Black Hills State football used a game-winning 50-yard field goal in the final seconds of what had been a back-and-fourth game to move past Colorado Mesa, 25-23, Saturday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets (3-1, 2-0 RMAC) fought for all 60 minutes in a game that had eight lead changes and saw neither team lead by more than seven points.

Coleman Chapman finished the day with four 30+ yard field goals. Along with his 50-yard game winner, he also booted through kicks of 33 yards, 36 yards and 48 yards, totaling 167 yards.

Tanner Clarkson completed 26 of 42 passing attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also had nine carries for 18 yards.

Hasaan Williams hauled in a game-high 10 catches, while TJ Chukwurah and Jamin Wurtz each had receiving touchdowns. Wurtz's score came on his lone reception of the day for 25 yards, and Chukwurah made two catches for 39 yards.

On the ground, Nolan Susel tallied 77 yards on 14 attempts, including a long run of 29 yards in the fourth quarter. Cameron Goods had 12 rushes for 54 yards.

Defensively, Nicc Quinones had a big takeaway in the fourth quarter with an interception that he returned 23 yards. He also finished with a tackle.

Ryder Blair led the team with seven tackles, and Aaron Thiele made six. Cooper Brown and Jayden Marquez each had five tackles.

The Yellow Jacket defense stalled CMU's opening drive, but the Mavericks would score on their next one using an 84-yard reception to take a 7-0 lead.

BHSU answered with a 48-yard field goal from Chapman to make it 7-3 midway through the first before moving ahead 10-7 in their final drive of the first quarter on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jamin Wurtz in the back on the end zone.

The game remained 10-7 until midway through the second when CMU used a 9-yard touchdown pass to re-take the lead, 14-10.

As time ticked down in the opening half, the Yellow Jackets would use a 4-minute, 8-play drive that ended in a 36-yard TJ Chukwurah touchdown catch and run to move in front 16-14 at the break.

In what was a quiet third quarter, BHSU found a way to add on to their lead with Chapman's second field goal of the day, a 33-yarder, to build the lead to 19-14 which held into the fourth.

The Mavericks weren't done, though, finding the end zone to move back on top 20-19 with 9:02 left to play.

Then a few minutes later, the Yellow Jackets offense once again got into field goal range, leading to a 36-yard field goal from Chapman to make it 22-20 in favor of BHSU with 4:04 remaining.

CMU's following drive was cut short thanks to an interception by Nicc Quinones who ran down an overthrown deep ball before returning it 23 yards.

BHSU went 3-and-out on their ensuing drive, though, giving CMU the opportunity to re-take the lead. But while the Mavericks were able to kick a go-ahead field goal and move ahead 23-22, two crucial BHSU timeouts left 38 seconds on the clock for the Yellow Jacket offense.

The final drive for BHSU saw a quick first down using an 11-yard pass to Susel who got out of bounds to stop the clock. Then Clarkson rushed six yards and got out of bounds, before two more quick passes, each to McKibbin for 12 yards and three yards put the Yellow Jackets at the CMU 33 with six seconds to go.

Chapman lined up for the 50-yard game winner and sent the ball through the uprights, all but sealing the victory for BHSU, 25-23.

Notes

• This is the first time BHSU has ever beaten Colorado Mesa in back-to-back years.
• The two-point win is the lowest margin of victory between these two teams in their 12-game history, just edging out last year's three-point Yellow Jacket win (31-28).

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets return home to host the 138th Black Hills Brawl with South Dakota Mines on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m.