No. 7 Redbirds Handle Road Test; Defeat South Dakota, 45-26

[November 17, 2014]  VERMILLION, S.D. – The No. 7 Illinois State Redbirds (9-1, 6-1 MVFC) continued its march to capturing at least a share of the regular season Missouri Valley Football Conference championship, taking down the South Dakota Coyotes (2-9, 0-7 MVFC) by a final score of 45-26 Saturday afternoon at the DakotaDome.

The Redbirds used the two-headed rushing attack of junior transfer quarterback Tre Roberson and junior running back Marshaun Coprich to take control early, and a 32-yard passing touchdown from Roberson to senior wide receiver Cameron Meredith with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave ISU some much-needed momentum going into halftime.

Early on it looked as if ISU would handle South Dakota easily, jumping out to a 21-0 lead, but the Coyotes battled back with two late second-quarter touchdowns to put pressure on the Redbirds.

Coprich sprinted for a 56-yard touchdown on ISU’s third play from scrimmage, and Roberson scored from 12 yards out on a read-option keeper to give the Redbirds an early 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest. Coprich later added to the Redbird lead with a bulldozing 28-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, breaking several tackles before diving into the end zone while being draped by two defenders.

The Walter Payton Award Watch List member finished the game with a career-high 221 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The junior surpassed the 100-yard mark on the Redbirds’ third drive of the game, and his first-career 200-yard rushing game gave him his 10th-consecutive 100-plus yard rushing performance to start the season. The Victorville, Calif. native’s 18th and 19th rushing touchdowns of the year put him one score behind the ISU single-season rushing touchdowns record held by Toby Davis (1992).

On the Coyotes’ next two drives, quarterback Kevin Earl connected with Kayl Barkely and Eric Shufford on passing touchdowns of two yards and 43 yards, respectively. With its starting placekicker out of the game due to injury, South Dakota chose to attempt a pair of two-point conversions, both of which failed. Meredith’s score gave the Redbirds a 28-12 lead going into halftime, and the senior finished with 105 receiving yards, going over 100 for the second-straight game.

The third quarter featured little excitement, until a Coprich fumble with 1:03 remaining set up the Coyotes at the 35-yard line, and Earl punched in a quarterback sneak from one-yard out. The ensuing extra point kick was blocked by junior defensive end David Perkins, but the ball was recovered by South Dakota for two points to make the score 28-20.

After a long kick return by senior safety Tevin Allen put the Redbirds in South Dakota territory, bruising runs by Coprich and a reverse by Jon-Marc Anderson set up a field goal by senior placekicker Nick Aussieker.

Roberson put in a solid effort, finishing with 226 yards passing and one touchdown, and added 71 yards on the ground with a pair of touchdowns. On the Redbirds’ last drive of the game, his smart plays and knack to make the right reads enabled ISU to take six-plus minutes off the clock, ending in his second rushing touchdown of the game to push the lead to 38-20. South Dakota added a late touchdown with another one-yard sneak by Earl.

ISU’s defense tallied five sacks, all in the first half. Senior defensive lineman Collin Keoshian picked up 2.5 sacks, and fellow senior defensive lineman Bradon Prate tacked on one sack. Junior defensive back Josh Burch returned an interception 46 yards up the left sideline to cap the scoring.

The Redbirds return home next Saturday to take on Southern Illinois (6-4, 3-3 MVFC) at 1 p.m. at Hancock Stadium in the regular-season finale. With a victory, ISU will clinch at least a share of the MVFC conference championship.

[Michael Williams, Illinois State University]

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