SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University football team closed out the 2025 season with their second consecutive win, securing a 55-28 win over New Mexico Highlands at Lyle Hare Stadium on Saturday. The win marked the first time in the DII era that the Yellow Jackets have scored a touchdown in all three facets of the game (offense, defense, and special teams) in a contest. Additionally, it was the first time in the DII era that the offense has scored 50 or more points in back-to-back games, building off a 59-point outing last week at Adams State, and defensively the Green & Gold tied for the third most turnovers forced in a game since 2012 with six that led to a 24-7 advantage in points off turnovers in the game. It was the big momentum plays that allowed the Yellow Jackets to run away with the victory, scoring on a 94-yard kickoff return, 49-yard pass play, 43-yard fumble recovery, and a 76-yard rush play.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 55, New Mexico Highlands 28
Team Records: Black Hills State 3-8 (3-6 RMAC), New Mexico Highlands 6-5 (4-5 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,723
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• There were fireworks early in the season finale with a combined 17 points in a 30 second time span between the two teams in the first five minutes of action. The first big momentum play came as Terrence Curtis picked off his first pass of his Yellow Jacket career on New Mexico Highland's first drive of the game, giving the BHSU offense the ball in plus territory at the NMHU 39-yard line to start their first possession. The Green & Gold moved the chains twice on their first drive with an 11-yard reception for Kelby Olson from Luke Duby and a 17-yard rush by Cameron Goods, however, the drive stalled and they would take a 30-yard field goal from Ryan Ewing with 10:51 to play in the first quarter. The Cowboys then made up for the interception the previous drive and answered, giving the ball to one of the nation's top running backs as Jeffery Jones took a pitch to the right and found the sideline for a 75-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the drive to make it 7-3 with 10:39 showing on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff the RMAC's top return man got his first opportunity to touch the ball and took full advantage, taking the ball 94-yards to the house for his second kickoff return touchdown of the year, giving the Yellow Jackets a 10-7 lead with 10:21 left in the opening quarter.
• With the help of a 31-yard rush by Jones down the right sideline to move the ball across midfield on the first play of the next Cowboy drive and the assistance of a personal foul penalty by the Yellow Jackets, NMHU regained the lead at 14-10 with a 22-yard passing touchdown from Collin Stucki to Maurice Collier Jr. as Stucki evaded the rush and Collier broke a tackle along the right sideline to find the end zone with 6:11 to play in the first quarter.
• Black Hills State capped the scoring and retook the lead (17-14) in a busy first quarter of action with a 6-play, 71-yard drive that saw Goods end the drive with 3-yard rushing touchdown with 2:50 to play as he took an option pitch to the left into the end zone after he nearly scored the play earlier on a 23-yard carry to the right sideline to get to first and goal.
• Just over a minute into the second quarter the scoring continued as the Yellow Jackets pushed their lead to ten (24-14) with the 16^th touchdown of the year by TJ Chukwurah as Duby found him open across the middle for a 49-yard reception. The 16^th receiving touchdown of the year moved him into a tie for second all-time on the school's single season rankings.
• The Green & Gold forced their second turnover of the match-up just minutes later as Luke Clay wrestled the ball away from Collier on a jump ball down inside the BHSU 10-yard line. The offense took advantage right away of the turnover, as Duby first completed a 39-yard pass to Chukwurah between a pair of defenders to move the ball out near midfield on the opening play of the drive. Later in the drive, after Goods moved the chains twice with receptions of 20 and 13 yards respectively, the Yellow Jackets cashed in as linebacker Sebastian O'Farrell entered the offensive formation and scored a 2-yard touchdown on his first career reception when Duby found him in the right flats to make it 31-14 with 6:30 to play in the second quarter.
• New Mexico Highlands again answered the Black Hills State touchdown, rushing the ball the first six plays of the drive before a 34-yard receiving touchdown from Stucki to Mike Jones capped the drive with 2:06 to play in the first half and cut the lead to 31-21.
• After a BHSU punt, the Yellow Jacket defense forced their third turnover of the opening half, as Dalan Kennedy recorded a sack fumble of Stucki, and Cooper Brown picked up the loose ball at the NMHU 43-yard line and raced to the end zone untouched for his first career touchdown in his final collegiate game to put the Yellow Jackets up 38-21 with 1:19 left before the halftime break.
• Following a punt for New Mexico Highlands, the Yellow Jackets had one last opportunity to put points on the board as Olson and Chukwurah caught passes for 12 and 21 yards respectively to move the ball into Cowboy territory, however, a 54-yard field goal attempt by Ewing would miss wide left as time expired on the half with a 17-point BHSU advantage.
• A streak of 115 consecutive passes without throwing an interception came to an end for Duby on the opening drive of the second half, however, the defense forced a three and out and Coulson once again used his return abilities to take the punt 37-yards to the NMHU 13-yard line. It then only took the offense one play to find the end zone as Goods scored his second touchdown of the contest on a 13-yard carry through the left side of the line with 8:17 to play in the third quarter as it became a 45-21 ball game.
• Following a second Black Hills State interception in the third quarter that saw Kaleb Sells return the ball 52 yards to the BHSU 5-yard line, it took the Cowboys six plays before eventually cracking the Yellow Jacket defense inside the 5-yard line as Tevita Valeti ran the ball 1-yard into the end zone with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.
• Answering the NMHU touchdown, the BHSU offense got back in rhythm with a 36-yard pass down the middle of the field with Duby tossing it up Ashar Granger at the NMHU 41-yard line. A Cowboy penalty would move the chains one more time, but the Green & Gold would end the possession with a 41-yard field goal by Ryan Ewing with 14:16 to play in the game to push the lead to 48-28.
• Coulson added to his impressive season finale performance with his first interception of the game, snagging the ball out of the air and giving the offense the ball at their own 16-yard line. Goods would begin the drive with an eight yard carry and then put a bow on what matched a career-best 3-touchdown performance with a 76-yard rushing touchdown as he found a hole through the middle of the offensive line to cap the scoring at 55-28 with 11:16 to play in the game.
• The Yellow Jacket defense and special teams continued to be a force the final ten minutes as Rune Tepolt forced a fumble that was recovered by Kaleb Tulloss as NMHU looked to enter the red zone the ensuing possession. While the offense was unable to move the chains, Mason Crosby flipped the field with a 70-yard punt downed at the NMHU 1-yard line. It was his second punt of more than 70-yards this year and his fourth that has pinned an opponent inside their own 5-yard line. The Green & Gold then snagged their sixth turnover of the game as Coulson hauled in his second pick of the game, securing it at the BHSU 2-yard line and returning it 38-yards to the BHSU 40-yard line.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 22-of-32, 323 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns
Cameron Goods: 17 rushes, 169 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 4 receptions, 40 receiving yards
TJ Chukwurah: 7 receptions, 147 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Cole Marquez: 8 total tackles
Cooper Brown: 6 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 1 touchdown
Bryce Coulson: 2 total tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 punt returns, 52 punt return yards, 2 kickoff returns, 109 kickoff return yards, 1 kickoff return touchdown
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