South Dakota
Keali’i Ah Yat leads Montana over South Dakota State 50-29 in 2nd round of FCS playoffs
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Sophomore Keali’i Ah Yat passed for a career-high 360 yards, throwing three of his four touchdown passes during a 30-point run by Montana and the third-seeded Grizzlies rallied to beat South Dakota State 50-29 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Montana (12-1), which had a first-round bye, will host No. 11 seed South Dakota in the quarterfinals. The Coyotes beat No. 6 seed Mercer 47-0 at home to move on.
Chase Mason hit Grahm Goering at the 20-yard line and Goering raced the final 80 yards for a 95-yard South Dakota State score and a 7-0 lead. Ah Yat answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Rocker Jr, but the Grizzlies trailed 7-6 after a missed extra-point kick.
Mason picked up his own fumble and ran 5 yards for a score and a 14-6 lead after one quarter. It was all Montana from there.
Jo Silver kicked a short field goal, Eli Gillman had a 5-yard touchdown run, and Ah Yat had a 5-yard scoring toss to Rocker with 6 seconds left for a 22-14 lead at halftime.
Ah Yat hit Drew Deck for a 29-yard third-quarter touchdown and connected with with Michael Wortham for a 28-yard score and a 36-14 lead early in the fourth.
Ah Yat completed 29 of 37 passes for Montana. Gillman totaled 135 yards on 24 rushes and Wortham finished with eight catches for 113 yards. Gillman and Malae Fonoti had fourth-quarter touchdown runs.
Mason totaled 356 yards on 19-for-36 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions for the 14th-seeded Jackrabbits (9-5), who advanced with a 41-3 first-round victory over visiting New Hampshire.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
News
Agronomist: eastern South Dakota crops hit and miss
An agronomist in eastern South Dakota says corn and soybeans are hit and miss as the growing season begins.
Steven Zemlicka with AgTegra Cooperative tells Brownfield, “We’ve got corn anywhere from V1 all the way up to V4. Biggest stuff’s maybe touching V5. Corn’s coming right along, looks pretty good. A little bit of hail here too, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue. Stands for the most part are pretty good, pretty solid.”
Zemlicka says soybean emergence has been slow due to the wet, cool conditions, and there are a few fields that still need planted.
“People were still working on planting soybeans when we got the recent rain.”
He says recent rain totals ranged from a half inch to as much as four inches in the northeast part of South Dakota; the southern part of the state has been drier.
South Dakota’s corn is rated 61 percent good to excellent, with soybean conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s first condition ratings of the season.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The South Dakota Community Foundation is encouraging nonprofits to apply for funding this June.
Beth Massa and Ginger Niemann joined us live with what you need to know before applying.
Watch the full interview above.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.
-
Lifestyle10 minutes agoWe’re having a main character summer. Are you? : It’s Been a Minute
-
Technology18 minutes agoMicrosoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says there are three labs that matter — and he wants Microsoft to be the fourth.
-
World25 minutes agoUS ally Kuwait condemns ‘brutal and ongoing Iranian attacks’ after airport was hit
-
Politics28 minutes agoSpencer Pratt surges to runoff in LA mayor’s race after angry voters send message to Karen Bass
-
Health33 minutes agoOne extra serving of processed meat a day linked to higher cancer risk
-
Sports40 minutes agoAJ Brown trade outcome: Dianna Russini paid a heavy price while Mike Vrabel emerged unscathed
-
Technology43 minutes agoCould your Samsung phone replace your passport?
-
Business48 minutes agoRent-hike ban to protect fire victims ends despite gouging concerns
