TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Plez Lawrence scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:20 left in the third quarter and Joey Shew, Geoffrey Brown, Maddix Blackwell, and the Indiana State defense made the score stand up in the second half as the Sycamores took down No. 15/15 North Dakota, 35-31, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
 
Lawrence broke through with a pair of third quarter touchdowns to give Indiana State (4-5, 3-2) the lead in the second half. The redshirt sophomore running back broke loose for a 53-yard touchdown run on Indiana State's first drive of the second half, and then followed up going 39 yards on a short pass from Elijah Owens to put the Sycamores ahead 35-28 with 5:20 to play in the third quarter.
 
The Sycamore defense made the seven-point lead hold up against the Fighting Hawks (5-4, 2-3) as Indiana State held UND to a 37-yard CJ Elrichs' field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut it to a four-point game with 14:56 to play in the contest.
 
Indiana State's two offensive drives in the fourth quarter led to punts with Sycamore punter Harry Traum pinning UND at both the 12 and 15 yard-lines forcing the Fighting Hawks to go the length of the field in attempt to put the go-ahead points on the board.
 
UND's final drive of the game started with 1:49 remaining in the contest as quarterback Simon Romfo's connected on passes to Bo Belquist, Caden Dennis, and Nate DeMontagnac in moving the ball up to the Indiana State 35. However, Indiana State defensive end Joey Shew wreaked havoc on the line of scrimmage on the 3rd-and-9 play picking up his second sack of the game forcing a long fourth down with just over 20 seconds to play.
 
Romfo's jump ball into the end zone settled into the hands of Blackwell around the goal-line and the Sycamore safety batted the ball down to the ground with 14 seconds remaining on the clock setting up the Indiana State kneel down to secure the win.
 
Indiana State's 35-31 win over North Dakota marked the Sycamores' first win against a ranked opponent since Indiana State topped No. 22 Illinois State, 28-23, back on Nov. 10, 2018. The Sycamores' last win against a top-15 ranked opponent came back on Sept. 24, 2016, when Indiana State topped No. 9 Illinois State, 34-31, at Memorial Stadium.
 
Shew started the scoring for the Sycamores with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown 34 seconds into the game setting the tone for a high-scoring affair on Saturday afternoon. Shen Butler-Lawson added a three-yard touchdown run for Indiana State, while Rashad Rochelle hauled in a 16-yard touchdown catch for the Sycamore as the teams went into the halftime break tied up at 21-21.
 
Lawrence was dominant from the start for Indiana State as the redshirt sophomore finished with a combined 139 yards on 15 offensive touches on Saturday afternoon. He posted 14 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown, while adding one catch for 39 yards and a second score. Shen Butler-Lawson added 13 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown, while Elijah Owens contributed 38 rushing yards as the Sycamores racked up 227 yards on the ground. Left tackle Jude McCoskey added to the efforts hauling in a backwards pass and rumbling over the goal line to convert a two-point conversion in the third quarter.
 
Owens went 12-of-18 through the air for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Rashad Rochelle was the primary target hauling in six catches for 72 yards and a score, while Zavion Taylor added three receptions for 38 yards. Rochelle added a two-point conversion pass to Ethan Chambers as the Sycamores utilized the entire playbook on Saturday afternoon.
 
Shew was all over the backfield on Saturday afternoon to highlight multiple impressive efforts on the defensive end. The Sycamore defensive end posted six tackles, 3.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, a forced fumble, and he also scored Indiana State's first points of the game courtesy of a 20-yard pick-six in a standout effort.
 
Brown was also around the ball a majority of the afternoon in recording a career-high 19 tackles on the afternoon. The 19 stops give him 305 career tackles at Indiana State making him just the 19th player in program history to eclipse the 300-career tackle mark.
 
Blackwell added 14 tackles and two pass breakups, while Kaleal Davis posted 11 tackles in the win.
 
Romfo went 18-of-26 through the air for 187 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Fighting Hawks. Nick Kupfer had a team-high 56 receiving yards, while Bo Belquist and Nate DeMontagnac both had receiving touchdowns for UND.
 
Isaiah Smith paced UND's rushing efforts with a game-high 104 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Sawyer Seidl added 11 carries for 33 yards on the ground as the Fighting Hawks posted 185 total rushing yards on Saturday afternoon.
 
Malachi McNeal and Wyatt Pedigo had eight tackles apiece to lead North Dakota's defense in the game. McNeal added 2.0 tackles-for-loss and a sack, while Craig Orlando and Kaden Vig combined for a sack in the loss.
 
