SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University football team fell for the first time at Lyle Hare Stadium this season on Saturday afternoon as they dropped a 35-14 game to No. 8/10 Western Colorado. The Yellow Jackets struck first as they grabbed the momentum with a 65-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown by
Lovenski Simon, however the spark would be short lived as the Mountaineers scored 28 unanswered points entering halftime, 21 of which occurred in the final three minutes before the break. The defenses then went on to control the second half as BHSU held a 150-93 advantage in yardage, including 87 yards that occurred on one scoring drive for the Black Hills State offense.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 14, No. 8/10 Western Colorado 35
Team Records: Black Hills State 3-3 (2-2 RMAC), No. 8/10 Western Colorado 6-0 (4-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 2,476
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the teams traded punts on the first three possessions of the game, Western Colorado drove down the field and looked to put the first points of the contest onto the board with a 43-yard field goal attempt by Adam Tasei, however Mylic Ritche busted through the line for his second blocked field goal of the season. The ball was then scooped up by Lovenski Simon who returned it 65-yards for a touchdown. Ryan Ewing tacked on the extra point as Black Hills State took a 7-0 lead with 4:11 left in the first quarter.
- While it was the Yellow Jackets with the first big momentum play on the blocked field goal, the Mountaineers wasted no time to produce a response as Drew Nash found Victory David open cutting across the middle of the field as he raced into the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown reception. Tasei added the extra point for WCU to even the game at seven apiece with 3:15 remaining on the first quarter clock.
- Following another BHSU punt, Western Colorado put together another lengthy drive as they marched the ball down into the red zone for a first down at the Yellow Jacket 19-yard line. The Black Hills State defense, however, stepped up as Isaiah Morales sacked Nash for a loss of 11 yards back to the 30-yard line and then made a big fourth down stop as a quarterback hurry by Cooper Brown and Nicc Quinones rushed the pass while Doodles Quinones stopped the receiver plenty short of the first down marker for a turnover on downs with 9:25 left in the second quarter.
- The turning point in the RMAC contest occurred in the final three minutes of the first half as the Mountaineers capitalized on a pair of Yellow Jacket turnovers that led to 21 points to take a three-possession lead into the halftime break. WCU first scored on a 53-yard touchdown on a trick play when Sage Yazzie passed the ball after receiving the lateral in the left flat and found Josiah Ayon with an open path into the end zone down the left side line with 2:42 remaining in the second quarter. Then following a BHSU fumble on the first play of the ensuing possession, Western Colorado scored on their second play as Royce Pao found room around the right side for a 20-yard rushing touchdown to make it 21-7 with 2:24 left on the clock till halftime. An interception on the first play of the next Yellow Jacket possession then gave Western Colorado another opportunity to start in plus territory on their final drive of the half. The Mountaineers cashed in on the final turnover with just 13 seconds left as Nash found Yazzie in the right corner of the end zone to make it a 28-7 ball game.
- The punters once again saw their fair share of action in the beginning of the second half as each of the first three possessions ended in punts before the Black Hills State offense found the end zone. Capping a 16-play, 87-yard drive that took 8:14 of game time, was a 16-yard touchdown pass from Luke Duby to Jayden Williams. Ewing's extra point cut the deficit to 28-14 with just five seconds left in the third quarter.
- Despite the Yellow Jacket defense forcing a turnover on downs with a stop at the line of scrimmage by Matthew Lofaso and Rune Tepolt, along with forcing back-to-back punts by the Mountaineers, Black Hills State was unable to sustain a drive to cut into the deficit any further in the fourth quarter.
- Western Colorado recorded the final score of the game with 2:01 remaining in the contest as Nash found Daniel Parsek in the right flats as he then proceeded to find open space into the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown pass. Tasei's extra point brought the score to 35-14.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 17-of-33, 157 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown
Damien Boozer: 4 receptions, 61 receiving yards
Jayden Williams: 3 receptions, 44 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Zecheriah Rodriguez-Brown: 11 tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss
Sebastian O'Farrell: 9 tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss
Mylic Ritche: 5 tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss, 1 blocked field goal
Lovenski Simon: 5 tackles, 1 touchdown
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will be back on the road next weekend when they play their third nationally ranked opponent in a four-week span as they visit No. 16/14 CSU Pueblo. The Yellow Jackets and ThunderWolves are slated for a 1 p.m. kick-off at the ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colorado, on Saturday, October 19.
