South Dakota Rallies to Make History, Downs #1 NDSU

What a game! The South Dakota Coyotes climbed out of an 11-point hole late in the game Saturday afternoon to down rival North Dakota State and make some history as a program.

Before yesterday, USD had never won a Missouri Valley Football Conference title, and they can now check it off of the list.

Go Yotes delivered a full recap of the stunning performance to take down the top-ranked Bison:

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An impeccable day on Senior Day inside the DakotaDome resulted in a pair of touchdowns in the final four-plus minutes as the No. 4-ranked University of South Dakota football team (9-2, 7-1 MVFC) took down No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (10-2, 7-1 MVFC), 29-28, to lay claim to the program's first-ever Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) title* and end the regular season undefeated in the Dome.
It was a fast start for the Coyotes inside the Dome with the Yotes jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead and the Coyote defense forcing Bison punts on their first four drives of the contest. The offense also out of the gate hot put together back-to-back touchdown drives of 80 and 73 yards.

Soon thereafter, North Dakota State would show why they entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the FCS and had won all 10 games against FCS opponents up to today. The Bison would close out the first half, stealing away the momentum the Yotes had built up with back-to-back scoring drives to knot things up at 14-14 just before the halftime break.

The Coyotes would get the ball first out of the locker room. Pushing it inside the Bison 30-yard line, the drive would stall out, but Will Leyland (Jr., Souderton, Pa.) would convert on his ninth field goal of the season with a 37-yard field goal to give the Yotes the 17-14 lead.

Yet again, the Bison would show fight and put up 14 unanswered points to end the third quarter and into the final frame. But it would be Javion Phelps (Orlando, Fla.) who completely took over the game in the fourth quarter, and the final five minutes. The junior wide out brought down all three of his receptions on the game in the final 15 minutes, including the go-ahead touchdown grab with seconds left on the clock.

Seemingly taking the life out of the Yotes and the Dome, the Bison would punch in a touchdown score from one-yard out with 4:10 left on the clock to take a 28-17 lead utilizing a 20-play, 99-yard drive.

Down, but not out, the South Dakota offense would take the field trailing by 11 with just over four minutes remaining. The first three passes of the drive would hit the turf as USD was faced with a fourth-and-10. Having the utmost faith in his receivers, Bouman would find Phelps open for a 31-yard completion down to the NDSU 40-yard line. Two plays later, Bouman would find Jack Martens (Jr., Cumberland, Wis.) for a 40-yard touchdown strike, Martens first touchdown grab of the season. After a failed two-point conversion, the Yotes would find themselves trailing 28-23 with 3:20 to go.

The defense doing their job and winning the battle of the titans in the trenches, Bouman and company got the ball back at the South Dakota 42-yard line with 1:20 left and no time outs.

Bouman, setting out to lead a game-winning score, would methodically pick apart the North Dakota State secondary as the first play would be a nine-yard completion to Quaron Adams (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) to push into Bison territory.

With under a minute left and the crowd on their feet, Bouman would find Phelps open again on the NDSU sideline. Despite the call on the field being incomplete, upon further review Phelps got a foot down with possession of the ball, for a 23-yard completion and the clock stopped with 51 ticks left.

North Dakota State would get pressure the very next play and bring Bouman down for a sack and a loss of nine yards back to the NDSU 25-yard line. Rushing up to the line, Bouman would snap the ball, and instead of spiking it, look down field to, again, find a wide open Phelps at the four-yard line that he'd take into the endzone for the game-winning score with 12 seconds left.
North Dakota State would get two snaps off, trying a lateral on the final play of the game, but Nate Ewell (Sr., Waterloo, Iowa) would end that threat as the Coyotes take down the Bison, 29-28, in an instant classic as the Yotes erased the 11-point deficit with a pair of touchdowns in the final four-plus minutes to take home (a share of) the MVFC title for the first time in program history.

It's the first South Dakota win over NDSU in the DakotaDome since 2002 and the first win over a No. 1-ranked team since 2011 (Eastern Washington).

The Coyotes and the Bison now will await their playoff seeding and matchups that will be announced today on ESPN at 11:30.

Source: GoYotes.com