SPEARFISH, S.D. – After falling behind by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, the Black Hills State University football team came from behind to earn a 48-31 win over New Mexico Highlands. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cowboys 31-6 in the second half as they notched their third win in the last four weeks of the season, securing their third consecutive winning season. The streak of consecutive years above .500 is the longest in BHSU's DII history and the longest since they had six straight winning seasons from 2005-10.
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QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 48, New Mexico Highlands 31
Team Records: Black Hills State 6-5 (5-4 RMAC), New Mexico Highlands 2-9 (2-7 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,031
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both New Mexico Highlands and Black Hills State scored on their first offensive possessions of the game. The Cowboys started the game with a double pass play, first going backwards to Teneil Nichols, who then found Mike Jones down the right side of the field and into Yellow Jacket territory for a 50-yard pick up. NMHU capped the drive with a 13-yard rush as quarterback Joey Cave found room up the middle and carried the ball into the end zone with 12:35 left in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked by Nikolas Arnold who got a hand on the ball with a push by the defensive line at the line of scrimmage. On the Yellow Jackets first drive of the game the Green & Gold recorded a pair of first downs prior to stalling at the NMHU 38-yard line, and there the field goal unit would come onto the field and Ryan Ewing connected on a 55-yard field goal with 9:51 remaining in the quarter. The field goal was his second of 55 or more yards this season, making him one of just eight kickers in all three divisions of NCAA football to do so this season, and furthermore he is one of just two non-FBS kickers on that list.
- After trading punts the next two possessions the teams once again answered each other's scores with both teams finding the end zone. Another big pass play for the Cowboys on a double pass resulted in a 77-yard gain as Jacob Ledesma IV found Tevita Valeti behind the defense before Sebastian O'Farrell made the touchdown saving tackle at the BHSU 8-yard line. Two plays later Cave rushed for his second touchdown of the day, this time from two yards out with 2:08 left on the first quarter clock. The ensuing PAT by Logan Matthews was no good as the score remained 12-3 in favor of NMHU. The ensuing drive for Black Hills State only took three plays as Cameron Goods found a whole in the right side of the line and sprinted 62-yards for the longest rush play of the season for the Yellow Jackets and touchdown. The extra point attempt from Ewing was good, making it a 12-10 ball game with 45 seconds still remaining in the opening quarter.
- NMHU's offense continued to move the ball as they scored once again on the ensuing drive as a 58-yard rush by Malik Norman set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Valeti with 13:38 remaining in the second quarter. Matthews' extra point attempt was good to extend the lead to 19-10. The Black Hills State offense was forced to punt after a pair of first downs the next drive and New Mexico Highlands once again took advantage as they added to their lead and scored on their third consecutive drive. This time a 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 5:10 off the clock, was capped on a 5-yard touchdown rush up the middle by Cave with 5:10 left in the first half. Matthews missed the extra point again and the scored stayed 25-10 in favor of NMHU.
- Black Hills State had one final response prior to the halftime break with a touchdown drive highlighted by Luke Duby scrambling and standing in, taking hit which would be called roughing the passer, and finding Kelby Olson cutting across the field towards the left sideline for a 45-yard gain to the NMHU 15-yard line. Two plays later Navarre Dixon III shifted his way through the middle of the line and into the end zone with 2:19 left in the half. Ewing added the extra point, and the teams eventually went into the locker rooms with the Cowboys still leading 25-17.
- Following punts by both teams to begin the second half, Black Hills State was the first to score as Goods found the end zone for the second time on the day with a 1-yard rushing touchdown just a few plays after he started the drive with a 36-yard rush to the NMHU 34-yard line and a 28-yard rush by Duby to set up 1st Down & Goal at the 6-yard line. After the touchdown Duby found Ashar Granger in the back right corner of the end zone for a toe touch grab with a defender on him, helping BHSU even the score at 25 apiece with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
- The ensuing New Mexico Highlands possession resulted in the first turnover of the contest as Doodles Quinones forced and recovered a fumble at the NMHU 35-yard line with 7:37 remaining in the quarter. The offense then capitalized on the field position, despite a penalty on the first play of the drive setting them back, as Duby found Granger for 30-yard and 12-yard pass plays as they set up a 1-yard touchdown rush for Goods' third of the afternoon to give BHSU their first lead. Ewing added the PAT to make it 32-25 with 4:12 left in the third.
- The defense continued to do their thing the next Cowboy drive as a three and out resulted in a blocked punt by Kelby Olson, which saw the ball go out the back of the end zone for a safety and making it a 34-25 Yellow Jacket lead with 1:54 left in the third.
- Both teams missed field goals on back-to-back possessions as Ewing missed a 58-yard field goal attempt wide right for BHSU, while the 35-yard field goal attempt by Matthews for NMHU was blocked by Mylic Ritche. The blocked kick by Ritche was his third of the year, moving him into a tie for fourth nationally.
- The momentum continued to swing in the direction of Black Hills State as they extended the lead with their lone passing touchdown of the day as Duby found Peyton Millis in the right flat and the Spearfish native did the rest as he made a defender miss and found open space into the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown reception with 10:29 left in the game. Ewing connected on the extra point to make it a 41-25 lead.
- The final New Mexico Highlands touchdown was from 3-yards out by Norman after a rush went for 13-yards and a pass play went for 12 yards. The option play on the 2-point conversion was sniffed out by the Yellow Jacket defense immediately as Cooper Brown and Jayden Marquez were involved in the stop to keep it a two possession game, 41-31, with 7:06 remaining in the game.
- The ensuing drive BHSU went 11-plays for 75-yards and spanned 5:17 of game time, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Nasjzaé Bryant-Lelei, his second of the season, with 1:49 remaining on the clock. The drive started with runs of 11 and 21-yards respectively by Goods and Dixon III. Ewing made his final extra point of the season to make the final 48-31 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 16-of-22 passing, 189 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 62 rushing yards
Cameron Goods: 19 rushing attempts, 147 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 7.7 yards per carry
Navarre Dixon III: 11 rushes, 62 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 5.6 yards per carry
Kelby Olson: 3 receptions, 58 receiving yards
Nicc Quinones: 5 tackles, 1 forced fumble
Sebastian O'Farrell: 5 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack
Mylic Ritche: 4 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 blocked field goal
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