SPRINGFIELD – No. 2-ranked South Dakota State rallied for 14 points in the game’s final eight minutes to break up a fourth-quarter tie and defeat No. 4 Missouri State, 28-14, in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams here Saturday.
The Bears (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) fell behind 14-0 early in the second half but rallied behind a pair of third-quarter scoring drives to tie things up. Jacardia Wright’s 15-yard TD run capped a six-play, 71-yard scoring drive for MSU ahead of a 67-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jason Shelley to Raylen Sharpe on the home squad’s next possession.
Sharpe’s dash down the field knotted the score with 2:55 to go in the third period and seemed to have the Plaster Stadium crowd of 13,189 back in the game.
MoState came up with its only take-away on SDSU’s next possession when Kevin Ellis jumped on a fourth-and-one Jackrabbits’ fumble at the MSU 33. The Bears came out of the momentum-changing play with a personal foul that backed them up to their own 19 and could not capitalize as the game shifted into the fourth quarter, ultimately punting the ball back to SDSU.
From there, South Dakota State (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) took over at its own 30 and converted a pair of third downs en route to capturing the go-ahead score with 7:59 to play. A 21-yard pass from Mark Gronowski to Zach Heins put the exclamation point on a 10-play drive that chewed up more than five minutes of clock and gave the visitors the lead once again.
A sky kick on the ensuing kickoff gave MSU good field position at its own 37. However, a third-down sack by Jaron DePriest squelched a potential game-tying drive for the Bears and forced them into their seventh punt of the afternoon.
From there, SDSU took over at its own 16 with 5:41 to play and again used a grind-it-out offensive surge to move the ball past midfield. On second-and-five at the MSU 40, Gronowski threw a strike to Jadon Janke down the left side, and the senior tiptoed down the sideline and into the end zone for his second score of the game to make it 28-14.
Shelley and the Bears tried to cut into the late 14-point deficit with just 2:30 remaining in the game. The senior QB laced a clutch fourth-and-eight pass to Larry Wright III to get MSU into Jackrabbit territory at the 38. Shelley then called his own number for an 11-yard pickup to set the Bears up first-and-10 at the 27. But with just 52 seconds left, Shelley’s missile into the end zone was picked off my Matthew Durrance to end the threat.
It was the second interception of the game by SDSU, both of which halted Bears’ drives in (or just outside) the red zone.
“Against a team like that, you have to execute for four quarters, and we didn’t do that,” said Bears head coach Bobby Petrino. “We got it to 14-14, and felt good. But they finished and we didn’t.”
Shelley finished 19-of-29 for 185 yards and a touchdown, in addition to 10 rushing yards. He was sacked four times, which contributed to ending his streak of 15 straight 200-yard passing games to start his MSU career.
Wright paced the MSU offense with 13 carries for 63 yards for 4.8 yards per carry. He also had a team-high five receptions for 14 yards.
Grant Burkett kept SDSU struggling for good field position most of the night, averaging 47.3 yards per punt and pinning SDSU inside its 20-yard line three times.
For his part, Gronowski was 22-of-29 for 319 yards and four touchdowns – two to Jadon Janke and one apiece to Heins and Jaxon Janke – to pace SDSU. Isaiah Davis also shouldered much of the load for the visitors, carrying 20 times for 83 yards.
“In this conference, you have to come to play every week,” said Petrino. “All of our goals are still out there for us. We just need the leadership to stay together and the team to stay together.”
In the first half, the Bears were held to 36 yards on 24 plays, but the bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort kept Missouri State in the mix. MSU held the Jackrabbits to 3-of-7 on third down and caught breaks on three missed Jackrabbit field goal attempts to keep it a 7-0 contest at the midway point.
South Dakota State racked up 251 yards in the opening half with a dozen first downs. Mark Gronowski’s three-yard TD pass to Jaxon Janke late in the first quarter was the only score of the half.
The Bears outgained SDSU by a 161-87 margin in the third quarter, helping MoState pull even at 14 apiece with just under 18 minutes to go in the game.
Missouri State returns to the road next week with a Noon kickoff at North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks (2-2, 1-1 MVFC) were on the short end of a 34-17 setback at Southern Illinois on Saturday.
