CARBONDALE, Ill – South Dakota State rushed for nearly 400 yards and turned four Southern Illinois turnovers into 24 points as the Jackrabbits steamrolled their way to a 44-3 victory in a key Missouri Valley Football Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at Saluki Stadium.
The Jackrabbits, ranked sixth in this week’s Stats Perform media poll and seventh by the Football Championship Subdivision coaches, improved to 4-1 both overall and in league play. Fifth-ranked SIU dropped to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the MVFC.
After SDSU had a field goal attempt blocked on the opening drive of the game, SIU put together its best drive of the afternoon to crack the scoring column first on a 27-yard field goal by Nico Gualdoni. That capped a 17-play, 64-yard drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock.
The Jackrabbits began to take control in the second quarter, putting together their own methodical drive to take the lead for good. Quarterback and Illinois native Mark Gronowski scrambled to his left for a 4-yard touchdown run that finished off an 18-play, 91-yard drive that consumed more than nine minutes.
SIU turned the ball over two times later in the half and the Jackrabbits cashed in both times. First, Graham Spalding forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the SIU 17 and freshman Isaiah Davis, starting in place of an injured Pierre Strong, Jr., scored three plays later from three yards out.
In the final minute of the first half, Logan Backhaus intercepted a pass at the SDSU 36 and Gronowski quickly led the Jackrabbits downfield with a 20-yard pass to Jaxon Janke and three rushes for 20 yards to set up a 31-yard field goal by Cole Frahm as time expired for a 17-3 halftime lead.
The Salukis made a change at quarterback to open the second half, but Don Gardner and Joshua Manchigiah recorded interceptions on two of Kare Lyles’ first three passes of the half. Both pickoffs resulted in a short field for the Jackrabbits, who upped their lead to 31-3 on touchdown runs of 12 and 1 yards, respectively, by Gronowski and Davis.
Davis, who finished the afternoon with 150 yards on 22 carries, put an exclamation point on his day with a 45-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter for his third score of the day. Gronowski also topped the century mark on the ground for the second time this season with 103 yards on 13 carries, while Jordan Meachum saw his most extensive action at running back this season and tallied 88 yards on 13 carries.
As a team, SDSU finished with 392 yards on the ground and a 462-213 advantage in total offense.
SDSU’s final points came on field goals by Frahm (30 yards) and backup Hunter Dustman (43 yards).
Gronowski attempted only 11 passes, completing seven for 63 yards. Jaxon Janke registered 36 yards on his two catches.
Avante Cox was the top performer for the Saluki offense with seven catches for 50 yards. Javon Williams Jr. led the SIU run game with 49 yards on 10 carries.
Adam Bock led the SDSU defensive unit with 10 tackles, followed by eight from Backhaus.
For SIU, Qua Brown registered a game-high 12 tackles and forced a pair of fumbles.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits return home to host Illinois State next Saturday (March 27) in the Beef Bowl. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
