VERMILLION, S.D. – Junior running back Marcus Sims rushed for a career-high 153 yards to key a dominant ground attack as the 18th-ranked South Dakota football team topped No. 22-ranked Southern Utah, 24-19, in Great West Conference action. A loud Dakota Days crowd cheered the Coyotes to victory in their Great West Conference opener. It was the tenth Dakota Days win for the Coyotes in the past 11 years.

The Coyotes (4-2, 1-0 Great West Conference) rushed for a season-best 247 yards as a team, which included the 153 yards from Sims (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and 76 yards and two touchdowns from senior quarterback Dante Warren (Arlington Heights, Ill.) Behind physical offensive line play from senior Tom Compton (Rosemount, Minn.), senior Matt Porisch (Flandreau, S.D.), junior Tim Ross (Arvada, Colo.), senior Brent Johnson (Jewell, Iowa) and senior RJ Polley (Albert Lea, Minn.), the Coyotes amassed 439 yards of offense.

“We emphasized running,” Sims said. “We didn’t have many big plays, but we just kept grinding and grinding. It’s easy when you have guys up front moving guys. They make my job a lot easier.”

Warren was 14-of-18 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown, while junior Will Powell (Sioux Falls, S.D.) had 117 yards receiving on five catches – including a spectacular diving one-handed catch that set up the Coyotes’ opening touchdown.

The Coyotes held the defending Great West champion Thunderbirds (3-4, 0-2 Great West) to just 11 yards rushing.

“It was a hard-fought game,” South Dakota head coach Ed Meierkort said. “We were able to control the line of scrimmage throughout the game on both sides of the ball…defensively we were very physical.”

“We needed to stop the run,” said Coyote senior linebacker Adam Broders, who had a season and career-high 17 tackles. “That was our main point preparing for them. If we could stop the run, then we could play the pass.”

Broders (Bloomfield, Neb.) had two tackles for loss and a sack as part of his 17-tackle effort. Senior defensive back Jim Thompson (Hayward, Wis.) had 12 tackles and a fumble recovery while sophomore Tyler Starr (Little Rock, Iowa) had five tackles and two more sacks; he has at least one sack in five of the Coyotes’ six games.

It didn’t take the Coyotes long to get on the scoreboard. They took the opening possession and went 72 yards on seven plays – which included a spectacular diving one-handed catch by Powell that went for 45 yards – and capped it off with a 1-yard run by Warren for a 7-0 lead with 11:30 to go in the first quarter.

The Coyote defense dominated the first quarter, holding Southern Utah to 27 yards on nine plays. South Dakota had 162 yards of offense in the first quarter alone, thanks to 88 passing yards and 35 rushing yards from Warren.

As the first quarter wound down, the Coyotes began another scoring march that concluded with an early second-quarter touchdown. The drive included a 29-yard pass from Warren to Powell, and was capped off by a 20-yard touchdown scramble by Warren with 13:34 to go in the first half. With the extra point by sophomore Kevin Robb (Rapid City, S.D.), the Coyotes led 14-0.

Southern Utah answered with a touchdown with 11:24 left in the half to cut the lead to 14-7.

From there, the defenses controlled much of play, and after the Thunderbirds drove inside the Coyote 20-yard line late, South Dakota’s defense stepped up and forced a field goal in the final seconds of the half, making the score 14-10 at intermission.

South Dakota had a 240-179 edge in yards in the first half, including a commanding 124-9 edge in rushing yardage. Sims had 70 yards on just seven carries, while Warren had 46 yards and two scores. Warren was 7-of-9 passing for 110 yards, while Powell had four catches for 82 yards.

Broders had 12 tackles, including nine solos, in the first half alone, while Starr had four tackles, including a sack.

The Thunderbirds kicked a field goal on the opening drive of the second half to cut the lead to 14-13.

South Dakota looked to answer and went on 14-play, 57-yard march that consumed more than six minutes off the clock, but the drive ended in a missed field goal midway through the third quarter.

The Coyote defense answered as the Thunderbirds approached midfield on their next drive, as Broders sacked Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen on a third down, forcing a punt.

Late in the third quarter, the Coyotes went on another methodical, long drive – going 87 yards on 13 plays and taking 6:38 off the clock – and scored on a 6-yard pass from Warren to senior Michael Neilson (Gilbert, Ariz.), pushing the Coyote lead to 21-13 with 13:42 left. Sims had 39 rushing yards on that drive alone.

The Coyote defense stepped up big with a crucial turnover. Junior Jordan Eaton (St. Paul, Minn.) hit Sorensen and he fumbled, which was recovered by senior Jim Thompson (Hayward, Wis.) with 11:52 left.

The two teams exchanged possessions before the Coyote special teams delivered a big stop. On a fourth-and-13, Southern Utah attempted a fake punt, but was stopped well short by sophomore Chris Frierson (Tampa, Fla.), giving South Dakota the ball in excellent field position.

The Coyotes turned that into points, as they went 40 yards on five plays, with Robb connecting on a 25-yard field goal with 6:19 left, pushing the Coyote lead to 24-13.

The Thunderbirds cut into the Coyote lead with a touchdown with 2:17 left, but South Dakota’s defense stopped a key two-point conversion to leave the score at 24-19.

After a big 33-yard kick return by senior Jeremy Blount (Tampa, Fla.) brought the Coyotes into Thunderbird territory, it came down to the Coyotes running out the clock. They did just that, converting a fourth-and-inches when Sims plunged ahead for 1-yard run to ice the victory for the Coyotes.

“It’s huge,” Sims said of the win. “It’s our first conference game. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”

Senior Dustin Nowotny (Rapid City, S.D.) added four catches for 30 yards for the offense, while senior Shane Potter (Becker, Minn.) had eight tackles. Nowotny now has 103 career catches as a Coyote.

The Coyotes return to the road on Saturday, Oct. 15 when they play at Missouri Valley Football Conference foe Illinois State.

“This football team is good,” Meierkort said. “We’ve lost two games, one to Air Force and one to Wisconsin. This team is going to go places. I can’t emphasize how tough they are mentally. I’m very proud of them.”