VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota's drive to tie the game stalled at North Dakota State's 20-yard line and the Bison ran out the last five minutes to secure a 28-21 win against the Coyotes Saturday inside the DakotaDome in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
Five-time defending national champion North Dakota State (10-1, 7-1 MVFC) captured at least a share of its sixth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and may be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs when the bracket is announced Sunday. South Dakota (4-7, 3-5) ends its season with another close call in a year that was filled with them. Nine of the team's 11 games came down to a final possession.
 
South Dakota quarterback Chris Streveler passed for 184 yards, ran for 63 yards and accounted for all three Coyote touchdowns. He threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Alonge Brooks with 9:30 left that proved to be the final score of the game. Streveler accounted for 31 of USD's 41 touchdowns this season.
 
The Coyote defense forced a 3-and-out and the offense began again from its own 20 with 7:29 left. A 25-yard scramble by Streveler followed by a 13-yard carry by Michael Fredrick pushed the ball into NDSU territory and later in the drive, USD had it 1^st-and-5 from the Bison 20. But Bison linebacker MJ Stumpf dumped Fredrick for a 4-yard loss and three incompletions followed to end the drive. The Coyotes never got it back.
 
NDSU quarterback Easton Stick threw a 7-yard pass to RJ Urzendowski on 3^rd-and-5 with two minutes to go to move the chains. King Frazier converted a 3^rd-and-2 with less than a minute left to end the game. Frazier ran seven times for 24 yards on the final drive and had 91 yards on 22 totes for the game.
 
The Bison racked up 369 yards on the ground and outgained South Dakota 523-345. The Coyote defense forced two turnovers and limited NDSU to seven points in the second half.
 
"I credit our guys," said USD head coach Bob Nielson. "They could have came in here and laid an egg with the frustrating way that we had been in games and not closed them out the last three weeks. But our guys have a lot of fight and they showed that today.
 
"The possession there, we had 1^st-and-5 at the 20-yard line and you have to get the ball into the end zone against a team the caliber of NDSU. It was a little bit early, but we might have gone for two and put a little pressure back on them. Same as last week. I felt if we could have got ahead in the fourth quarter, it puts a little pressure on the other team."


 
The two teams traded touchdowns throughout the first half, but the Bison held a 21-14 lead at the break. Stick passed for two scores in the opening stanza and Frazier dove in from the 1. Meanwhile, Streveler threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Tacari Carpenter and called his own number on a second quarter run from the 1.
 
NDSU got the ball first in the second half and marched 65 yards on seven plays. Stick threaded the needle to tight end Connor Wentz from the 6 and the Bison led 28-14 just minutes into the third quarter. Stick finished 13 of 20 for 154 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also netted 44 yards on the ground.
 
South Dakota had six possessions in the second half and two were 3-and-outs. Danny Rambo intercepted Stick on a deep ball at the USD 14 midway thru the third, but the Coyotes managed one first down run before punting back. USD linebacker Jet Moreland caught Bison running back Chase Morlock following a 40-yard run and forced a fumble that Jim Litrenta recovered for the Yotes. That set up USD's 9-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with Streveler's pass to Brooks.
 
"We are a way better football team right now than we were that first week in New Mexico," said Nielson. "I like the attitude that our guys have and I like our younger players. As I look ahead from where we're at from a recruiting standpoint, I think we have a chance to really do something special here and it's going to take an all-in mentality and we've got to keep moving forward."
 
Moreland was credited with seven tackles, giving him a team-high 106 this season. He is the second Coyote since 2000 to record 100 tackles in a single year, joining Adam Broders who had 102 in 2011.
 
Also of note is Coyote senior Miles Bergner who averaged 51.8 yards on six punts Saturday. He entered the weekend as the nation's top punter with a 47.1-yard average and upped the mark to 47.5. His career average of 42.8 is a program record.
 
Lance Dunn carried 14 times for a game-high 145 yards to lead the Bison. Fredrick led USD with 71 yards on 13 carries. Carpenter led USD receivers with 51 yards on three catches.