SACRAMENTO, Calif. — South Dakota State dominated the first half and then held off a furious second-half comeback bid by fourth-seeded Sacramento State to advance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with a 24-19 victory Saturday night at Hornet Stadium.
With the win, the Jackrabbits improved to 10-3 overall and earned a date with fifth-seeded Villanova in quarterfinal action next Saturday (Dec. 11). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central).
SDSU scored on four of its five first-half possessions to build a 24-0 lead. The Jackrabbits marched 73 yards on eight plays on their opening drive, breaking into the scoring column on a 5-yard touchdown run by Pierre Strong, Jr. It was the 17th rushing touchdown of the season for the Walter Payton Award finalist.
Cole Frahm added a 45-yard field goal on the next Jackrabbit possession and SDSU added a pair of scores in the second quarter with a pair of long drives. Isaiah Davis scored on runs of 7 and 6 yards to cap respective drives of 88 and 73 yards.
The Jackrabbit defense held Sacramento State to a total of six yards on the Hornets’ first two drives of the game and also came up with a pair off first-half interceptions. Don Gardner picked off a pass at the goal line to end a Hornet drive late in the first quarter and defensive end Cade Terveer dropped into coverage and came up with an interception in SDSU territory in the second quarter.
Sacramento State, 9-3 overall, finally put points on the board on the final play of the first half as Kyle Sentkowski kicked a 44-yard field goal.
The second half was nearly a mirror image of the first stanza as the Hornets found their rhythm offensively as the Jackrabbit offense began to sputter. Sac State tallied its first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass from Jake Dunniway to Pierre Williams late in the third quarter and Sentkowski drew the Hornets to within 24-13 with a 48-yard field goal five minutes into the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, SDSU managed only 80 total yards in the second half and was forced to punt on each of its first four possessions of the half.
The Hornets kept the momentum, marching 89 yards on 13 plays with Isaiah Gable recording the final yard on a flip pass from Asher O’Hara with 2:33 to play. The two-point attempt was broken up by Isaiah Stalbird to keep the score at 24-19.
The Jackrabbits’ Dalys Beanum recovered the onside kick attempt and Davis sealed the victory with a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Sac State 39 with under a minute and a half to play.
Davis ended the night with a game-high 108 yards on 19 carries. Strong rushed 14 times for 73 yards.
Sac State finished with a 480-363 advantage in total offense as Dunniway accounted for 331 through the air of 26-of-43 passing and a team-high 41 yards on the ground. Williams caught seven passes for 100 yards.
SDSU quarterback Chris Oladokun completed 12-of-23 passes for 158 yards, with Jaxon Janke catching five passes for 48 yards and Tucker Kraft hauling in three receptions for 49 yards.
Isaiah Stalbird registered a game-high nine tackles for the Jackrabbits, with Logan Backhaus adding eight. Abel Ordaz led Sac State with eight stops.
