the years, also going 3-3 over their last six and 4-4 over their last eight, although NMHU has won each of the last three meetings.
Tickets
Tickets and Will Call open 1.5 hours prior to kickoff (11:30 a.m. MT). To purchase tickets, please go online
here and order them now to avoid lines on game day.
Coverage
Yellow Jacket fans can catch Steve Ammerman on KDSJ 980 AM/103.5 FM, or live online at https://listen.streamon.fm/kdsjam. Ammerman is the voice of the Yellow Jacket Athletics and can be heard for every football, and women's and men's basketball game throughout the year.
A live video stream of the game can be viewed free at rmacnetwork.com/bhsu.
Yellow Jackets' Last Time Out
Black Hills State football fell in the 138th Black Hills Brawl, 49-14, to South Dakota Mines Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (3-2, 2-1 RMAC) were held to only 95 rushing yards, while still totaling 328 yards of offense.
Tanner Clarkson completed 18 of 26 passes for 233 yards while accumulating 23 yards on the ground on 11 rushing attempts.
Cameron Goods scored his first touchdown of the season on nine rushes for 39 yards while
Nolan Susel also rushed nine times for 34 yards.
TJ Chukwurah tallied 117 yards receiving on five catches while
Hasaan Williams made six catches for 47 yards.
On special teams
Lovenski Simon returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Defensively,
Nicc Quinones led the squad with seven tackles.
Doodles Quinones and
Zecheriah Rodriguez-Brown each had six tackles and a pass breakup.
Ryder Blair also made six tackles and
Deunte Moody added a breakup as well.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Hardrockers struck first with a touchdown in their opening drive of the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
SDM scored another touchdown with 6:33 to go in the first half, before making it 21 unanswered going into halftime.
The Yellow Jackets got some offensive momentum going in the third with a strong drive that was erased by a fumble, before finding the endzone on their next drive with a 4-yard rush from Goods to make it a 21-7 game with 6:07 to go in the third.
The Hardrockers answered with another score, though, taking a 28-7 lead into the final quarter of play. Simon would return a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but ultimately went on to lose 49-14.
Cowboys' Last Time Out
New Mexico Highlands battled Adams State and Mother Nature but came up on the short end of a 21-14 decision in the 2023 Homecoming Game Saturday afternoon, that ran into Saturday evening, at Sanchez Family Stadium.
The Cowboys are now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. Adams State improves to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the RMAC.
The teams traded opening quarter touchdowns with Adams State drawing first blood on a seven play 53-yard scoring drive just four minutes into the game. NMHU would answer when Malik Norman punched it in from one yard out to cap an 81-yard scoring drive to even the score at seven.
Adams State scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to jump to a 21-7 lead at the half.
And that's when Mother Nature officially entered the contest. The two teams would endure weather delays of nearly four hours as rain, hail, and plenty of lightning peppered the Las Vegas area keeping the teams in their respective locker rooms.
Play would finally resume shortly after 6:00 pm with the Cowboys taking the second half kickoff on an impressive 12 play, 74-yard scoring drive that chewed up over six minutes of time. Malik Norman scored on a six-yard run to cap the drive and pull the Cowboys to within seven at 21-14.
The Cowboys would put together one last drive in the fourth quarter that ended when the Adams State defense stopped a fourth-down play on its own 11-yard line with 21 seconds remaining to secure the win.
The Cowboys amassed 247 yards on the ground Saturday led by junior quarterback Joey Cave's 107 yards on 16 carries. In addition to his two touchdowns, Malik Norman had 63 yards on nine attempts. Cave was 16 of 27 for 91 yards passing.
Defensively, Devin Coney had eight tackles to lead NMHU while Gannon Ginnis added seven tackles. Coney and Ginnis each had a sack as well. Demond Young intercepted Adams State quarterback Chase Nelson to end an Adams State drive in the third quarter.
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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