Valley Football recaps from games of Saturday, Oct. 13 -- the league's top-3 ranked teams (North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Illinois State) all won handily.



#12 Illinois State 51, Southern Illinois 3
Illinois State racked up over 400 yards on the ground against Southern Illinois, as the No. 12  Redbirds (5-1, 2-1 MVFC) ran away from the Salukis (1-5, 0-3 MVFC) by a score of 51-3 on a sunny afternoon at Hancock Stadium on Homecoming in front of 11,247 fans.  Illinois State's 409 yards rushing in the contest was the fifth-best single game team effort in school history.  ISU's James Robinson rushed for over 100 yards for the fourth time in five games, carrying the ball 25 times for a career-high 202 yards and a touchdown … the last Redbird to rush for over 200 yards was Marshaun Coprich against Western Illinois on December 5, 2015.   Robinson also eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards in his career as a Redbird, upping his total to 2,038 good for No. 11 on the ISU career rushing list.  Markel Smith rushed 11 times for 143 yards and a touchdown … It marked the second time in two seasons that both Robinson and Smith rushed for over 100 yards in the same game. 

Missouri State 29, Indiana State 26
A four-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Huslig to Lorenzo Thomas with 16 seconds left in the game lifted visiting Missouri State (4-2, 2-1 MVFC) to a 29-26 victory over Indiana State (2-4, 0-3 MVFC).  It was Thomas' first career touchdown pass and lifted the Bears, who led 21-10 at the half, to their first road win of the year. Jeremiah Wilson added a two-point conversion moments later to give MSU the three-point win.  Huslig finished 21-of-33 for 169 yards with the touchdown and no interceptions. Wilson carried 14 times for 61 yards, with teammate Donovan Daniels leading the Bears with 62 yards on 15 attempts and a pair of scores.  The Bears' game-winning, 86-yard scoring drive came on the heels of a Bears' defensive stand to hold ISU to a field goal. The ISU drive covered 84 yards to the MSU one-yard line before Jerry Nunez converted a 19-yarder that gave ISU a 26-21 lead with 4:04 remaining.  Indiana State was led by Ja'Quan Keys, who had 141 yards on 23 carries and three scores.

#2 South Dakota State 36, Youngstown State 7
South Dakota State entered its Hobo Day matchup against Youngstown State as one of the top passing teams in the Football Championship Subdivision, but it was the rushing attack that paced the Jackrabbits to a 36-7 Hobo Day victory over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.  SDSU, ranked second in the STATS FCS media poll and fifth by the FCS coaches, improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Penguins dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.  QB Taryn Christion, whose seven completions and 78 passing yards were career lows in a starting role, provided the final two Jackrabbit scores with his legs. The senior from Sioux Falls sliced through the Penguin defense for a 49-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. On the play, Christion became the MVFC career leader in total offense.  SDSU finished with a 253-136 advantage in rushing yardage as Wilson finished with a game-high 119 yards on 16 carries. The Jackrabbit defense limited YSU's leading rusher, Tevin McCaster, to 60 yards on 22 carries.

#1 North Dakota State 34, Western Illinois 7
No. 1-ranked North Dakota State forced five turnovers including a fumble recovery for touchdown in the second quarter to spark a 34-7 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 13.  NDSU linebacker Dan Marlette scored from 38 yards after a strip sack by cornerback Marquise Bridges and the Bison scored 31 straight points to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.  The Bison scored 17 points off turnovers and intercepted four passes – two by safety James Hendricks, one by linebacker Jabril Cox and one by safety Michael Tutsie.  Linebacker Levi Jordheim led the Bison with seven tackles including a sack, and the Bison had seven tackles for loss in holding Western Illinois to nine yards on 18 rushing attempts.  Western Illinois WR Isaiah LeSure put on a show. He finished the game with a career-high, game-high 170 receiving yards and posted the Leathernecks' lone touchdown in the 34-7 setback.  

UNI 42, #24 South Dakota 28
The UNI football team turned three turnovers into touchdowns to earn a big 42-28 road win over No. 24 South Dakota Saturday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.   The game was a back and forth battle for most of the first half. UNI scored to take a 14-13 lead with just 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a pass in the flat to Marcus Weymiller. On the ensuing kickoff, USD’s return man Wesley Eliodor fumbled the ball and it was picked up by Alphonso Soko and returned to the USD four-yard line.  The Panthers scored on a Dunne QB sneak just three plays later to give UNI a 21-13 lead at the half.  USD tied the game at 21 late in the third quarter before the Panthers responded with a touchdown pass from Dunne to Briley Moore with 42 to play in the third.  Early in the fourth quarter, Xavior Williams picked off USD’s Austin Simmons at the Coyote 25-yard line. On the next play, Dunne found Nick Fossey in the far side of the end zone to put UNI up 35-21. On the next possession, Elerson G Smith forced a sack fumble and Brawntae Wells tapped the ball into the end zone where he recovered it for to put the Panthers up 42-21.  The Coyotes scored with 7:50 left to cut it to 45-27, but the Panther defense would come up big, and the Panthers earned the win.  Dunne went 23-32 for 253 yards and four touchdowns. He had completions to eight different receivers, and all caught multiple passes.