Montana State Runs by South Dakota Coyotes in Bozeman

The South Dakota Coyote football program continued their dance in the postseason on Saturday, tussling with the Montana State Bobcats in the FCS Semis.

The Yotes and Bobcats traded a pair of touchdowns apiece in the early going, but in the end it was the top-seeded Montana State squad moving on to the Title game.

Per GoYotes.com:

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In an unseasonably mild mid-December day in Big Sky country, it would be the top-ranked Montana State Bobcats (15-0, 8-0 Big Sky) who defended the home turf as the No. 4-seeded South Dakota Coyotes (11-3, 7-1 MVFC) season ends in the FCS semifinals with a 31-17 loss.

Offense would be the name of the game in the first 30 minutes of play at Bobcat Stadium with the two teams combining for five touchdowns and 38 points in the first half.

South Dakota won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Bobcats opened the game with the ball and quickly moved into Coyote territory. On his second pass attempt of the day, Tommy Mellott would find Taco Dowler for a 34-yard touchdown strike to take the early 7-0 lead.

The Coyote offense would get the first chance of the afternoon as Travis Theis (Sr., Pratt, Kan.) would scamper 55 yards on a toss play to quickly even the contest up at 7-7, recording his longest rush of his USD career.

The two defenses would begin to settle in with both teams trading punts on their second possessions. Montana State would punch the ball in again right before the end of the first quarter to take a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

On the drive to begin the second, Charles Pierre Jr. (So., Orlando, Fla.) broke off a 45-yard sprint on the first play of the quarter that resulted in the second 45+-yard touchdown run of the day to again knot the game up at 14-14.

The Bobcats would push the ball back into USD territory with their run game, eventually back inside the red zone. Montana State would punch it back in for their third score of the day to make it 21-14 midway through the second quarter.

Montana State would push inside the red zone with under a minute left in the half, but the USD defense would hold firm and force a field goal as the Bobcats took a 24-14 lead into the locker room at Bobcat Stadium.

The Bobcats would extend their lead in with their first possession of the second half, as Mellott dropped the third down snap, picked it up, and took it 41 yards to take the 31-14 lead with 10:30 to play in the third quarter.

When they needed it most, the Yote defense forced a three-and-out, pinning the Bobcats inside their own 10-yard line. South Dakota would take over in plus-territory at the MSU 48-yard line with five minutes to play in the third. Aidan Bouman (Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) would find Carter Bell (Sr., Bettendorf, Iowa) on the drag route for a 24-yard gain.

Will Leyland (Jr., Souderton, Pa.) would convert on a 46-yard field goal attempt to cut the lead to 31-17 late in the third quarter. The field goal set a new season-long for the junior kicker.

The Coyote defense would again force the Bobcats off the field quickly with a three-and-out. The Bobcat punter would get a leg into the punt, flipping the field as the ball was downed at the USD 20-yard line as Bouman and company would take to the field again with two minutes left in the third quarter.

The three running backs got touches on the drive to end the frame, as Bouman finds L.J. Phillips Jr. (R-Fr., Wichita, Kan.) out of the backfield for seven yards and a first down to send the game to the fourth. On the drive, Theis picked up his fifth 100-yard rushing game.

Bouman would then find JJ Galbreath (Sr., Arvada, Colo.) in front of the Coyote bench on the near side for a 23-yard gain as the Yotes would continue the march into the red zone. Down to a fourth down and long, the Yotes, just a yard short, would turn the ball over on downs inside the MSU five-yard line.

The Bobcats would take over with a 31-17 lead with 8:42 to play. Despite pushes from the Yotes, the score would remain 31-17 at the final whistle with top-seeded Montana State remaining undefeated and advancing to Frisco.

The Coyotes' season comes to an end with an 11-3 overall record with a 7-1 record in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), earning a share of the Valley title for the first time in program history. South Dakota's 11 wins also ties the program record for the most wins in a single season (1986 season) and advances to the farthest in the FCS Playoffs (semifinals) in program history for the second-straight season.

It was a season of many firsts, record breaking moments, and memories for the Yotes and their fans.

Source: GoYotes.com