Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- No. 22 South Dakota State defeated No. 17 Indiana State by the score of 32-17 in the regular season home finale in front of 4,905 fans inside Memorial Stadium.
The Sycamores fell to 6-4, 3-3 MVC while the Jackrabbits improved to 6-4, 3-3 MVC. Indiana State concludes the home portion of the regular season schedule with a 4-2 ledger.
Mike Perish went 27-for-47 passing for 183 yards and one touchdown. Perish now owns 40 career touchdown passes which is tied with Jeff Miller (1982-85) for the Indiana State record. Chris O'Leary completed his only pass for 23 yards to Perish. Robert Tonyan was the top target for Perish as he hauled in six catches for 74 yards while O'Leary made five receptions for 36 yards. Gary Owens and A.J. Johnson caught four passes each.
Buck Logan had 92 yards rushing on 19 attempts with a touchdown. He added three receptions, including a late touchdown as he reached the end zone twice in the contest.
Conlan Cassidy made 11 tackles to lead the Sycamore defense while Kendall Walker had eight stops. Mark Sewall posted seven tackles and added a pair of interceptions as well as two pass breakups. Garrick Ratliff had a tackle for a loss. Both Cassidy and Jess Harris each blocked a punt for the Sycamores on special teams.
The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first quarter before Zach Zenner appeared to give SDSU an early lead with a 67-yard touchdown run. The rush was called back for a holding penalty and the Sycamore defense held with a Travis Starks pass breakup. At their own 49-yard line, a South Dakota State long snap sailed over the punter's head and the ensuing attempt was blocked by Conlan Cassidy. The ball was blocked with such force that it traveled over 30 yards in the air backwards and out of the end zone as the Sycamores took a 2-0 lead with 12:41 remaining in the second quarter.
After the safety, SDSU's kick went out of bounds which gave the Sycamores great field position at the 50. Buck Logan rushed for four yards on a 3rd-and-one playand then Perish found A.J. Johnson for six yards to move to the Jackrabbit 26. For the second consecutive week, the Sycamores dug into their bag of tricks with a backwards pass to Chris O'Leary, who then swung the ball back across the field to Perish who raced down to the three yard line. From there, Logan reached the end zone from three yards out and the Sycamores owned a 9-0 advantage with 9:44 remaining.
Mark Sewall intercepted an Austin Sumner pass at his own 10-yard line to stop the next SDSU drive, but ISU went three-and-out to give the ball back to the Jackrabbits at their own 44 following an Osborn Umeh punt. SDSU moved the ball 56 yards on six plays which was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Zach Zenner as they cut into the Indiana State lead, 9-7, with 3:56 to go in the half.
The Sycamores pinned the Jackrabbits back at their own nine and eight plays later, Indiana State blocked another punt and it was down at the ISU 43. Indiana State took over eight seconds left in the third before a turnover gave the ball back to SDSU at the ISU 42 with two seconds on the clock. After a penalty kept the half alive, Sumner's final heave to the end zone was swatted away by Sewall and ISU owned a 9-7 lead at the half.
Indiana State's defense continued to hold through the first two SDSU possessions of the second half and Umeh pinned the Jacks at their own nine-yard line with 7:30 remaining. Sumner then found Jake Wieneke for a 91-yard touchdown pass with 7:14 on the clock as the Jacks took their first lead of the game at 15-9 following a two-point conversion.
Conlan Cassidy made a tackle of Zenner at the ISU 28-yard line on the opening play of the fourth quarter before Justin Syrovatka hit a 46-yard field goal with 14:20 remaining to stretch the SDSU lead to 18-9.
The Sycamores drove all the way down the Jackrabbit two-yard line in an attempt to answer but Buck Logan lept over the pile on second-and-goal and lost control of the ball as he neared the goal line when the Jackrabbits recovered. Zenner rushed for four yards to give SDSU breathing room and then raced 94 yards for a touchdown with 9:58 remaining for the 25-9 lead.
Sumner found Wieneke on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 5:02 remaining as the lead extended to 32-9.
Perish found Logan on a two-yard touchdown reception with 11 seconds remaining to cap a 16-play, 77-yard drive late in the contest. Perish then found Tonyan at the back of the end zone to draw the Sycamores within 32-17.
Indiana State takes to the road to take on nationally-ranked Youngstown State on Saturday, November 15. Kick-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on ESPN3.
