Jacks hold off Nicholls State for first win

Saturday, September 23

Thibodaux, La.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

1-3

Nicholls State

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Nicholls

9/23/2006 6:00:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

THIBODAUX, La. ? South Dakota State scored touchdowns on its first offensive possession of each half and held off a late Nicholls State rally to win its first game of the season, 24-17 Saturday afternoon at John L. Guidry Stadium.

The victory was the 500^th in school history for the Jackrabbits, who have a 500-409-38 overall record in 109 seasons. Both teams are 1-3 this season.

The Jackrabbits scored first as Anthony Watson capped an opening eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 41-yard touchdown run. Earlier in the drive, Andy Kardoes scrambled for 26 yards on third-and-10, and Cory Koenig picked up five yards on a fourth-and-two play.

After forcing Nicholls to punt on its first possession, the Jackrabbits put together another long scoring drive, marching 62 yards on 11 plays. Kardoes capped the drive with a 22-yard scoring strike to Chris Doblar with 2:44 remaining in the first quarter.

The Colonels got on the board with a 45-yard field goal into a stiff breeze by Alex Romero with 11:22 remaining in the second quarter. Nicholls was poised to further cut into the deficit later in the quarter, but the Colonels were stopped just shy of the goal line on fourth-and-goal from the one on a tackle by true freshman Danny Batten.

A Nicholls State turnover set up the Jackrabbits' final scoring drive of the first half. After Brock Gentile recorded his team-leading third interception of the season, SDSU moved 49 yards on nine plays in just 1 minute, 17 seconds to set up a 30-yard field goal by Parker Douglass with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

SDSU went back to the air on its first possession of the second half to build a 24-3 lead, scoring for the first time in a second half this season. Kardoes hit JaRon Harris for a gain of 20 yards on third-and-10, then hooked up with Micah Johnson for a 33-yard touchdown pass two plays later.

Nicholls, which was receiving votes in this week's Division I-AA national poll, converted SDSU's third turnover of the game into points early in the fourth quarter. Cory Vavala intercepted a Kardoes pass and returned it 16 yards to the Jackrabbit 7. On the first play from scrimmage, Broderick Cole scored to help cut the margin to 24-10 with 11:01 remaining.

The Colonels got to within a touchdown with 5:14 remaining in the game as Vincent Montgomery scored on a 10-yard touchdown run. The drive covered 68 yards on eight plays and 2:32.

SDSU ran four minutes off the clock on the next possession before being forced to punt. Nicholls took over at its own 19 with 1:07 remaining. Montgomery completed three passes to move into Jackrabbit territory at the 49 in the closing seconds, but his last two passes were broken up to preserve the Jackrabbit victory.

The Jackrabbits out-gained Nicholls 379 to 290 in total offense, including a 223-218 advantage on the ground.

Kardoes completed 14-of-22 passes for 156 yards and also was the Jackrabbits' leading rusher with 82 yards on 10 carries. Cory Koenig gained 74 yards on 17 carries, with Watson rushing eight times for 67 yards.

Doblar caught three passes for 47 yards and Watson hauled in three passes for 18 yards.

The Colonels' ground attack was led by Michael McLendon, who gained 78 yards on six carries. Quarterback Vince Montgomery completed 5-of-12 passes for 72 yards.

Jeff Hegge led the Jackrabbit defense with nine tackles. SDSU recorded six tackles for loss, including one and a half by true freshman defensive lineman Danny Batten.

SDSU returns to Louisiana Sept. 30 to face McNeese State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Lake Charles.

Notes: Watson topped the 3,000-yard mark for his career on his first touchdown run of the season and later moved into third place on the SDSU career rushing chart, passing Les Tuma (3,018 yards from 1970-73) ? Watson, who ended the game with 3,030 career yards, had tied Cory Koenig for the longest run of the season by a Jackrabbit with his 41-yard TD run? SDSU scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the game for the second time this season ? the Jackrabbits also scored on their initial possession at Montana ? after having his streak of 29 games with a punt of 40 or more yards broken last week, Neal Bainbridge kicked a season-long 67-yarder from his own end zone on his first attempt of the game, then booted a 57-yarder on the last play of the third quarter ? the touchdown receptions by Doblar and Johnson were the first of each receiver's careers ? Parker Douglass scored six points (one field goal, three extra points), moving him to six points from tying Adam Vinatieri (185 points from 1991-94) for most points by a Jackrabbit kicker? Nicholls did not complete a pass until its first possession of the fourth quarter ? SDSU out-gained Nicholls 147-38 in the first quarter .. the Jackrabbits are now 2-0 in games played in the state of Louisiana ? SDSU won at Southern in Baton Rouge during the 2004 season ? head coach John Stiegelmeier moved into a second-place tie with John Gregory for career victories at SDSU with his 55^th career win (55-46 overall)