Harris has big day in win at UC Davis

Saturday, October 27

Davis, Calif.

2 p.m. PT

South Dakota State University

4-4 , 2-0

UC Davis

3-6 , 1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

UC Davis

10/27/2007 1:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

DAVIS, Calif. ? JaRon Harris scored three touchdowns and the South Dakota State University football team again won the turnover battle as the Jackrabbits reached the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 28-21 victory over UC Davis Saturday afternoon.

The Jackrabbits evened their overall record at 4-4 and improved to 2-0 in the Great West Football Conference. The win assured SDSU of playing for at least a share of the GWFC title on the final weekend of the season, Nov. 17 at home versus North Dakota State. UC Davis dropped to 3-6 overall, ending its streak of 37 consecutive winning seasons. The Aggies also ended GWFC play with a 1-3 record.

SDSU drew first blood, taking advantage of an Aggie fumble with a 10-play, 72-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Cory Koenig with 2 minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Koenig's ninth rushing touchdown of the season was set up by a 16-yard pass play from Ryan Berry to Chris Doblar on a third-and-two play.

The Jackrabbits gained control of the game in the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns by Harris to go up 21-0. The Sioux Falls native scored on a 3-yard end-around at the 7:36 mark of the quarter, then hauled in a tipped pass from 26 yards out from Berry to put SDSU up 21-0. With the touchdown, Harris extended his streak of games with a touchdown reception to six ? with all scoring plays covering at least 25 yards.

SDSU appeared on the verge of breaking the game wide open in the closing minute of the first half. After the Aggies went three-and-out, the Jackrabbits took over at the UC Davis 47. SDSU drove to the UC Davis 18 before a holding penalty backed the Jackrabbits up and Parker Douglass missed only his second field goal try this season, from 45 yards just before the end of the half.

UC Davis used that new-found momentum to pull to within 21-14 early in the fourth quarter. Brandon Rice put the Aggies on the board with a 26-yard touchdown reception from Matt Engle on their first drive of the second half, but missed the extra point.

The Aggies fumbled away another opportunity deep in Jackrabbit territory as Andrew Hoogeveen stripped Kale Turner of the football at the SDSU and Justin Kubesh fell of the ball to keep UC Davis at arm's length.

But the margin would narrow further when Brandon Tucker hauled in a 9-yard TD pass from Engle and Bakari Grant added the two-point conversion with 13:06 remaining in the game.

But the Jackrabbits had one more big play to put the game out of reach. Berry again hooked up with his favorite receiver, connecting with Harris on a 70-yard scoring strike to put SDSU up 28-14 with 10:34 still on the clock.

UC Davis marched down field to get back to within a touchdown with 5:05 remaining as Luke McDonough scored from 6 yards out on Engle's third touchdown pass of the day.

The Aggies would not get the ball back as SDSU continued to grind out yards and eat clock with Koenig. The senior from Underwood, Iowa, ended the game with 30 carries for 160 yards as SDSU held a 35:44 to 24:16 advantage in time of possession.

SDSU tallied 469 yards of total offense and 26 first downs, compared to 379 yards and 17 first downs for UC Davis.

Harris ended the day with six receptions for 128 yards and Glen Fox added a career-high five receptions for 50 yards. Berry completed 22-of-33 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Jimmy Rogers led the Jackrabbits with 10 tackles, eight of which were solo stops.

Engle completed 20-of-31 passes for the Aggies for 257 yards. Tucker caught five passes for 78 yards, with Tucker recording five receptions for 54 yards. Tucker also led the UC Davis ground game with 99 yards on 15 carries.

Mike Morales led all players with 15 tackles for UC Davis.

The Jackrabbits will play their final road and non-conference game of the season next Saturday (Nov. 3) at Central Arkansas. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. in Conway, Ark.

SDSU Notes: The Jackrabbits did not commit a turnover for the second consecutive game and third time this season ... Koenig notched his ninth career 100-yard game ... SDSU improved to 4-2 in the all-time series against UC Davis, winning for the third straight time ... the victory was the 65^th of head coach John Stiegelmeier's career ... Jackrabbit punter Dean Priddy punted three times for an average of 45.7 yards and landed two inside the UCD 20-yard line ... attendance at the newly christened Aggie Stadium was listed at 9,375 ... the Jackrabbits recorded six tackles for loss, including 2 ? (1 ? sacks) by Eric Schroeder