VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota's defense kept Western Illinois out of the end zone while the offense got just enough to get past the Leathernecks 17-12 on senior day Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
Coyote quarterback
Austin Simmons passed for 220 yards and a touchdown while
Kai Henry added 70 yards and a score on the ground. USD also welcomed back speedy wide out and return man
Kody Case from injury. Case caught seven passes for a team-best 71 yards.
Western Illinois (5-5, 4-3 MVFC) had averaged 34 points during its three-game win streak, but totaled 272 yards and mustered just two long field goals against the Coyotes. USD held Western Illinois to 21 yards rushing and ended Sean McGuire's streak of throwing a touchdown pass at 14 games dating back to last season.
South Dakota (4-6, 3-4) celebrated 13 seniors in a pregame ceremony and got perhaps the play of the game from one of the group's most popular in cornerback
Michael Fredrick. Western Illinois entered the red zone once Saturday and it came in the middle of the third quarter when they trailed 10-3. The Leathernecks had 1
st-and-goal from the 10 when McGuire's pass was tipped by linebacker
Alex Gray and Fredrick made a diving play on the ball to net the interception.
It was the first career interception for Fredrick, a running back in his first three seasons and a 1,600-yard rusher who unselfishly moved to defense to fill a need for the Coyotes this season. It was Western Illinois' only turnover of the game and the first interception recorded by a Coyote in five games.
"My mom, my stepdad, and all four of my siblings were here for this one and it's the first game they had caught here since last season," said Fredrick. "There was no better place than in front of the home crowd to get my first interception. To play in front of my family and going all out for the rest of the seniors and for my parents and their parents, it just felt great."
Fredrick and fellow senior
Alex Coker led the Coyotes with eight and 10 tackles, respectively. Coker made plays on the edge all game and also had a pass breakup.
Darin Greenfield made eight tackles in helping slow Western's run game, and the Coyotes also got a big sack from
Nick Kramer in the fourth quarter that stopped a Western Illinois drive in Coyote territory.
"We couldn't have scripted this any better," said Coker. "We talked a lot before the game about playing for everybody and especially for the seniors and I'm proud of everybody. They did an awesome job.
"We knew what they were going to do, we scouted their tendencies on the screen passes and they didn't work today."
Western Illinois went 3-and-out four times in 11 possessions, including once when they started at the Coyote 42 following a 53-yard kick return from Isaiah Lesure. The Leathernecks ran 22 plays in Coyote territory that netted 11 yards.
Offensively, the Coyotes had chances to improve upon a 7-3 lead in the first half, but were turned away. Western Illinois cornerback Xavier Rowe wrestled away a jump ball in the end zone from a Coyote receiver early in the second quarter, and linebacker Quentin Moon stripped the ball from Simmons at the end of a 13-yard draw play at the 2-yard line just before halftime. Leatherneck defensive back Darron Wheeler recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
It was a
Kai Henry option drive that stretched the Coyote lead to double digits. USD ran the play twice for gains of 24 and eight yards to reach the WIU 4 and ran it one more time for good measure as Henry slid untouched into the end zone for a 17-6 lead with 9:06 to play. Henry accounted for 44 yards on the 11-play drive, which was kept alive with a 3
rd-and-4 completion to
Connor Herrmann at midfield.
A blocked USD punt by Joe Turk recovered in the end zone by Daymon Murray made it 17-12 with 5:12 to go. The ensuing two-point conversion was intercepted by safety
Elijah Reed. The Coyote offense left just eight seconds for a final Western drive that began on its own 15.
Simmons completed 25 of 36 passes against the Valley's top pass defense and became just the third quarterback this year to reach 220 yards against it. Senior
Shamar Jackson caught six passes for 50 yards, becoming the eighth Coyote since 2000 to catch 100 passes in the process. Junior
Dakarai Allen had three catches for 28 yards, which was enough to give him 1,000 career receiving yards. Allen is the 12
th Coyote since 2000 to reach that milestone.
Caleb Vander Esch caught a 2-yard touchdown, his first collegiate score, that gave USD a 7-3 lead in the first quarter.
South Dakota concludes play next Saturday with a 2 p.m. kickoff against South Dakota State in Brookings. The Jacks improved to 7-2 with a 57-38 road win at Southern Illinois Saturday in Carbondale. It will be the 113
th meeting between the intrastate rivals.
