Jackrabbit rally falls short at SIU

Saturday, November 15

Carbondale, Ill.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

6-5 , 5-2

Southern Illinois

8-2 , 6-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Southern Illinois

11/15/2008 1:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois' Kyle Dougherty kicked a 28-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the game, and the Salukis intercepted a South Dakota State pass in the final minute, ending the Jackrabbits' hopes of a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title Saturday.

With the 38-35 victory at McAndrew Stadium, ninth-ranked SIU improved to 8-2 overall, 6-1 in the MVFC. SDSU dropped its fourth game of the season against a top-10 team, falling to 6-5 overall and 5-2 in league play.

The Salukis can earn a share of the conference title with a win next week at Western Illinois. Northern Iowa clinched a share of the league crown with a victory Saturday at Indiana State, but SIU holds the tie-breaker over UNI for the automatic berth to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Early on, it was big plays by SIU that gave the Salukis the lead. A 36-yard return on the opening kickoff by Richard White put SIU in Jackrabbit territory. The Salukis cashed in on the good field position as White scored from two yards out 10 plays later.

The Jackrabbits answered on their second possession of the game. Taking over at their own 49, Ryan Berry connected with Glen Fox for a 50-yard pass play to the SIU 1, and Kyle Minett followed with a 1-yard plunge to tie that game at 7-all with 4:48 to play in the first quarter.

The tie lasted all of 12 seconds, however, as Larry Warner returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. It was Warner's third kickoff return for a touchdown this season and the second allowed by SDSU.

SDSU again tied the game as Berry hooked up with Fox on a 4-yard scoring strike to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive that covered more than six minutes.

SIU regained control with three touchdowns in the second quarter. Helped by two Jackrabbit personal foul penalties, the first SIU score of the period came on a 20-yard pass from Chris Dieker to Damian Sherman and was followed 17 seconds later by a 57-yard interception return for touchdown by Marty Rodgers.

The Jackrabbits came back with another long scoring drive, this one covering 70 yards on 13 plays, as Minett scored on a 3-yard screen pass from Berry with 50 seconds remaining in the half. The touchdown pass was Berry's 28th of the season, breaking Brad Nelson's school-record mark of 27 set in 2003.

The Saluki offense struck one final time before halftime. Starting at their own 32, Warner put SIU in scoring position as he scampered 42 yards on a shovel pass to the SDSU 14 and had another seven yards tacked on by a personal foul penalty against the Jackrabbits. Two plays later, Warner scored from two yards out to make the score 35-21 at the half.

SDSU gained the momentum in the third quarter, scoring on the opening drive of the half.Berry completed a pair of 11-yard passes to JaRon Harris to open the drive, then connected with Mike Steffen on an 18-yard touchdown pass.

After forcing a fumble on SIU's first possession of the half and then pinning the Salukis at their own 2-yard line on Dean Priddy's career-long 61-yard boot, the Jackrabbits put together the game-tying scoring drive. Cole Brodie's 17-yard punt return put the ball at the SIU 37, and the Jackrabbits continued to excel in the red zone as Minett went up and over the Saluki defense for a 1-yard touchdown run -- his third score of the game -- to knot the game at 35-all.

The Jackrabbits missed an opportunity to take their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter. Conrad Kjerstad recorded his team-leading third interception of the season the ball was moved to the SIU 38 after a face mask penalty. However, the Jackrabbits couldn't move the ball past the 33 before being forced to punt.

SIU took over at its own 14 and began a methodical game-winning drive. A 19-yard pass on second and long from Dieker to Joe Allaria extended the drive, which covered 16 plays and 75 yards and tookchewed up nearly seven minutes off the clock before Dougherty's 28-yard field goal.

SDSU appeared on the verge of putting together the decisive scoring drive as Berry connected on his first four passes to move the Jackrabbits into SIU territory at the 36. After an incompletion, Berry hit Fox on back-to-back throws to put the ball at the SIU 23. But on second and 10, Berry was pressured and intercepted at the 9-yard line by James Wheeler with 36 seconds remaining.

The Jackrabbit defense held SIU without a first down, and used all three of its timeouts to force a Saluki punt. SDSU regained possession at its own 33 with 12 seconds remaining, but the Jackrabbits' last-ditch effort came up short as time expired.

Berry finished the game 29-of-46 passing for 286 yards as he also set Jackrabbit single-season records with 384 attempts and 248 completions on the day, while setting a new career mark with 823 attempts.

Fox, who caught seven passes for 91 yards in the first half, ended the game with nine receptions for 104 yards. Steffen added career highs with eight catches for 82 yards, and Harris contributed seven receptions for 60 yards.

Minett led the ground game with 90 yards on 26 carries.

SDSU held a 383-347 advantage in total offense and tallied 27 first downs, compared to 23 by the Salukis.

Warner tallied 269 all-purpose yards for SIU, leading the Salukis in rushing with 76 yards on 19 carries and in receiving with six receptions for 73 yards. Dieker was an effective 25-of-35 passing for 245 yards.

Defensively, Chris Johnson posted a game-high 10 tackles for SDSU. Brodie, Jimmy Rogers, Derek Domino and Kjerstad each made eight stops.

Rodgers and Brandin Jordan each notched nine tackles for SIU.

The Jackrabbits will close out the 2008 season next Saturday (Nov. 22) by defending the Dakota Marker in Fargo against North Dakota State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Fargodome, with the game televised on Sioux Falls-based KSFY.

Notes: Saturday's game was the first meeting between South Dakota State and Southern Illinois in football ... SDSU set a single-season scoring record with 402 points, topping the 1993 squad's scoring total of 394 points in 11 games ... Fox tied a single-game career high with his nine receptions and notched his team-leading fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season ... Fox's 65 receptions are the third-highest single-season total in Jackrabbit history and are eight away from Jeff Tiefenthaler's record of 73 catches in 1986 ...Harris took over sole possession of third place in career receptions at SDSU, upping his total to 144 and breaking a tie with Rusty Lenners (137 receptions from 1993-96) ... Minett increased his season rushing total to 1,204 yards -- the seventh-highest single-season total at SDSU ... Minett's 104 points (17 touchdowns, 1 two-point conversion) are the third-most points scored by an SDSU player in a a season ... Danny Batten notched his team-leading eighth sack of the season ... SDSU has intercepted 17 passes this season ... SDSU entered the game as the ninth-least penalized team in the FCS ranks, but was flagged six times for 62 yards