Anthony Watson and Trevor Hohn each rushed for more than 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns as South Dakota State closed out the home football season Saturday with a 34-3 non-conference victory over William Penn (Iowa) at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
The victory was the sixth in a row for the Jackrabbits, who improved to 6-3 overall. SDSU, ranked 24th in NCAA Division I-AA, had not put together a six-game winning streak since 1963. William Penn dropped to 4-6.
Watson, one of 12 seniors to play his final home game Saturday, led the Jackrabbit ground game with 159 yards on 15 carries. The Worthington, Minn., native scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 6 yards in the first quarter to put SDSU ahead 14-0.
The Jackrabbits made it 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter as quarterback Andy Kardoes, who completed his first six passes, found Micah Johnson in the end zone on a 40-yard pass play.
William Penn scored its only points of the game with 2:19 remaining in the first half on a 22-yard field goal by William Brasel. The field goal capped a 16-play, 49-yard drive by the Statesmen.
In the second half, Parker Douglass sandwiched field goals of 29 and 33 yards around a 48-yard touchdown run by Hohn. A junior from Mitchell, Hohn carried 11 times for 105 yards.
As a team, SDSU gained a season-best 277 yards on 39 carries, averaging 7.1 yards per attempt.
In the passing game, four different quarterbacks saw action for SDSU. Kardoes finished 6-of-8 for 111 yards and an interception, while Reed Burckhardt was 2-of-6 for 16 yards. Ryan Berry completed 2-of-5 passes for 16 yards. Ryan Crawford played the final series but did not attempt a pass.
Johnson caught three passes for 53 yards and Chris Wagner added three catches for 34 yards to lead the Jackrabbit receivers.
William Penn running back James Jackson generated most of the offense for the Statesmen, who were held to 124 yards of total offense. Jackson carried 28 times for 76 yards as he topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Statesmen quarterback Ryan Van Dalen completed 9-of-20 passes for 71 yards. He was sacked twice.
Three freshmen were SDSU's leading tacklers. Redshirt freshman linebackers Chris Johnson and Isaiah Jackson recorded 10 and seven tackles, respectively, with Johnson adding a fumble recovery on the last play of the game. True freshman Danny Batten added seven stops from his defensive end position, while defensive tackle Eric Schroeder tallied a sack and a half among his five tackles.
Clint Peery led William Penn with 11 tackles, including a sack.
The Jackrabbits, leaders of the Great West Football Conference with a 2-0 record, return to conference play Nov. 11 at Southern Utah. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Time (2 p.m. Central) at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah.
Notes: Watson topped the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive game and 17th time in his career ... Watson's 159 rushing yards were the most by a Jackrabbit this season ... Cory Koenig moved into 10th place on the SDSU career rushing list as he gained 32 yards on three carries before leaving with an injury ... With 1,720 career yards, Koenig took over the 10th spot from Dan Nelson (1,718 yards from 1990-93) ... Neal Bainbridge landed all three of his punts inside the 20-yard line, averaging 43.3 yards per kick ... Saturday's attendance was announced at 4,211, giving SDSU a season home attendance average of 9.652 for four home games ... the victory assures SDSU of its fifth consecutive winning season and 14th in the last 16 years
Game Statistics