Jackrabbits dominate Panthers in Cedar Falls

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – South Dakota State never trailed on Saturday and blew out Northern Iowa, 41-15.

It was UNI’s first loss at home this season and the Jacks improved to 8-2 on the season and 5-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

SDSU had to punt on its first drive but then marched down the field after forcing a UNI punt. Jack Smith capped off the drive with a 22-yard touchdown on a screen pass and it was 7-0 with 7:19 left in the first quarter.

The Jacks forced another punt and would add to their lead with a 50-yard field goal from Tristan Alvano. The 50-yard kick was a season long from him and it was 10-0 with three minutes to go in the opening quarter. 

SDSU forced a third punt in three drives and then ran the ball right down the field on its next drive. It was a nine-play scoring drive and seven of the plays came on the ground. Josiah Johnson punched it into the end zone from a yard out and it was 17-0 with 4:34 left in the first half.

The Panthers were able to get on the board just before halftime. Xavier Terrell won a race to the end zone from five yards out and UNI cut the lead to 17-7, which would be the score at halftime.

UNI converted on a fourth down on its first drive of the second half, but the Jackrabbit defense stood tall later in the drive. UNI quarterback Jaxon Dailey ran on both third and three and fourth and two but only gained one yard on each play and SDSU took over at its own 20.

Chase Mason then completed three passes for 75 yards and that set up a three-yard touchdown from Johnson. That made it 24-7 with 5:18 to play in the third quarter.

SDSU’s special teams came up big again later in the quarter as Myles Green returned a punt 29 yards into Panther territory. Mason then hit Smith for a 29-yard gain and then threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Delahoyde to make it 31-7 with just under three minutes to go in the quarter.

UNI would score again early in the fourth quarter as Dailey found Briggs Houghston for an eight-yard touchdown. Dailey then connected with Tay Norman for a two-point conversion to make it 38-15 with 11:15 to play. 

SDSU added three more points with 7:34 as Alvano connected on a 41-yard attempt to make it 41-15. That was the final. 

The Jacks had 467 total yards of offense. 259 of those yards came on the ground. Johnson led the way with 109 yards on 14 carries. Basinger had nine carries for 102 yards. 

Mason was 10-of-18 food 181 yards. Smith had four catches for 62 yards and Lofton O’Groske had three catches for 69 yards. Delahoyde had two grabs for 37 yards.

SDSU held the Panther offense to 260 yards and just 74 yards rushing. Jes Krcil led the Jackrabbit defense with 10 tackles. Carter Sitzman and Logan Green each had half of a sack. Sitzman also had 1.5 tackles for a loss.

The Jacks will remain on the road next week as they take on Southern Illinois. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.