South Dakota State tops Bison for conference title

A football season that started with three losses ended a lot brighter for South Dakota State on Saturday.

By Staff and Wire Reports

Last update: November 17, 2007 - 11:48 PM

A football season that started with three losses ended a lot brighter for South Dakota State on Saturday.

The Jackrabbits won their first conference title in 44 years, drew a record crowd and reclaimed the traveling Dakota Marker Trophy by downing North Dakota State 29-24 in Brookings, S.D., for the Great West Football Conference title.

Brock Gentile's interception with 1 minute, 19 seconds left preserved the victory for SDSU and gave North Dakota State its first loss, ending a 14-game winning streak dating to last season.

It was a final Great West game for both teams, which are ending the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, and will both join the Gateway Football Conference next season.

Cory Koenig rushed for 131 yards on 22 carries and scored on runs of 1 and 42 yards for SDSU. The 42-yard TD scamper with 9:10 left put South Dakota State ahead by the final score.

North Dakota State (10-1, 3-1) had two more possessions, but the first ended in a fumble and the second ended with Gentile's interception.

Bison quarterback Steve Walker was 16-for-28 in passing for 173 yards. Alex Belquist had five catches for 58 yards and Kole Heckendorf five catches for 54 yards.

Division II

North Dakota 44, Winona State 2: The Sioux shut down the high-scoring Warriors offense.

North Dakota (10-1) held Winona State, which was averaging 41 points per game, to 28 yards rushing and 236 yards overall. The only points for Winona (10-2) came in the second quarter, when UND was called for a penalty in its end zone.

"Our defense played very well all day," UND coach Dale Lennon said. "Winona had 40 plays in the first half, which is a high number. The fact we didn't give up any scores with all those plays is impressive."

Division III

Wisconsin-Eau Claire 24, St. Norbert 20: Mitch Schaeuble threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hull with 46 seconds left, lifting the Blugolds over the Green Knights in the first round of the D-III playoffs in De Pere, Wis.

UW-Eau Claire (9-2) took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 6-yard scoring run by Cory Sartorelli and a 27-yard field goal by Craig Kolb. But St. Norbert (10-1) rallied on a 5-yard pass from Cody Craig to Ben Petry in the second quarter and an 8-yard run by Gerald Danforth in the third to go ahead 13-10.

Wisconsin-Whitewater 34, Capital 14: Danny Jones ran for two scores and passed for another, as host the Warhawks (10-1) scored the final 20 points in defeating the Crusaders (8-3) in a first-round game.

Capital scored first on a 1-yard run by Zac McKenzie after James Starks picked off a Jones pass, but Whitewater (10-1) quickly countered with a 4-yard TD run by Justin Beaver.

Jones ran 15 yards to put Whitewater out front again, but Capital tied it at 14-14 on a 32-yard pass from Robbie Thayer to Evan Blake before Jones scored on a 6-yard run with 29 seconds left in the half to put the Warhawks ahead for good.

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