How They Scored

• Lucas McAllister's pressure up the middle led to an errant Simon Romfo pass and Joey Shew took advantage with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown 34 seconds into the game to give Indiana State the 6-0 lead. The ensuing two-point conversion failed leaving it a six-point Indiana State advantage.
• Romfo gave UND the 7-6 lead with 10:03 left in the first quarter as the quarterback punched in a two-yard gain to cap an eight-play, 65-yard drive.
• The Sycamores responded with an 11-play, 87-yard drive, that spanned the end of the first and start of the second quarters. Rashad Rochelle highlighted the drive with a 22-yard reception into the UND red zone and Shen Butler-Lawson took it the rest of the way with a three-yard touchdown run to give Indiana State the 13-7 lead with 11:30 to play in the first half.
• The Fighting Hawks answered back as Nate DeMontagnac hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from Romfo with 6:38 left on the clock following the 10-play, 67-yard drive.
• Bo Belquist added to North Dakota's lead with just under two minutes left in the first half bringing in a nine-yard Romfo touchdown pass to make it 21-13 Fighting Hawks after a seven-play, 47-yard drive.
• A muffed punt return late in the second quarter set up short yardage for the Indiana State offense and the Sycamores capitalized as Elijah Owens found Rochelle for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left in the half. Rochelle rolled out and found fellow wide receiver Ethan Chambers open in the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game up at 21-21 at the halftime break.
• Indiana State's opening drive of the second half ended with Plez Lawrence's first touchdown of the day as the running back sprinted 53 yards down the right sideline to give Indiana State the 27-21 lead with 12:21 to play in the third quarter.
• Isaiah Smith answered for UND as the Fighting Hawks' running back pushed through for a 3-yard touchdown and 28-27 lead over the Sycamores with 8:13 left in the third quarter after an eight-play, 69-yard drive.
• Owens found Lawrence in the passing game and the Sycamore duo connected for a 39-yard touchdown pass, capping off a six-play, 71-yard drive. The two-point conversion featured a throwback to left tackle Jude McCoskey and the Sycamore offensive lineman took the ball over the goal line to make it a 35-28 lead with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter.
• North Dakota's final scoring drive ended early in the fourth quarter as CJ Elrichs converted a 37-yard field goal with 14:56 to play to cap the scoring at 35-31.

 
News & Notables

• Indiana State picked up its first win against a ranked opponent and first Valley win against a ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2018, when the Sycamores topped No. 22 Illinois State, 28-23.
• The Sycamores also recorded their first win against a top 15 opponent on Saturday since Sept. 24, 2016, when Indiana State topped No. 9 Illinois State, 34-31, at Memorial Stadium.
• Indiana State improves to 3-2 in MVFC play through five games marking their first time being above .500 in Valley play through five contests since the 2014 season.
• Plez Lawrence recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the 2024 season and third of his career on Saturday afternoon after carrying the ball 14 times for 100 yards.
• Rashad Rochelle hauled in six passes for 72 yards marking his sixth consecutive game with at least three catches, while his 72 yards were the second-most of his Indiana State career.
• Quarterback Elijah Owens continues to sit among the nation's elite passers posting a 70.5% (134-190) completion percentage on the year following Saturday's 12-for-18 performance.
• Geoffrey Brown's 19 tackles on Saturday afternoon tied for the second-most in a single game in the Curt Mallory era. His 19 stops equaled Katrell Moss's 19 tackles set back against South Dakota on Nov. 3, 2018, and was one shy of Moss' 20-tackle game against Southern Illinois back in 2017.
• Brown's 19-tackle game gives him 305 in his collegiate career making him the 19th player in Indiana State football history to hit the 300 career tackle mark and first since Jonas Griffith achieved the feat back in 2018. He's the 10th player to hit the feat since 2000.
• Three Sycamores posted double-digit tackles on Saturday afternoon marking the third time the statistic has been achieved in the 2024 season as Brown (19), Blackwell (14), and Davis (11) all reached 10-plus tackles.
• Joey Shew continued his three-game tear on the defensive line as the redshirt junior posted a career-high 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks on Saturday afternoon. Over his last three games, he's posted 6.0 TFL and 4.5 sacks, while adding a forced fumble and a pick-six.
• Shew's 20-yard interception return for a touchdown marked Indiana State's fourth defensive touchdown of the season joining Jorge Valdes (90yd INT vs. Dayton), Garret Ollendieck (12yd FR vs. Dayton), and Geoffrey Brown (21yd INT vs. Southern Illinois).
• Indiana State converted two two-point conversions on Saturday afternoon as the Rashad Rochelle completed a pass to Ethan Chambers in the second quarter to make it a 21-21 game, while left tackle Jude McCoskey ran the ball over the goal line in the third quarter to put the Sycamores ahead 35-28.

Team Green Law Postgame Press Conference
 

Up Next
Indiana State is back on the road next weekend as the Sycamores continue Missouri Valley Football play at South Dakota on Saturday, November 9. Kickoff between the Sycamores and the Coyotes is set for 2 p.m. ET inside The DakotaDome with the game scheduled to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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