SDSU comes back to shock No. 16 McNeese

Saturday, September 30

Lake Charles, La.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

2-3

McNeese State

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

McNeese State

10/1/2006 9:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

LAKE CHARLES, La. ? South Dakota State rallied for 14 points in the final five minutes of the game, including a 46-yard field goal by Parker Douglass with 14 seconds remaining, as the Jackrabbits rallied for a 20-17 victory over 16^th-ranked McNeese State.

The Jackrabbits improved to 2-3 overall in winning their second consecutive game ? both in the state of Louisiana. McNeese dropped to 1-3.

Douglass, a junior from Columbus, Neb., made 4-of-5 field goal attempts as he set a pair of Jackrabbit school records on the night. His four field goals from 40, 41, 32 and 46 yards gave him 38 for his career, passing Brett Gorden (36 field goals from 1995-98) for the all-time lead. Douglass' 12 points gave him 191 for his career as he surpassed the scoring mark by a kicker previously held by Adam Vinatieri (185 from 1991-94).

Trailing 17-6 entering the fourth quarter, quarterback Andy Kardoes, who was shaken up in the second quarter, returned to the Jackrabbit huddle. He proceeded to lead SDSU on a scoring drive capped by Douglass' third field goal, from 32 yards out.

The Jackrabbit defense, which held McNeese to 61 yards of total offense in the second half, forced the Cowboys to punt on their next possession.

Kardoes then led another quick scoring drive as Kardoes scrambled for seven yards on the opening play of the drive and had another 15 yards tacked on after a personal foul penalty against the Cowboys. Kardoes then hooked up with JaRon Harris on a 40-yard bomb to the left corner of the end zone to pull the Jacks within two at 17-15.

With the Jacks going for the game-tying two-point conversion, Kardoes lofted a pass to Luke Greving to knot the game at 17-all.

SDSU clamped down on defense again, forcing another McNeese three-and-out. Taking over at their own 26 with no timeouts left and 59 seconds left, the Jackrabbits moved into McNeese territory as Kardoes completed passes of 19 and 11 yards, respectively, to Harris and Chris Doblar. Anthony Watson then rushed for seven yards and Doblar added eight yards with another reception to the McNeese 29, setting up Douglass' heroics, which gave SDSU its first lead since 3-0 in the first quarter.

McNeese had taken a 10-7 lead with 12:20 remaining in the second quarter on a Jamie Leonard 5-yard touchdown run. The Cowboys extended the lead to 17-6 as Chris Thomas capped a five-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard run. The final Cowboy score was set up by a 56-yard passing play from Derrick Fourroux to Quenten Lawrence.

Both teams squandered scoring opportunities; McNeese had two touchdowns called back by penalties and the Jackrabbits fumbled on fourth-and-one at the McNeese 1 early in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys were flagged for 19 penalties, costing the Cowboys 174 yards.

SDSU was penalized seven times for 80 yards, with just one penalty in the second half.

Eric Schroeder led the Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, including one and a half sacks. Andrew Hoogeveen and Justin Kubesh each recorded six tackles.

Kardoes completed 11-of-22 passes for 160 yards, while backup Reed Burckhardt was 5-of-8 passing for 26 yards and one interception while playing all the third quarter and parts of the second and fourth quarters.

Harris led Jackrabbit receivers with seven catches for 109 yards and Anthony Watson paced the Jackrabbit ground attack with 73 yards on 15 carries. Cory Koenig added nine carries for 59 yards.

Fourroux completed 9-of-17 passes for 11 yards and led the Cowboys in rushing with 45 yards on 12 carries. Lawrence ended the game with five catches for 88 yards.

The Jackrabbits return home Oct. 7 to face Central Arkansas in the 40^th Annual Beef Bowl. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Coughlin Alumni Stadium.