CHADRON, Neb. — October 21, 2020 — After giving fans lots to cheer about in the home opener last Saturday night, the Chadron State football team will be at Elliott Field again Saturday to face another long-time South Dakota rival, Black Hills State. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m.
The Eagles are coming off a terrific offensive performance, defeating South Dakota Mines 41-25 while compiling 599 yards of offense and scoring six touchdowns, all of them off drives of at least 75 yards.
It may be the first time the Eagles have had that many TD drives that were that long.
Head Coach Jay Long added that he was pleased with the Eagles offensive balance. Quarterback Dalton Holst complete 19 of 27 passes for 361 yards and the running game gained 238. Long credited the offensive line for playing better than it did during the season opener the previous week at Colorado Mesa.
Although Mines managed a pair quick touchdowns late in the game, Long said the defense played well overall. Second quarter Interceptions by cornerback Bobby Peele and safety Cole Condon deep in CSC territory helped the Eagles gain momentum. The offense drove 75 and 80 yards for touchdowns following the picks.
While South Dakota Mines was Chadron States first collegiate football opponent in 1912, the second year the college was in operation, Black Hills was the next foe soon afterwards. The Yellow Jackets won that game 7-0. Since then they have met on the gridiron 75 times with the Eagles winning 59 of those games.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead in last years season opener for both teams in Spearfish. But the Eagles scored on all seven of their second half possessions and won 48-31. CSC chalked up 503 yards and the Jackets 442.
The Eagles finished 2019 with a 6-5 record and Black Hills at 3-8. At the end of the season, John Reiners, a Chadron State graduate and former CSC head track coach and assistant football coach, resigned as the Yellow Jackets head mentor.
His replacement is Josh Breske, who was a standout offensive lineman at Black Hills when Long, now in his ninth season as the Eagles head coach, was the Yellow Jackets mentor. Breske also was a graduate assistant at CSC one year after Long took the job in Chadron.
Like the Eagles, Black Hills is playing a limited schedule this fall because of the COVID-19 situation. Both teams launched their seasons on Saturday, Oct. 10 with Colorado Mesa edging the Eagles 10-7 in overtime in Grand Junction and South Dakota Mines downing the Yellow Jackets 34-17 in Rapid City.
While CSC was hosting Mines last Saturday night, Mesa visited Spearfish and won 56-7.
Mesa rushed for 392 yards and threw for 153. Black Hills gained 54 yards on the ground and 185 passing.
The Black Hills roster has several players who were western Nebraska high school standouts. They include Korby Campbell of Gordon, Trent Reed of Hay Springs, Mitch McKibbin of Bayard, Claysen Davis of Cody-Kilgore and Lane McGinley of Valentine.
