Black Hills State football is set to open the 2023 season, taking on a Division I opponent for the fourth time in program history, against St. Thomas.
BHSU is coming off of a 2022 season which saw them finish 7-4 overall, and 5-4 in the RMAC for a fifth-place finish. After going 5-0 to open last season, 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.
A win on Saturday would give the Yellow Jackets their third straight season in which they have started 1-0, but it will be a difficult task, as DII teams defeated a DI opponent only twice all of last season. The three previous times BHSU has faced a DI opponent were in 2012 against Idaho State (L, 38-5), 2014 against Montana State (L, 57-10), and in 2015 against Idaho State (L, 55-0).
St. Thomas
Since transitioning from DIII to DI ahead of the 2021 season, the Tommies are 17-4 overall and 14-2 in the Pioneer League.
Last season they finished 10-1 overall and a perfect 8-0 in their conference to be named Pioneer League Champions. However, they were not eligible for the 2022 FCS playoffs as a then-second-year DI university in transition to full membership.
Series History
This is the first meeting between these two programs, and the first-ever DI opponent for the Yellow Jackets.
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.
Yellow Jackets' Last Time Out
Black Hills State football dropped its season finale to CSU Pueblo on Saturday, 38-0.
The Yellow Jackets (7-4, 5-4 RMAC) totaled 246 yards of offense to finish of their first winning season since 2016.
Nolan Susel rushed 13 times for 31 yards while
Cameron Goods totaled 34 rushing yards on seven carries.
Connor Boyd caught three passes for a team-high 42 receiving yards.
Chance Eben completed 16 passes for 101 passing yards, and rushed eight times for 38 yards.
Defensively,
Keenan Eck had two sacks and
Cooper Brown had one sack up front.
Deunte Moody broke up two passes while
Lovenski Simon,
Zechariah Rodriguez-Brown,
Doodles Quinones, and
Nicc Quinones each had one.
Aaron Thiele led with eight tackles, and
Ryder Blair and
Doodles Quinones made six each.
Stout defense was present on both sides early in the game, as teams traded possessions until 5:42 in the first when CSU Pueblo got on the board with a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
The Thunderwolves found the end zone again early in the second quarter to extend their lead to 14-0.
BHSU had the ability to put drives together, but couldn't finish, as the CSU Pueblo defense continued to hold tough. The Thunderwolves kept chipping away on offense and took a 21-0 lead into the break.
Out of the locker room, CSU Pueblo put up a quick score to extend their lead to 28-0. A couple drives later, BHSU strung some first downs together to get deep into CSUP territory. Facing 4th-and-5 at the CSU Pueblo 27-yard line, an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs.
Later, down 35-0 late in the third, the Yellow Jackets put together another drive, getting to midfield before an unnecessary roughness call on the Thunderwolves put BHSU into CSUP territory. Facing fourth-down at the CSUP 32, BHSU attempted a long 50-yard field goal, although it went wide right.
A CSU Pueblo field goal down the stretch in the fourth quarter would bring the score to 38-0 before time eventually expired.
Tommies' Last Time Out
Another blocked-kick return touchdown and two clutch field goals helped St. Thomas close out an unbeaten Pioneer Football League season with Saturday's 27-13 road defeat of Butler.
Sophomore RB Shawn Shipman rushed for 99 yards and QB Cade Sexauer ran for two short touchdowns in his final college game for the No. 21-ranked Tommies (10-1 overall, 8-0 Pioneer).
Coach Glenn Caruso's team finished the season on a 10-game winning streak and ran its conference victory streak to 10 games.
The Toms aren't eligible for the 2022 FCS playoffs as a second-year Division I university in transition to full membership, thus Saturday's victory caps off a fun and rewarding season with an 8-0 record and undisputed conference crown.
This championship comes 100 years after the 1922 Tommies, in season three of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, won the program's first official conference football title. St. Thomas Football now has 22 conference championships starting in 1922 and continuing in 2022.
Davidson edged Dayton 24-23 to claim the Pioneer's automatic berth into the FCS playoffs. Those teams finished tied for second at 6-2, two behind St. Thomas.
Approximately 20 St. Thomas upperclassmen were members of both the Tommies' 2019 MIAC co-champion team in Division III and this 2022 Pioneer solo championship in FCS.
Of the two dozen programs to join FCS football since 2004, St. Thomas is the first to win a conference championship in its first or second season. Kennesaw State (5-0 in Big South Conference in 2017) and North Dakota State (4-0 in Great West Conference in 2006) won league crowns in their third seasons.
Clutch special teams plays helped propel St. Thomas again. Sophomore Yusef Leak scooped a blocked field goal and ran 66 yards for a first-quarter touchdown to put the Toms ahead 14-0. Tommie junior Kam In was credited with that blocked kick.
That was St. Thomas' NCAA-leading fourth touchdown this season with a return or a recovery off a blocked kick. It was also the team's eighth special teams or return TD in this 10-game winning streak, recorded by eight different players.
Despite swirling winds, Tommie freshman kicker Stephen Shagen drilled second-half field goals of 35 and 33 yards and made both of his PAT kicks.
Leak and Johnson Fallah added key third-quarter interceptions. The Toms picked off 11 passes in eight Pioneer contests in 2022. A native of Orlando, Fla., Leak recorded fifth interception in 16 Pioneer games over his first two seasons.
Sexauer's QB sneak on 4th-and-1 for a touchdown with 1:53 to go built a 27-7 lead.
Butler answered with a scoring march capped by a short TD pass with :06 remaining to close out the scoring. The ensuing two-point try was a pass intercepted by Grif Wirtz.
St. Thomas overcame nine penalties for 115 yards. In third-down conversions, the Tommies finished 10-of-16 and limited Butler to 3-of-11. The Toms closed with a 261-231 edge in total offense.
Butler (7-4, 5-3) came into the day unbeaten on its home field at 5-0 and averaging 39 points over five previous home contests.
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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