VERMILLION, S.D. – A late rally by Missouri State came up just short here Saturday as the Bears fell 20-13 against home-standing South Dakota in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
The Bears entered the final period down 20-3 and found themselves with the ball and down seven in the final 97 seconds. The potential game-winning drive, however, stalled at the MSU 41-yard line on a fourth-and-three incompletion to end the game.
Jason Shelley tied a Bears career record with his 18th career 200-yard passing game, completing 23-of-38 for 233 yards and a touchdown. Ty Scott, Naveon Mitchell and Jacardia Wright all had four receptions to lead the sleuth with Wright rushing 45 yards on 16 carries.
MSU outgained South Dakota 332-327 for the afternoon, but USD’s 6-of-11 third-down conversion ratio kept the Coyotes on the field for some key drives that ultimately decided the outcome.
Aidan Bowman was 17-for-25 for 235 yards to lead USD’s offense with Travis Theis getting 3.1 yards per carry on 24 attempts to finish with 74 net rushing yards.
The Bears began the contest with a huge takeaway to capture the early momentum. Jamal McMurrin forced and recovered a South Dakota fumble on the first drive of the afternoon, giving Missouri State great field position at the USD 45. The ensuing Bears’ series would stall at the three-yard line, but Jose Pizano gave the visitors an early 3-0 advantage with a 20-yard field goal at the 6:18 mark.
The Coyotes rebounded on their next drive, converting two key third-down plays on a 67-yard touchdown march to take a 7-3 lead. An 11-yard TD rush by Shomari Lawrence capped the nine-play drive late in the opening quarter.
The teams volleyed four punts back and forth to start the second quarter before the Coyotes pulled off the biggest play of the half. A 44-yard touchdown pass from Bouman to Wesley Elodor on second-and-25 pushed South Dakota ahead 13-3 with less than a minute left in the second quarter. The extra point attempt failed, but MSU was unable to rally before the intermission and took a 10-point deficit into the break.
South Dakota was able to extend its lead to 20-3 late in the third quarter, again capitalizing on a timely Bouman pass into the corner of the end zone. HIs 23-yard strike to Carter Bell pushed the home club up by 17 with just over two minutes left in the third.
But to the MSU’s credit, it worked back into the fray early in the final period. A four-yard TD strike from Shelley to Mtichell capped a six-minute scoring drive that covered 67 yards and woke the Bears from their scoring slumber. The march included a fourth-and-one completion to Stetson Moore to set the Bears up in the red zone, setting up Mitchell’s score five plays later.
The Bears forced USD into a punt early in the fourth quarter and capitalized with a 60-yard scoring drive to time their deficit to seven. A 37-yard field goal by Pizano made it a 20-13 game with 2:02 to play. The drive included two key strikes to Booker for 28 and 20 yards, respectively, the second of which gave Pizano a chip shot attempt to get MSU within a score of the lead.
