South Dakota State running game goes off in road win over Illinois State

NORMAL, Ill. — A battle between two of the best defenses in the nation unexpectedly turned into a shootout, but the Jackrabbit offense was better equipped for that than was Illinois State, and No. 1 South Dakota State walked out of Hancock Stadium with a 40-21 win over the 22nd-ranked Redbirds. SDSU improves to 5-0 with the win and extends their school-record winning streak to 19.

For the second week in a row, the Jackrabbits’ offensive line was the star, as Garret Greenfield, Mason McCormick, Gus Miller, Evan Beerntsen, John O’Brian and Quinten Christensen paved the way for SDSU to grind up 374 yards on the ground — 197 for Isaiah Davis and 106 for Amar Johnson. SDSU had 547 yards of total offense. Those numbers would be impressive no matter the opponent, but they were especially noteworthy against this defense. When the day started, Illinois State’s defense was allowing averages of 12.3 points, 58 rushing yards and 252 total yards per game.

The Jacks scored every time they had the ball in the first half, taking a 20-0 lead after one quarter, going into halftime leading 34-14, and then sharpening up on defense after the Redbirds briefly made things interesting in the third quarter by cutting the lead to 34-21.

“I think the best defense is a great offense,” coach Jimmy Rogers said postgame. “We came out and performed the way we were capable of. We were hard to get off the field. That was extremely impressive against that defense. Proud of (the offensive line’s) efforts. The push, the consistent blocking on the perimeter, and I don’t know if there’s a better running back in college football right now than Isaiah Davis.”

Mark Gronowski had another big game, too, throwing for 171 yards and three touchdowns and adding a touchdown on the ground.

His 31-yard strike to Jadon Janke gave SDSU a 6-0 lead, and it was 13-0 on a 60-yarder to Jaxon Janke. Gronowski took it in on a keeper on 3rd down to make it 20-0 before Illinois State finally got on the board on a reverse pass, with Daniel Sobkowicz finding quarterback Zack Annexstad for a 9-yard touchdown that made it 20-7 in the second quarter.

After Davis scored from 2-yards, out Annexstad returned the favor with a touchdown pass to Sobkowicz to make it 27-14 before Gronowski connected with Jadon Janke again, this time from 22 yards away to make it 34-14 at half.

After the Redbirds (3-2, 1-1) got it back down to 13 on a Mason Blakemore touchdown run ISU got its first stop of the night, giving their offense a chance to make it a one-score game. That’s when the SDSU defense found its footing. Saiveon Williamson forced an Annexstad fumble that was recovered by Jason Freeman, and after the teams traded stops, Davis broke off a 49-yard run moments after a 70-yard touchdown run had been negated by a holding penalty. That set up his own 2-yard score to put it out of reach.

Annexstad completed 26-of-33 passes in the game but for just 162 yards. Adam Bock was out injured again after making his debut last week, but Williamson made a team-high 10 tackles in his place. Freeman and Cale Reeder added eight apiece, while Cade Terveer had a sack.

“Overall it was a good game but we need to get better,” Rogers said. “Defensively we were never really in the flow of the game but the turnovers were huge. We’ll get better.”

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.