MACON, Ga. — The No. 11-seeded South Dakota Coyotes dominated from start to finish in the program's first-ever FCS Playoff shutout with a 47-0 victory over the No. 6-seeded Mercer Bears Saturday afternoon from a rain-filled day at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia as USD advances to the FCS Quarterfinals for the third-straight season behind a pair of 100-yard rushers and 100-yard receivers, plus 500+ yards of total offense.
 
Wide receiver Larenzo Fenner broke the program single-season record for touchdown receptions with his 15 touchdowns on the season. On that same play, quarterback Aidan Bouman became the South Dakota career leader for passing yards and the first Yote with 9,000 career passing yards, while also moving into second place for career touchdown passes.
 
South Dakota wins their fifth-straight game to improve to 10-4 (6-2 MVFC), while head coach Travis Johansen becomes the first Coyote head coach to win 10 games in their first season as head coach. The Yotes now have four ranked FCS wins this season, improving to 4-2 against ranked foes. On the flip side, the back-to-back SoCon champions, Mercer, drops to 9-3 (8-0 SoCon) as their season comes to a close.
 
The Coyote defense knew they had a heck of a challenge ahead of them against the second-best FCS passing offense entering the day but a perfectly executed defensive gameplan ended all hopes as the Yotes force five punts and held Mercer to just 148 passing yards and 277 total yards of offense.
 
To open the day the defense got a stop, stopping Bears quarterback Braden Atkinson short of the line to gain on a scramble after getting pressure right on the opening drive. It marked the eighth time this season USD forced their opponent to punt on their opening drive.
 
The offense would build on that early momentum, quickly marching down the field for a score. L.J. Phillips Jr. broke off a 41-yard run right up the middle to set-up a first-and-goal. Reid Watkins would take the next carry and drag a couple of Bears eight yards into the endzone for the first score of the game.
 
Phillips Jr. would break off 15-yard and 16-yard touchdown runs on back-to-back possessions as the Yotes quickly jumped out to 21-0 lead with the first three touchdowns of the day all coming on the ground. Will Leyland converted a 40-yard field goal before the break as the Coyotes led 24-0 and had full control of the game at the halftime break.
 
South Dakota built on that 24-0 halftime lead nearly immediately in the second half to put the finishing touches on the victory on their first two possessions of the second half. In those back-to-back drives, Bouman showed out with a pair of 60+ yard touchdown passes. He first found Fenner for a 66-yard touchdown, followed by a 63-yard strike to Tysen Boze.
 
The contest saw numbers everywhere with career firsts along the way. Watkins got his first-career rushing score. Both Boze and WR Tennel Bryant got their first-career touchdown and first touchdown as a Yote, respectively.
 
The Coyote offense tallied 500+ yards of offense for the fourth time this season with 550 total yards (309 rushing yards and 241 passing yards). The 309 yards also marks the third 300-yard rushing game this season. For Phillips Jr., he now has 18 rushing scores on the season which sits fourth-best in program history for a single season.
 
Defensively, the four interceptions is the most this season and the first time with 4+ picks since the UC Davis game in last season's quarterfinals (Dec. 14, 2024). DB Mikey Munn, LB Gabriel Hardman, and DB RJ Stewart all recorded interceptions on the day. DB Roman Tillmon led the defense with his six tackles on the afternoon.
 
Up Next: South Dakota advances to their third-straight FCS Quarterfinals to square off with No. 3-seed Montana next weekend. Game date, kickoff time, and TV network will be announced in the future. Stay up-to-date with the quarterfinals information on GoYotes.com.