South Dakota State clicked off a number of big plays from start to finish in posting a 63-13 Hobo Day victory over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 19,331 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The top-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. SDSU also tied the MVFC record for consecutive victories in league play at 19, matching the mark set by North Dakota State from the fall of 2017 until the 2020-21 spring season.
Angel Johnson set the tone by returning the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. The Viborg native fielded the ball at the 1-yard line on the right hash and cut down the right sideline to out-race the Penguin coverage unit. It marked the third game in a row that SDSU scored a special teams touchdown, following a punt return for touchdown Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana and blocked punt return for another score Oct. 5 at Northern Iowa.
After the Jackrabbit defense forced a three-and-out on YSU’s first offensive series, the SDSU offense went to work on an afternoon in which the Jackrabbits would average 13 yards per play.
SDSU needed only four plays to find the end zone on its first offensive possession. Amar Johnson ran for 23 yards on the first play before backup quarterback Chase Mason took a handoff from Mark Gronowski in a two-quarterback system and score from 38 yards out, giving the Jackrabbits a 14-0 lead 3 minutes and 38 seconds into the game.
Youngstown State, 2-5 overall and 1-2 in league play, converted twice on third-and-long plays to get on the board later in the first quarter with a 13-play, 54-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard field goal by Andrew Lastovka.
The Jackrabbits then reeled off the next 21 points, starting with a nine-play touchdown drive late in the first quarter in which all 79 yards came on the ground. Amar Johnson recorded gains of 29, 18 and 13 yards before Gronowski finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge.
The SDSU lead grew to 35-3 in the second quarter. After Dalys Beanum intercepted a pass and returned it to the YSU 25, Amar Johnson ran for a 5-yard score. Moments later, the Jackrabbits marched 95 yard on nine plays, closing with a 48-yard run up the middle by Mason.
YSU ended a string of 13-plus quarters in which the Jackrabbit defense did not allow a touchdown by answering with a 90-plus-yard drive of its own. Penguin quarterback Beau Brungard connected on passes of 32 yards to Latrell Fordham and 41 yards to Max Tomczak before running in from 4 yards out.
In the third quarter, the Jackrabbits turned to the air to extend their lead to 49-10 with two more 90-yard touchdown drives. Gronowski hooked up with Grahm Goering on a post route for a 45-yard score midway through the period, then found Griffin Wilde open for a 19-yard touchdown pass one play after Kirby Vorhees broke off a 74-yard run on the first play of the drive.
All three Jackrabbit quarterbacks to take a snap in the game threw a touchdown pass. Mason connected with Marcus Preston on a 4-yard touchdown five minutes into the fourth quarter and Jon Bell tossed his first collegiate touchdown pass later in the final stanza as he hit tight end Davin Stoffel from 14 yards out. Stoffel’s first career touchdown reception came after the Penguins muffed the lone SDSU punt of the afternoon, with Aydan Dautermann recovering at the YSU 14.
Mason put the Jackrabbits on the doorstep for the first fourth-quarter touchdown with a 69-yard run as he finished with a team- and career-high high 161 rushing yards on only five carries.
SDSU tallied seven plays of 20 or more yards in the game and finished with a 557-372 advantage in total offense. Of that total, 404 yards came on the ground as Vorhees notched 84 yards on three carries and Amar Johnson ended up with 64 yards on eight attempts.
Gronowski completed 8-of-13 passes for 127 yards and two scores. Wilde led the receiving corps with five catches for 62 yards.
For YSU, Brungard completed 16-of-27 passes for 169 yards and was the Penguins’ leading rusher with 59 yards on 11 carries. Tomczak hauled in six receptions for 78 yards.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Chase Van Tol led all players with a career-best nine tackles, including two for loss, for the Jackrabbits. Fellow linebackers Graham Spalding, Caleb Francl and Adam Bock registered seven stops each.
Jaylen Castleberry paced the Penguins with six tackles.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits travel to second-ranked North Dakota State for the annual Dakota Marker matchup on Oct. 19. Kickoff before a national television audience on ESPN2 is slated for 7 p.m. at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the all-time series, 18-7, and has won the last six meetings
- The Jackrabbits improved to 65-40-5 in Hobo Day games, including a 7-2 record in homecoming contests played at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
- SDSU ran its winning streak against FCS opponents to 32 games and extended its home winning streak to 24 games since a Hobo Day loss to Northern Iowa in 2021
- Angel Johnson’s kickoff return for touchdown was the first by a Jackrabbit since Cade Johnson’s 99-yard return against New Hampshire in the FCS playoffs on Dec. 9, 2017
- SDSU returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown for the first time since Tyrel Kool went 100 yards to start the game against Western Illinois on Oct. 13, 2012, at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium
- Beanum’s interception was his first of the season and 12th of career, tying him with Wayne Rasmussen (1961-63) and Mike Jaunich (1991-94) for third place on the Jackrabbits’ all-time charts
- The Jackrabbits intercepted a pass for the fourth consecutive game
- SDSU topped the 400-yard mark in rushing for the first time since a 2021 FCS playoff game against UC Davis (446 yards)
- The Jackrabbits’ 63 points were the most in a Hobo Day game since 2005 against Missouri-Rolla (64-28) and the 50-point margin of victory was the highest on Hobo Day since a 61-0 whitewashing of South Dakota in 1963
- Mason became the 20th different Jackrabbit player — and third quarterback — to rush for 100 yards in a game in the Division I era (since 2004)
- Freshman kicker Jack Stevens kicked the last two extra points for the Jackrabbits for his first collegiate points
- Attendance was the seventh-largest crowd in stadium history and the second-most for a Hobo Day game in the nine-season history of the facility