Nov. 20, 2005

BROOKINGS, S.D. - South Dakota State intercepted four passes, including one returned for a touchdown by Hank McCall, as the Jackrabbits closed their 2005 football season with a 30-14 victory over Northern Colorado Saturday at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

The Jacks gave up an interception on their first play from scrimmage, a turnover which led to UNC's first touchdown, and survived a scrary closing of the first half, but settled down to dominate the second half.

SDSU finished its second season of NCAA IAA competition 6-5 overall, 3-2 in Great West Football Conference play. UNC fell to 4-6 overall, 0-4 in GWFC action, with one game - against UC Davis - remaining.

UNC's Joe Kenney intercepted a pass on SDSU's first offensive play of the game to set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hager to Paul Sweitzer. Then Jacks countered with 17 unanswered points and appeared ready to take command before UNC scored its second TD, then blocked an SDSU punt and threatened to score again in the closing seconds of the first half. But a fourth down field goal attempt was blocked by D.J. Fischer, leaving the Jacks on top 17-14 at the half.

And UNC started the second half with another threat, reaching the Jackrabbit 38 for a first down. But senior linebacker Billy Ray Kirch - whose sister Kate sang the national anthem before the game - intercepted a pass to kill that threat.

After UNC went ahead 7-0, the Jacks marched 80 yards on 17 plays, scoring on a one-yard run by Cory Koenig. Then Parker Douglass kicked a 37-yard field goal, putting the Jacks on top for good while also breaking the SDSU mark for field goals in a single season.

Anthony Watson's five-yard TD run made it 17-7 with 5:38 to go in the half.

Midway through the third period, SDSU took over after a punt on the UNC 44, reached the 13 and kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 20-14 lead.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Jacks. Douglass kicked another field goal, this one 28 yards putting the Jacks ahead by two scores, 23-14. Just 17 seconds later, McCall returned a pass interception 37 yards for a touchdown and the Jacks were up 30-14. It was McCall's third interception of the season.

Douglass entered the game tied with Russ Meier, 1981, for the most field goals in a season. The sophomore kicker from Columbus, Neb., kicked three in the game plus two extra points for an 11-point day. He finished the year with 19 field goals and 99 points kicking, both Jackrabbit single-season marks.

Koenig had his fifth 100-yard game of the season rushing, with 25 carries for 126 yards. That left him just 13 yards shy of 1,000 yards for the season.

For the game, SDSU out-gained UNC 350-232 in total offense, with the Jacks rushing for 204 yards while redshirt freshman Ryan Berry, in his second start at quarterback, completed 14-of-22 passes for 166 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns.

For UNC, Hager was 13-for-26 for 132 yards and two TDs. Patrick Ealy rushed 16 times for 71 yards and Andy Birkel caught five passes for 61 including a 12-yard TD.

UNC All-America safety Reed Doughty had 18 tackles to lead the Bears defensively.

Cornerback Jeff Hegge had nine tackles to lead the Jacks. Kirch had eight tackles, including a sack, to go with his interception. Seniors D.J. Fischer and Gabe Koenigsfeld also had sacks. Fischer, sidelined most of the year with an injury, had six tackles, 2.5 for loses, batted down two passes and blocked a kick.