BROOKINGS, S.D. - Facing a 45-14 deficit late in the third quarter, quarterback Kevin Brockway stepped up big with a 70-yard touchdown strike to Warren McCarty for McCarty's first-career catch and first-career touchdown as a Redbird. The Redbirds scored two more touchdowns in the game, but in the end, were upended by a powerful South Dakota State offense, as the Jackrabbits (6-4, 5-1 MVFC) defeated Illinois State (3-6, 2-4 MVFC), 52-21, at a chilly Coughlin-Alumni Stadium Saturday afternoon in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game in Brookings, S.D.
The game was played in 25-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, which marked the coldest game Illinois State has played in since Nov. 11, 1995, when the Redbirds played host to Indiana State in 26-degree weather at Hancock Stadium.
South Dakota State quarterback Ryan Berry threw seven touchdown passes in the game, which were the most by a MVFC quarterback this season.
Illinois State quarterback Kevin Brockway threw two touchdowns in the game and completed 11-of-28 passes for 169 yards, but was sacked four times and threw three interceptions. Wide receiver Eyad Salem had seven receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown, while senior safety Tom Nelson recorded a game-high 13 tackles, one shy of his career-high of 14 set last season at North Dakota State.
After the worst period of play by Illinois State this season saw Illinois State trailing, 24-0, after the first quarter, the Redbirds started the second quarter with the wind at their backs and responded with two touchdowns in the period.
On ISU's first possession of the second quarter, Brockway drove the Redbirds down to the SDSU 11-yard line, where Salem caught a fade pass in the Jackrabbits' end zone for Illinois State's first touchdown of the game.
On the Redbirds' next offensive drive, Brockway connected with Salem twice to set up first-and-goal for ISU. Two-straight scampers by running back Walter Mendenhall were thwarted by SDSU, which forced ISU to gamble on fourth-and-one, where Mendenhall dove into the end zone for his fourth touchdown run in the Redbirds' last two games. Mendenhall was the Redbirds' leading rusher with 73 yards on the ground on 22 carrries.
South Dakota State responded midway through the second quarter when Berry found Fox in the end zone twice for his second and third touchdown passes to Fox in the game.
The game started with South Dakota State's Chris Johnson intercepting a Brockway pass at the ISU 35-yard line, which led to an 11-yard touchdowns pass by Berry to Colin Cochart.
South Dakota State racked up two more touchdowns in the first quarter; the first on a 51-yard pass into the end zone from Berry on third-and-one to Fox at the 7:37 mark. Sixty-eight seconds later, an Illinois State three-and-out gave the Jackrabbits the ball on the Redbirds' 40-yard line, when Berry stepped up and threw a 40-yard touchdown strike to Cochart.
The 24 points scored by the Jackrabbits in the first quarter were the most by an Illinois State opponent in a single quarter this season.
Illinois State will return to Valley Football Conference action next Saturday (Nov. 15), when it takes on No. 17 Western Illinois at 1:05 p.m. in Macomb, Ill.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
