EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern scored on its final four drives of the game to pull away from South Dakota State for a 34-18 victory Saturday night at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. With the loss, SDSU fell to 1-1 overall on the young season. The Wildcats wasted little time to put po ints on the board on their opening drive of the season. On the first play from scrimmage, Aidan Chiles hooked up with former Jackrabbit wide receiver Griffin Wilde down the middle of the field for a 71-yard catch and run into the red zone. One play later, Chiles connected with Alex Honig for an 11-yard touchdown pass. SDSU’s offense began to get on track as the first quarter came to a close and moved into the second stanza. The Jackrabbits pieced together a 12-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard field goal by Tristan Alvano. The two squads traded field goals later in the second quarter for a 10-6 halftime score as Jackson Kleather made a 36-yarder for Northwestern and the Jackrabbits’ second trip into the red zone ended with a 33-yarder by Alvano. The Jackrabbits were set up to take the lead after a 10-yard punt by Northwestern on the opening drive of the second half put the ball at the Wildcat 26-yard line. SDSU picked up one first down before again stalling deep inside enemy territory and having to settle for Alvano’s third field goal of the game, a 27-yarder that advanced the score to 10-9. Northwestern responded following a lengthy injury delay with another quick-strike drive. Chiles completed consecutive passes of 22 yards to Drew Wagner and 35 yards to Luke Dehnicke before Caleb Komolafe burst up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown run. Alvano’s fourth field goal of the game, this one from 26 yards, finished off a 13-play, 69-yard drive that was disrupted by three consecutive incomplete passes from the NU 8-yard line after the Jackrabbits converted on fourth-and-1. Kleather countered with a 38-yard field goal for the Wildcats a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, but once again SDSU momentarily shifted the momentum back in its favor with what would be its lone touchdown drive of the night. Behind the rushing of Josiah Johnson and two Chase Mason completions to Grahm Goering that covered 25 and 13 yards, the Jackrabbits marched 75 yards on nine plays to put them in a position to tie the game after a 2-yard yard scoring run by Johnson. The ensuing two-point attempt was intercepted, keeping the score at 20-18 with 8 minutes and 16 seconds remaining. Northwestern then put the game away with two touchdowns around another missed opportunity by the Jackrabbits into the opposing red zone. The first Wildcat score down the stretch came as Northwestern converted on a pair of third downs, including on third-and-1 as Chiles kept and rolled around left end for a 14-yard touchdown. On the first play after Alvano missed a 38-yard field goal, Joseph Himon II broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run on only his fourth carry of the night. As a team, the Wildcats rushed for 224 yards, including a Wildcat-best 87 yards by Himon, and passed for another 273 as Chiles completed 14-of-24 attempts. Wilde caught three passes for 104 yards. For SDSU, Mason completed 23-of-48 passes for 285 yards. Goering hauled in a career-high nine receptions for 117 yards, followed by Jack Smith with five catches for 79 yards. Johnson paced the rushing attack with 79 yards on 19 carries. Chase Van Tol led the Jackrabbit defense with nine tackles, with Jes Krcil and Dontay Johnson each registering seven stops. Robert Fitzgerald was credited with a game-high 14 tackles for Northwestern. UP NEXT The Jackrabbits open a three-game homestand with a Sept. 12 matchup against New Haven. Kickoff for the annual Beef Bowl game is slated for 6 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. NOTES Saturday’s game marked the first-ever meeting between South Dakota State and Northwestern in football The Jackrabbits moved to 2-12 in games against FBS opponents since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004 Alvano’s four field goals were the most in a game by a Jackrabbit since Hunter Dustman booted four in a home win over North Dakota State on Nov. 4, 2023 Goering recorded his third career 100-yard game Mason’s 23 completions and 48 pass attempts were both career highs The Jackrabbits ran 33 more plays than Northwestern, 88-55, but were outgained 497-432 SDSU converted all three of its fourth-down attempts and was 8-for-20 on third downs Attendance was 9,574 at the Wildcats’ temporary stadium -GoJacks.com- ...read more read less