SPEARFISH, S.D. –  The Black Hills State University football team moved to 1-0 in league play for the third consecutive year on Saturday afternoon as the Yellow Jackets took care of business with a 33-7 Swarm Days victory over Fort Lewis. The defense stepped up possession-after-possession as they forced three Skyhawk fumbles, while on the offensive side of the ball the running game came to life as BHSU improved to 10-1 during the Breske Era when gaining 200 yards or more on the ground during a game.
 
QUICK DETAILS
core: Black Hills State 33, Fort Lewis 7
Team Records: Black Hills State 2-1 (1-0 RMAC), Fort Lewis 1-2 (0-1 RMAC)
Attendance: 3,741
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Despite a promising opening drive for Black Hills State that resulted in a missed 34-yard field goal, neither team gained an advantage in the first quarter as the Yellow Jackets and Skyhawks punted the ball four times.
• BHSU started to see a spark as Luke Duby found TJ Salmen on the left side of the field and hit him in stride for a 26-yard gain to move into FLC territory on the first play of their third drive that extended into the second quarter. Another big chunk play would move the Yellow Jackets inside the Fort Lewis 5-yard line as Duby scrambled out to his right and found Kelby Olson who did the rest as he ran to the 3-yard line. The ensuing play Duby faked the handoff and found an opening on the right side of the line to get into the end zone with 13:11 left in the second quarter. After a missed PAT the score would hold at 6-0.
• On the Black Hills State kickoff by Ryan Ewing, the ball took a Yellow Jacket bounce at the Fort Lewis 23-yard line and back into the hands of Nasjzaé Bryant-Lelei who held onto the ball at the bottom of the dog pile at the 27-yard line for BHSU to retain possession. The very next play Cameron Goods found a lane up the middle for a 27-yard touchdown rush. Ewing added the extra point to then make it a 13-0 game with 13:02 to play in the first half.
• All momentum continued to go Black Hills State's way as the first play of the ensuing Fort Lewis drive, Mylic Ritche busted through the line untouched and forced a fumble by Stone Walker with a massive hit on a handoff attempt while Rune Tepolt would recover the ball at the FLC 27-yard line. On the second play of the next Yellow Jacket drive the Green & Gold would once again find the end zone as Navarre Dixon III broke a tackle and found space up the middle for his first career touchdown. On the 2-point conversion attempt Duby found Connor Boyd in the right corner of the end zone but was ruled unsuccessful after stepping out of bounds before catching the pass. The score capped a sequence of three BHSU touchdowns in just the matter of 1:08 of game time as Black Hills State led 19-0 with 12:03 left in the second quarter.
• After the teams traded punts the next few possessions, Black Hills State gained control in field possession as a 43-yard punt by Derek Webster flipped the field position as he pinned the Skyhawks at their own 2-yard line. Fort Lewis picked up a pair of first downs to get out of their own end zone, however a 22-yard punt return by Boyd set up the BHSU offense at midfield for their next drive. The drive would ultimately end in a missed 45-yard field goal.
• Each of the next three possessions resulted in lost fumbles, starting with Aaron Thiele striping the ball out of Walker's arm while he was scrambling and jumping on it to give BHSU the ball at the FLC 32-yard line with 1:37 left in the half. The Yellow Jackets then lost possession when Duby lost the ball as he was hit by Tomasi Finau and recovered by Walter Stauffer to give the Skyhawks the ball at their own 32-yard line with 31 seconds to play. The final turnover during the stretch came when Talo knocked the ball out of Walker's hands once again and Wes Koenig made the recovery for BHSU at the FLC 49-yard line in the closing seconds of the first half.
• Black Hills State and Fort Lewis both were forced to punt the ball on their opening possessions of the second half, however the Yellow Jackets found the end zone once again through the ground game on their next drive when Dixon III found paydirt for the second time in the contest with a 7-yard touchdown rush. Coleman Chapman added the extra point to make it a 26-0 lead with 8:30 left on the third quarter clock.
• Fort Lewis entered Yellow Jacket territory for the first time on the day with a 19-yard pass from Jacob Morris to Jamille Humphrey and gained an extra 15 yards due to a Black Hills State penalty to get to the BHSU 26-yard line. The Yellow Jacket defense however regrouped and forced a 42-yard field goal attempt that bounced off the crossbar to keep the score 26-0.
• Their longest scoring drive of the day which took nine plays and 4:58 of game time, the Yellow Jackets found the end zone one final time in the contest early in the fourth quarter. Duby bought himself time rolling out right and found Jayden Williams cutting towards the middle of the field as he ran into the gold turf of the end zone to extend the lead. Chapman added the PAT to make it 33-0 with 10:13 left in the game.
• The Skyhawks broke up the Yellow Jacket shutout with 1:52 left in the game as they completed a 13 play, 80-yard drive in just over four minutes as Morris found Orlando Guevara in the right flat for a 1-yard touchdown pass. Hunter Villavicencio added the extra point to make the final score 33-7.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 14-of-23, 165 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 33 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Cameron Goods: 65 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Navarre Dixon III: 64 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
Jayden Williams: 2 receptions, 21 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Sebastian O'Farrell: 8 tackles
Kellen Collier: 8 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 quarterback hurry
Mylic Ritche: 5 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, 2 forced fumbles
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will face their first RMAC road contest next weekend when they travel south to #4/5 Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, September 28. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Marv Kay Stadium in Golden, Colorado.
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