South Dakota State scored 28 points in the second quarter for the second week in a row, rolling to a 41-10 victory over Southern Illinois in the Jackrabbits’ regular season home finale Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
With the Senior Day win, third-ranked SDSU won for the fourth time in a row to improve to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Salukis dropped to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in league play.
The Jackrabbits scored on five of their six first-half offensive possessions and were led offensively by a career day from running back Amar Johnson. The senior from O’Fallon, Missouri, set the tone on his first carry of the game, picking up 43 yards to set up a 24-yard field goal by Hunter Dustman to close out the Jackrabbits’ first drive of the game.
Meanwhile, SIU turned the ball over on downs on each of its first two possessions and didn’t convert a third-down attempt until midway through the third quarter.
After Angel Johnson scored on a 5-yard run on the second play of the second quarter for a 10-0 Jackrabbit lead, SDSU quickly went up by three scores after the first of two interceptions by safety Matthew Durrance gave the Jackrabbits the ball at the SIU 20. Six plays later, quarterback Mark Gronowski plunged in from a yard out.
SDSU built its lead to 31-0 with two more touchdowns in the back half of the second quarter. Amar Johnson clicked off a 33-yard rush before scoring on a 9-yard touchdown run with 3:31 to play in the half, then the Jackrabbits marched 78 yards on eight plays in a two-minute situation that included pass plays of 32 and 22 yards to Angel Johnson and Lofton O’Groske, respectively, to lead to a 4-yard scoring run by Kirby Vorhees.
The Jackrabbits put their final tallies on the board on their first two drives of the second half. Dustman connected on a 39-yard field goal on the first possession, which was followed by a 3-yard touchdown run by Amar Johnson, who finished the afternoon with a career-high 157 yards on 14 carries while adding three receptions for 34 yards.
As a team, SDSU rushed for 288 yards and held a 503-233 advantage in total offense.
The Salukis ended SDSU’s shutout bid with a 48-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Michael Lindauer to Allen Middleton on a fourth-and-6 play late in the third quarter. The touchdown marked the first third-quarter points the SDSU defense has allowed in MVFC play this season.
Gronowski put together another efficient passing day by completing 11-of-17 attempts for 185 yards. Griffin Wilde shared team-high honors with three catches for 50 yards.
SIU starting quarterback Jake Curry was good on 8-of-15 passes for 54 yards, while Lindauer compiled a 12-for-17 day through the air for 145 yards. Keontez Lewis hauled in six receptions for 59 yards, with Middleton collecting five catches for 94 yards.
The Salukis mustered only 34 rushing yards against an SDSU squad that entered the contest ranked seventh in the Football Championship Subdivision against the run by allowing 101.8 yards per contest.
Graham Spalding paced the Jackrabbit defense with six tackles, including one for loss. Durrance and Chase Van Tol each registered four stops.
Ubayd Steed led all players with 11 tackles for SIU.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits wrap up the regular season with a Nov. 23 road contest at Missouri State. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Plaster Stadium in Springfield, Missouri.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the all-time series, 11-4
- The Jackrabbits have won eight of the last nine meetings
- SDSU ran its home winning streak to 27 games
- The Jackrabbits have now outscored the opposition by a combined 176-34 in the second quarter of games this season
- The Jackrabbits’ leading tackler, linebacker Adam Bock, was disqualified from the game after being called for targeting on the game’s first play from scrimmage
- Durrance first SDSU player with multiple interceptions in a game since teammate Dalys Beanum picked off three passes against UC Davis in an FCS playoff game in 2021
- Amar Johnson moved into 10th place on the SDSU career rushing charts with 2,824, taking over the spot from Brady Mengarelli (2,677 yards from 2014-17)
- Dustman vaulted into seventh place in career scoring for the Jackrabbits with 320 points, overtaking both Isaiah Davis (310 points from 2020-23) and Justin Syrovatka (319 points from 2011-14)
- Dustman also upped his career field goals number to 48, putting him third in program history after passing Chase Vinatieri (47 field goals from 2016-19)
- Gronowski surpassed Austin Sumner (9,458 yards from 2011-14) for second place on the Jackrabbit career passing list, ending the day with 9,522 yards
- Gronowski’s rushing touchdown was the 32nd of his career, tying him with Dan Sonnek (32 TDs from 1984-87) for seventh place on the Jackrabbit career charts
- Attendance was 17,268 to push the Jackrabbits’ regular season average to a record of 18,504