South Dakota State clinches Missouri Valley Football Conference title
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BROOKINGS – John Stiegelmeier had to be reminded.
There’s not much the 65-year-old coach hasn’t seen or accomplished in the 35 years he’s been coaching at South Dakota State, but when he walked into the locker room after his team’s 31-7 win over Illinois State had given the Jackrabbits their first outright Missouri Valley Football Conference title, he didn’t immediately understand the words his players were shouting at him.
“We ain’t sharing!” the players implored Stiegelmeier to shout into the camera that was in the locker room, filming the celebration.
“We ain’t sharing?” Stiegelmeier repeated, not immediately grasping the meaning. Then it hit him. In 2016, the Jacks shared the Valley title with North Dakota State. In the COVID spring season, they shared it with Missouri State.
But this time, by virtue of going 8-0 in conference games, 10-0 against the FCS, the Jackrabbits are champions all by themselves.
Finally, Stiegelmeier looked straight into the camera and shouted, ‘We ain’t sharing!”, and his players went wild in celebrating the first outright conference title in program history since they won the NCC in 1963.
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“I had forgot,” the coach admitted later. “In the Missouri Valley, to win all your games and go undefeated is a huge deal. I’m really proud of our guys, our program and our coaches. I talked to our seniors at our team meal today about when they showed up here five or six years ago and the dreams they had and this is one of them. It’s fun to be a part of.”
It’s a well-earned accomplishment. The Jacks (10-1) lost their opener 7-3 to Iowa, a game that left them battered and bruised and offensively challenged. They haven’t lost since, and while there were highs and lows amid their 10 consecutive wins, they found a way, week after week after week, without a bye anywhere in between (that comes this week, when everyone else is playing their last game). They routed USD at home, knocked off an overconfident Missouri State team that was ranked 5th in the country at the time, and then won three straight indoor road games, taking out then-No. 1 North Dakota State, North Dakota and Northern Iowa, leaving the Redbirds all that was standing in their way of a November vacation and one of the top two seeds in the FCS playoffs. They would not be denied. There would be no letdown.
“When I came here back in 2018 I knew this was possible,” said wide receiver Jadon Janke, who caught five passes for a career-high 129 yards. “We had the guys to do it this year and we were all very dedicated. We’re excited to see how far we can go.”
Illinois State (5-5) came in still alive for a playoff berth, but with injuries to half their offense they weren’t really equipped to pull the upset. That didn’t stop them from trying – a blocked punt in the first quarter allowed them to take a 7-0 lead as the Jacks groggily sputtered out of the locker room early.
But quarterback Mark Gronowski, the player who’s been most vocal this fall about insisting the Jacks would not suffer a letdown on their way to the playoffs, went out and backed up his promise. With the Redbird defense containing running back Isaiah Davis and putting the offensive line on its heels with pressure, Gronowski caught fire in the second quarter. He led SDSU on three straight scoring drives – two Hunter Dustman field goals sandwiched around a 14-play, 79-yard drive that ended with Gronowski running over defenders for a 6-yard touchdown. It was 13-7 Jacks at the half, and though no one knew it at the time, the Redbirds were done scoring for the day.
“I felt like we came out a little bit flat,” Gronowski admitted. “But (the Redbirds) came out in some different defenses we really weren’t prepared for. Once we made some adjustments the ball started rolling and they really couldn’t stop us.
“We were struggling running the ball and they were coming with different blitzes from the edge and packing the box with their safeties,” he added. “We said, well, the safeties are coming down so we might as well throw it over them. That really spread out their defense.”
Davis scored on an 8-yard run in the third (his longest run of the day) and Gronowski found Zach Heins on a 7-yard strike, then ran in the conversion to make it 28-7. That was plenty.
The Jacks defense held Illinois State to 100 yards of offense for the game, and only seven first downs. The Redbirds had just 45 yards on the ground and 55 in the air. DyShawn Gales intercepted a pass, Cade Terveer and Jason Freeman had sacks, and whenever the Redbirds appeared to have even a sliver of daylight, the Rabbits defense closed on it.
“We just have to play for each other and do our 1/11th on defense so the offense can get back on the field and do what they do,” Freeman said. “There’s always room for improvement, but zero points on our end is a win for us.”
The Redbirds knew they were fighting an uphill battle with their injuries. But they seemed genuinely impressed with SDSU’s ability to make plays at all three levels.
“Speed kills,” ISU coach Brock Spack said of the Jacks defense. “We had a really good start. We just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. South Dakota State is just a very good team. They’re the best team in our league and they proved it.”
Gronowski threw for 283 yards. Davis and Angel and Amar Johnson combined for 124 yards on the ground. Zeke Vandenburgh had a monster game for the Redbirds, notching 10 tackles, three sacks and an interception.
SDSU won’t play another game until Dec. 3. They can watch the rest of the league beat up on each other next week, then they’ll discover their fate on Selection Sunday on Nov. 20. They won’t know their opponent until after first round playoff games end on Nov. 26.
That gives them plenty of time to heal up before the tournament begins.
“(Winning the conference) feels great, it’s a great accomplishment,” Gronowski said. “But the job’s not finished. We’ve got another season ahead of us and we’re excited for that.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota State football wins first MVFC title
