VORHEES, JACKS RUN PAST SOUTHEASTERN

Saturday, September 21

Hammond, La.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

3-1 , 0-0

Southeastern Louisiana

1-3 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota St.

Southeastern La.

9/21/2024 9:44:00 PM | Football

Box Score POSTGAME INTERVIEWS

HAMMOND, La. — Backup running back Kirby Vorhees ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns while the South Dakota State defense pitched another shutout as the top-ranked Jackrabbits wrapped up the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 41-0 victory at Southeastern Louisiana Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.

SDSU ran its record to 3-1 while the Lions dropped to 1-3 on the season.

The Jackrabbits grabbed a 7-0 lead before running their first offensive play when Dalys Beanum fielded a punt in the middle of the field at his own 12 and rolled around the left side for an 88-yard touchdown with 8 minutes and 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Vorhees went to work in the second quarter, scoring on each of his first two carries as he broke numerous tackles on his way to the end zone with runs of 20 and 22 yards. SDSU's second extra-point try of the sequence failed, leaving the Jackrabbits with a 20-0 halftime advantage.

A redshirt freshman from Lutz, Florida, Vorhees made it 3-for-3 as he burst through the line and rambled 80 yards for his third touchdown of the night in as many carries midway through the third quarter. He would end the night with a career-high 179 yards on only five carries for an average of 35.8 yards per attempt.

Meanwhile, the SDSU defense continued to put the clamps on Southeastern Louisiana, limiting the Lions to less than 100 yards of offense in each half. The Jackrabbits got first-half interceptions from Colby Huerter and Steven Arrell while racking up four sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Huerter, Graham Spalding and Adam Bock each registered seven tackles, with redshirt freshman Nick Wells tallying a pair of tackles for loss. The Jackrabbits held SLU to 2-for-16 on third-down attempts.

SDSU extended its lead to 34-0 on a 14-yard touchdown run by Amar Johnson and closed out the scoring with a 1-yard scoring plunge by backup quarterback Chase Mason in the fourth quarter. Johnson's TD ended a six-play, 87-yard scoring drive that included a 39-yard by Vorhees on the second play of the drive.

The Jackrabbits finished with 341 yards on the ground and a 417-186 advantage in total offense. Johnson carried 11 times for 65 yards and was the Jackrabbits' leading receiving with three catches for 37 yards.

The Jackrabbit passing attack never got on track in the contest as Mark Gronowski completed 7-of-17 passes for 65 yards with one interception. Mason was 1-of-2 passing for 11 yards.

SLU quarterback Damon Stewart completed 9-of-20 passes for 81 yards. Darius Lewis was the leading pass-catcher with five receptions for 56 yards, with Antonio Martin Jr. pacing the ground game with 14 carries for 36 yards.

K.K. Reno led all players with 10 tackles for the Lions.

The shutout was the fourth by the Jackrabbits in Jimmy Rogers' two seasons as head coach.

UP NEXT
SDSU opens Missouri Valley Football Conference action Oct. 5 at Northern Iowa. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

NOTES

South Dakota State leads the all-time series, which dates back to 2012, by a 3-0 count
The Jackrabbits improved to 5-0 in games played in the state of Louisiana since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004
SDSU has won 30 consecutive games against FCS opponents
Beanum's 88-yard punt return was the longest by a Jackrabbit since a 94-yard return for touchdown by Paul Aanonson against North Dakota State in 2007
Beanum's touchdown was the third of his career, following two interception returns for scores
SDSU tallied 180 return yards in the contest — 118 on punts and 62 on interceptions
SLU missed field-goal tries of 49 and 34 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively
Louisiana native Kentrell Prejean caught two passes for 13 yards and returned a late punt 16 yards for the Jackrabbits
Spalding added two pass breakups early in the game for SDSU
Temperature was 88 degrees at kickoff
Announced attendance was 4,387