Jacks football unleashes aerial attack at SIU
· Yahoo Sports
CARBONDALE, Ill. (SDSU) --- South Dakota State quarterback Chase Mason accounted for a career-high five touchdowns - three passing and two rushing - to help lead fourth-ranked South Dakota State to a 52-16 victory over Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon at Saluki Stadium that clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title.
Coupled with Youngstown State's loss to Illinois State later in the day, the Jackrabbits also earned the MVFC's automatic berth into the upcoming Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. SDSU, which extended its winning streak to four games, improved to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the MVFC. SIU, which was receiving votes in the latest FCS media poll conducted by Stats Perform, fell to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league play.
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Mason was flawless on the opening drive of the game, completing all four of his passes for a total of 57 yards before rolling right and finding an open running lane to the end zone from 12 yards out less than four minutes into the contest.
The Jackrabbits continued to find success through the air on their next possession despite being pinned at their own 1-yard line after a punt. A Mason completion of 10 yards to Grahm Goering got SDSU out of the shadow of its own goal line before Mason found Lofton O'Groske open over the middle on a quick-hitter and O'Groske won the foot race against the Saluki secondary for an 89-yard touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Jackrabbit defense put together a dominant opening quarter of its own as it limited SIU to one first down and 20 yards of total offense while forcing four punts.
SDSU built its advantage to 21-0 with a seven-minute drive that bridged the end of the first quarter and the start of the second stanza. The Jackrabbits' 11-play, 78-yard march saw James Basinger take center stage as reserve running back picked up one first down with an 11-yard run, then put the Jackrabbits deep in SIU territory with back-to-back receptions covering 11 and 17 yards, respectively.
Mason then capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Delahoyde.
The Salukis got on the board late in the first half via the duo of quarterback D.J. Williams and Tae Marrero Jr. The tandem connected four times on the scoring drive, including a pass play of 21 yards for a first down and 25 yards moments later for a touchdown.
The Jackrabbits ended the first half with a 33-yard field goal by Tristan Alvano following a 32-yard run for a first down by Josiah Johnson.
SIU became the first team to score against the Jackrabbits this season on its opening drive of the second half as the Salukis' Weston Schofield kicked a 30-yard field goal. The Salukis were set up first-and-goal from the SDSU 6 after a 36-yard pass from Williams to Allen Middleton, but the Jackrabbit defense prevented a touchdown thanks to a sack on third down by Dawson Ripperda and Logan Green.
The Jackrabbits responded with touchdowns on all four of their drives in the second half. Mason plunged in from a yard out for the first SDSU touchdown of the half, then tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Dresie in the right corner of the end zone to complete Jackrabbits' longest drive by time this season at seven and a half minutes while covering 82 yards on 14 plays.
Backup quarterback Josh Holst directed SDSU to touchdowns in each of the two series he played. A 56-yard catch and run on a Holst pass to Landon Dulaney set up a 3-yard run by Basinger, while the final Jackrabbit tally came on a screen pass from Holst to Ramon McKinney Jr. that covered 36 yards.
SDSU finished with a season-high 431 yards through the air and finished the afternoon with a 623-254 advantage in total offense. The Jackrabbits also set season highs in first downs (35) and time of possession (37:26).
Mason completed 22-of-32 passes for 315 yards while Holst was 4-of-6 passing for 116 yards. Twelve different Jackrabbits caught at least one pass in the contest, led by Jack Smith with six receptions for 79 yards. O'Groske caught four passes for 125 yards and Goering added four catches for 35 yards.
Josiah Johnson led the ground game with 72 yards on 16 carries, followed by Basinger with 54 yards on 11 attempts.
For SIU, Williams ended the day 23-of-43 passing for 209 yards and also was the Salukis' leading rusher with 24 yards on 11 attempts. He notched SIU's final touchdown of the day with a 2-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, Jes Krcil registered a season-high 13 tackles to lead the Jackrabbits. Matthew McClelland paced all players with 18 stops for the Salukis.
UP NEXT
SDSU can win the MVFC title outright when it closes out regular season action by hosting Indiana State on Nov. 21. Kickoff for Senior Day and the annual Military Appreciation Game is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the all-time series, 12-4, and has won the last three matchups and nine of the last 10
- The Jackrabbits reached six wins in MVFC play for the 10th time in 19 seasons as a league member and earned at least a share of their sixth league title (2016, 2020-21, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- SDSU is 9-0 this season when scoring first
- The Jackrabbits scored on their opening drive of the game for the sixth time this season, but for the first time in five games
- SDSU also put points on the board on their first drive of the second half for the eighth time in 11 games this season (seven TDs, one FG)
- The Jackrabbits have now outscored the opposition by a 90-14 margin in the first quarter of games in 2026
- SIU was limited to 45 net yards rushing, marking the sixth time in seven league games the Jackrabbits held the opponent to below the century mark
- Goering has recorded a catch in 35 of the last 36 games he has played
- Six of Krcil's 13 tackles came in the first quarter
- Delahoyde has a touchdown reception in three consecutive games and now has scored five touchdowns on 10 career receptions
- Alvano's field goal was his 16th of the season, tying him with Russ Meier (1981), Parker Douglass (2007) and Peter Reifenrath (2008) for seventh place on the Jackrabbits' single-season charts
- Basinger upped his season rushing total to 798 yards, giving the Jackrabbits two 750-yard rushers in the same season for the first time in program history (Josiah Johnson with 1,133 yards in 2026)
- Mason moved into ninth place in career total offense at SDSU with 5,315 yards, passing both Todd McDonald (5,248 yards from 1990-93) and Gary Maffett (5,282 yards from 1977-79) in Saturday's game
- SDSU's 431 passing yards were its most in a game since a school-record 557 yards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 15, 2018
- Attendance was 5,968