Beaumont, Texas - The South Dakota football team took a 20-17 lead over Lamar with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals rallied for a 24-20 victory in a back-and-forth contest on Saturday night in front of 15,103 fans at Provost Umphrey Stadium. The Coyotes end their 2010 campaign 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the Great West Conference, while the Cardinals improved to 4-6.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Wilhelm (Loxahatchee, Fla.) played valiantly after junior Dante Warren (Arlington Heights, Ill.) was injured at the end of the first quarter to keep the Coyotes in the game. Wilhelm guided USD on three scoring drives, including his first career rushing touchdown, to help the Coyotes retake the lead twice, but his hail mary in the final seconds fell incomplete.
Wilhelm finished with four completions for 57 yards, while Warren had four completions for 59 yards before exiting. Junior running back Chris Ganious (Houston, Texas) notched 91 rushing yards on 23 attempts, while sophomore Marcus Sims (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had 74 yards and his first career touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Will Powell (Sioux Falls, S.D.) had three catches for 53 yards. USD outgained LU 240-303, including 224-17 on the ground and 19-15 in first downs. Junior linebackers Andrew Meier (Guthrie Center, Iowa) and Shea Williams (Alexandria, S.D.) both had seven tackles and one tackle for loss, while junior defensive lineman Jesse Weisbrod (Waupaca, Wis.) and sophomore defensive lineman David Giese (Chicago, Ill.) both had a career-high two sacks.
As advertised, Lamar went to the air to open the game and crafted a 12-play, 77-yard drive to go up 7-0 on their first drive. The game looked like it might be a shootout, as South Dakota moved the ball as its opening drive as well. Warren hit junior wide receiver Dustin Nowotny (Rapid City, S.D.) for 16 yards and Flanagan for 12, but a fourth-and-14 pass turned the ball over at LU's 29-yard line.
The Cardinals were forced to punt after the turnover, though, as the South Dakota defense held LU in check the rest of the first half. USD used a balanced attack to get on the scoreboard with a 14-yard rush by Warren, 13-yard rush by Ganious and 23-yard catch by Nowotny to drive the Coyotes to Lamar's three-yard line. The 11-play, 66-yard drive ended with a 20-yard field goal from freshman kicker Kevin Robb (Rapid City, S.D.) early in the second quarter.
Redshirt freshman Dametrius Turner (Tampa, Fla.) turned the momentum in South Dakota's direction even more with an interception near midfield on Lamar's next play. The pick was his second in the last two games, after he returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown against Cal Poly last Saturday.
Wilhelm stepped in on the ensuing drive after the injury to Warren and helped USD take its first lead of the game. He guided the Coyotes on a 10-play, 45-yard drive in 5:25 that included a 13-yard strike to Powell and a one-yard touchdown rush by himself to put USD up 10-7 with 7:11 left in the second quarter. It was a defensive battle from there, as the squads exchanged three and outs the rest of the half.
The Coyotes outgained Lamar 149-108 in the first half, including 73-14 on the ground. Warren was 4-of-9 for 59 yards before his exit, and Wilhelm was 2-of-4 for 17 yards. Ganious notched 34 rushing yards on 11 attempts, while Sims added 25 yards. Nowotny had two catches for 39 yards.
South Dakota used a systematic ground approach to start the second half. Ganious ripped off chunks of yards, Wilhelm converted on a key third down and redshirt freshman running back Donovan Bowens (Tampa, Fla.) used his tough-running style to supplement Ganious as the Coyotes drove into the redzone again. The 12-play, 46-yard drive stalled there but Robb converted his 31-yard attempt and the drive ran 6:31 off the clock to extend USD's lead to 13-6.
The USD defense picked up where it left off in the first half with another three-and-out by Lamar to start the second half. The Coyote special teams stepped up also, as junior linebacker Kyle Wheeler (Omaha, Neb.) partially blocked the ensuing punt that only traveled nine yards to the LU 31. South Dakota couldn't convert on the momentum, though, as was forced to punt.
The Coyote defense forced its second-straight three-and-out to give the Coyotes the ball back late in the third quarter, but Wilhelm threw an interception at the LU 2 on the ensuing drive as the Cardinals took the ball back to start the fourth. Lamar's offense starting to click again through the air with a 14-play, 98-yard drive in 6:43 to go up 14-13 with 9:49 left.
Bowens rumbled for a 22-yard rush on the ensuing drive to move USD to the LU 41, but two plays later Wilhelm threw a pass that bounced off Landry's hands and a Cardinal defender intercepted it. The Coyote defense allowed Lamar to drive 44 yards into USD territory, but held the Cardinals to a 38-yard field goal to keep the advantage at 17-13 with 3:39 to go.
South Dakota retook the lead in a three-play flash behind Ganious and Sims. Ganious slashed up the middle for 27 yards and Sims burst through the right side for 37 yards and his first career touchdown on the next play. The 1:02 drive put the Coyotes back on top 20-17 with 2:30 left.
Two straight sacks by Weisbrod on Lamar's next drive put the Cardinals in third-and-21 but a 53-yard hail mary was caught and placed LU at the Coyote 27. Lamar found the endzone three plays later to grab a 24-20 lead with 43 seconds to go after the six-play took 1:40 and 69 yards. Wilhelm completed a 27-yard pass to Powell to bring USD to Lamar's 43, but a hail mary with three seconds left was knocked down.
The game was the last for USD's five seniors: London Landry, Mitch Mohr, Scott Slotten, Cory Kuehl and Eric Leon.
