BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Julius Loughridge scored two of South Dakota State’s four rushing touchdowns and the Jackrabbits defeated Drake 37-21.
South Dakota State, ranked No. 2 in the FCS coaches’ poll, spotted Drake the first touchdown but Loughridge’s TDs of 15 and 4 yards helped the Jackrabbits build a 28-10 lead with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Two-time defending Pioneer Football League champion Drake bounced back with a short rushing score by QB Logan Inagawa to make it 28-18 midway through the third.
The Jackrabbits put the game away with Ryan Harrington’s 39-yard field goal and a 5-yard touchdown run by Corey Blair Jr.
Elsewhere,
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — L.J. Phillips Jr. ran for 301 yards and two touchdowns, including the overtime winner, to lift No. 20 South Dakota past Northern Colorado 24-17 on Saturday.
Phillips nearly broke the Coyotes’ single-game rushing record with 197 yards by halftime, scoring on a 1-yard run. He sealed it in OT with a 13-yard touchdown before Northern Colorado’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
The Bears forced overtime with Jacob Willig’s 18-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Eric Gibson Jr. threw for 336 yards and a score for Northern Colorado, while South Dakota’s Aidan Bouman passed for 99 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Bouman hit Zach Witte for a late fourth-quarter TD before Gibson responded with a 24-yard scoring pass to Charles Garrison and a two-point conversion.