RAPID CITY, S.D. – Black Hills State football took down rival South Dakota Mines to reclaim the Homestake Trophy Saturday night in the team’s 24-17 victory.
The Yellow Jackets (5-0, 3-0 RMAC) are off to their best start since 1951, and will have the Homestake Trophy back in Spearfish for the first time since 2019.
“We are so proud to bring the Homestake Trophy back to Spearfish,” said Head Coach Josh Breske. “SD Mines is a great team and it was a hard fought battle – all the credit goes to our young men and their dedication to one another. We made plays at the right time on offense and our defense came up huge with key turnovers. The kicking game continues to be a strength for our team. We have to continue to get better each week and stay humble.”
BHSU’s defense was a force to be reckoned with, coming up with two interceptions, two forced and recovered fumbles and two sacks while holding SDM to 8-21 (38 percent) on third downs.
Quarterback Chance Eben completed 16 of 23 pass attempts for 139 yards, and Nolan Susel led the ground attack with a touchdown and 64 yards on 21 rushing attempts.
Connor Boyd also added a rushing touchdown, while TJ Chukwurah scored a receiving touchdown.
Hasaan Williams led the team with three catches for 50 yards.
On defense, Klaus Souffrant and Nicc Quinones each hauled in an interception. Souffrant’s pick was his RMAC-leading third of the season.
Keenan Eck had the team’s lone two sacks on the night while Doodles Quinones had a team-high nine tackles.
On special teams, Coleman Chapman made his lone field goal, while going a perfect 3-of-3 on point after tries. Punter Derek Webster punted eight times, averaging nearly 40 yards per punt and pinning SDM into their own 20-yard line five times. Ryan Ewing totaled three touchbacks on his five kickoffs.
Neither offense was able to get into a rhythm early in the game, but the Hardrockers struck first after taking advantage of a BHSU muffed punt to move ahead 7-0 with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
The Yellow Jacket offense was able to get into a groove midway through the second, using a 25-yard completion to Boyd and a 20-yard catch from Williams to get to the SDM 7-yard line, which set up a game-tying 7-yard touchdown rush from Boyd to even the game at 7-7 with 7:30 left to play in the quarter.
As halftime neared, BHSU took a 10-7 lead with 53 seconds left in the first half on a Chapman 31-yard field goal. SD Mines managed to get themselves into field goal range on their ensuing drive, though, booting a 42-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first to send the game into halftime locked at 10-10.
Out of the locker room, the Yellow Jackets surrendered a fumble in their opening drive of the second half to give SDM the ball at the BHSU 31-yard line. Fortunately, the defense came up with a big stop after the turnover, as a timely sack for loss on third down from Keenan Eck led to a missed 53-yard field goal attempt by SDM, keeping the score at 10-10.
The Yellow Jacket defense came up big again midway through the third with another sack from Eck, this time stripping the ball from quarterback Johannsen at the SDM 24-yard line where it was recovered by Cooper Brown.
The BHSU offense got themselves into the red zone after the turnover, setting up the go-ahead score. Facing 3rd-and-5, Wurtz took a pitch from Eben to the far sideline, but with nowhere to go, Wurtz found Chukwurah in the endzone for a 5-yard touchdown to put BHSU ahead 17-10 with 4:51 left in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Hardrockers were threatening to score in the red zone with under seven minutes left in the game, but on 3rd-and-8, Doodles Quinones jumped ahead of his receiver and broke up what would have been a game-tying touchdown.
That set up for a 25-yard field goal attempt for SDM, which resulted in their second missed field goal of the night, giving BHSU the ball back with 6:35 to play.
Time continued to run off the clock as the Yellow Jackets tried to freeze the game, but the Hardrockers would be able to force a punt and get one more shot to tie the game with 2:07 left in the game.
SDM’s drive would end abruptly on a Nicc Quinones pick and run that he returned 58 yards to the 8-yard line. Susel eventually scored with a 3-yard touchdown run to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 24-10.
The Hardrockers would march down the field for a quick score to make it a 24-17 game with 0:34 left to play, but John Noordsy would fall on the ensuing onside kick attempt to seal the victory.
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets travel to New Mexico Highlands next weekend as they kickoff with the Cowboys on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12 p.m. noon.
