Johnson's career night lifts Jackrabbits over Penguins after Mason's injury

BROOKINGS – South Dakota State opened conference play with a 27-20 win over No. 9 ranked Youngstown State on Saturday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

Sophomore running back Josiah Johnson ran for a career-high 238 yards in the win, but the victory may have come with a cost for the No. 2 ranked Jackrabbits as starting quarterback Chase Mason left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return.

SDSU head coach Dan Jackson said after the game that he has optimism that Mason will return, but he won’t know for sure until further tests.

“I honestly don’t know [how he is],” Jackson said. “I think we have some optimistic news there, but I won’t know [until later]. I do know that my expectation is that whatever he needs from an MRI standpoint will be done in the next 24 hours. I do feel that this is something that he’ll recover from and be okay.”

Mason got hurt with 14 seconds left in the first half. He went to the locker room after the play, before the rest of the team went inside for halftime. He then waited until just before the second half opening kickoff to come out of the locker room and had a brace on his left knee. Josh Holst, a junior transfer, was the quarterback for the remainder of the game.

The injury didn’t put a damper on Johnson’s career performance though. He had 30 carries in the game and it was the first time a Jackrabbit did that since Zach Zenner did it in the 2014 FCS Playoffs. It was also the first time an SDSU player went over the 200-yard mark on the ground since Isaiah Davis did it in the 2014 FCS Playoffs.

Jackson said carrying the ball that many times and still looking strong at the end of the game shows how much work Johnson put in between his freshman and sophomore years.

“I thought this was the first time in his career that he really got his pads down and ran. He’s tough to stop when he gets rolling like that. I’m very proud of him and his toughness, he just kept getting stronger. … I had no idea he had 238 yards, but to run the ball 30 times and not look tired is a testament to his work ethic,” Jackson said.

The Jacks (3-1) got off to a strong start. SDSU went on an 11-play 84-yard scoring drive to open the game. It was capped off by a four-yard touchdown from Johnson to make it 7-0 just over six minutes into the game.

The Jacks then worked their way to the one yard line on their second drive but Corey Blair Jr. fumbled into the end zone and the Penguins recovered. 

Youngstown State (2-2) would cut the lead to 7-3 with a 39-yard field goal 10:23 left in the second. The Jacks then had to punt and YSU took the lead with an 11-yard pass from Beau Brungard to a wide open Alex McDonald in the end zone with 3:35 left in the first half.

SDSU responded with a seven-play 71-yard drive and Mason ran it in from 18 yards out to make it 14-10 with 53 seconds left in the half. On the first play of YSU’s next drive, Brookings native Bergan Tetzlaff tipped a Brungard pass at the line of scrimmage and it landed in the hands of Joe Ollman for an interception. The Jacks would turn that into a field goal, but Mason was hurt on the play before the kick. Tristan Alvano’s field goal was from 27 yards out and the Jacks led 17-10 at halftime.

SDSU forced a punt on YSU’s first possession of the second half and then the Jacks really got the run game going.

Johnson got the drive going with a 39-yard run and capped it off with a 16-yard touchdown to make it 24-10 with just under eight minutes to go in the third. The Jacks finished with 308 yards total on the ground.

SDSU senior offensive tackle Quinten Christensen said Johnson and the rest of SDSU’s success on the ground meant a lot to the offensive line that’s known as the 605 Hogs.

“We knew this was going to be a tough one, but we have the most improved running back room in the country,” Christensen said “… I didn’t even realize that [Johnson] had 200 plus [yards], and I think you don’t realize that when everyone is doing their part. That makes me feel good, because as a group, [the offensive line’s] biggest accomplishment is when he gets over 200,” Christensen said.

YSU cut the lead in half on its next drive as Brungard connected with Lynn Wyche-El for an 11-yard touchdown. That made it 24-17 with 4:31 to go in the third.

SDSU was able to respond with a field goal as the third quarter ended. Alvano came on again for a 43-yarder and knocked it through the uprights to make it 27-17 going into the fourth.

Youngstown State made it a one-score game with a 34-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the game. Lofton O’Groske then recovered an onside kick for SDSU and Johnson put the game away with a 29-yard run on the Jacks next play.

Brungard won the FCS Walter Payton Player of the Year Award last season and the Jacks held him to 32 rushing yards. His longest run went for 11 yards and senior defensive lineman Logan Green said the defense did a good job of executing.

“I think the defense executed the plan well. You know, he didn’t take off and run that much, which was kind of an emphasis. I thought we did a good job keeping him in the pocket and getting home a couple times and getting some good hurries on him,” Green said.

SDSU will complete the non-conference portion of the schedule next with a home game against Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. on Saturday.