Jackrabbits rout Incarnate Word, 55-14

Published 10:58 am Sunday, December 15, 2024

After surging to one of the best seasons in program history, No. 6 Incarnate Word ran into a buzz saw at No. 3 South Dakota State in the FCS quarterfinals.

The Jackrabbits, winners of back-to-back national championships and 28 straight home games, ran up 38 points before the Cardinals’ first score, cruising to a 55-14 win Saturday in Brookings, S.D.

UIW finishes coach Clint Killough’s second season 11-3, pushing to the highest postseason seed in school history but falling one game short of matching the 2022 team’s run to the FCS semifinals. South Dakota State (12-2) moves on to a matchup against either No. 2 North Dakota State or No. 7 Mercer, needing two more wins to secure a third straight national title.

Jackrabbits quarterback Mark Gronowski, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, scored twice on the ground to lead a punishing rushing attack and threw three touchdown passes of 35 or more yards within his first five completions.

Stepping into temperatures in the mid-20s at Dykhouse Stadium, UIW hoped to flip the story of the season’s first matchup against South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits beat the Cardinals 45-24 on Sept. 7, with UIW rushing for a season-low 68 yards while allowing a season-high 230.

But with No. 1 running back Dekalon Taylor sitting out a third straight game due to a hand injury and second option Lontrell Turner limited after a first-quarter leg injury, UIW finished with 87 rushing yards on 27 carries.

The Cardinals leaned on the passing attack to try to crawl out of an early hole, and quarterback Zach Calzada hit 37 of 51 attempts for 258 yards with a touchdown, adding 23 yards and a score on the ground. But UIW’s often-explosive passing game was forced to work underneath, as Calzada hit just one throw longer than 16 yards, peaking with a 21-yard connection to Jalen Walthall.

South Dakota State, meanwhile, racked up 274 rushing yards on 42 carries, led by 133 yards on 18 rushes for Amar Johnson. Gronowski hit just 7 of 16 passes but connected on a few deep shots, racking up 174 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

UIW did not force a punt until midway through the third quarter. Mason Chambers jarred a fumble loose to end the Jackrabbits’ opening series and Ronald Wilson snagged a second-quarter interception, but South Dakota State’s first eight drives also included five touchdown pushes and a field goal for a 38-0 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

The Cardinals, who entered the playoffs ranked fourth in the FCS in scoring at 37 points per game, were mostly stifled through the opening half, with five out of six drives covering five plays or fewer. The exception was a 13-play, 67-yard push that ended when Calzada was stopped on a keeper facing fourth-and-2 from the Jackrabbits’ 8-yard line early in the second quarter. UIW finished the game 1 for 6 on fourth-down conversion attempts.

Roy Alexander hauled in 13 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, while Walthall made nine receptions for 66 yards, finishing the year with 1,290 yards to set a new UIW record for a single season.

After a year in which the Cardinals posted their first undefeated run through the Southland Conference to win the league title outright for the second time, UIW will say goodbye to a group of seniors led by Calzada and Alexander. The Cardinals are also losing two offensive line starters and five starters on defense, including leading tackler and Clemens grad Chambers at safety.