The Coyote football team took a 17-14 advantage over Northern Colorado into the fourth quarter, but the Bears (3-6, 1-5 Big Sky) scored a late touchdown to hand USD (3-5, 0-2 Great West) another tough loss, 21-17, on Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo.

Playing on a field surrounded by snow after a storm passed through the region the previous day, South Dakota got behind early when UNC passed for 53- and 24-yard touchdowns. The Coyotes responded with 17 unanswered points and USD’s defense looked to be in control of the game, but Northern Colorado quarterback Bryan Waggener crafted a scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter to retake the lead and USD was unable to respond.

Senior quarterback Noah Shepard (Thornton, Colo.) went 23-of-40 for 212 yards and one touchdown in his return to his home state, while sophomore running back Chris Ganious (Houston, Texas) notched 68 yards on the ground and senior Isaac Newton (New Orleans, La.) contributed 67. Freshman Tom Flanagan (Lakewood, Colo.) broke USD’s single-season freshman touchdown receptions record with his third scoring grab of the season late in the second quarter. He finished the day with 50 yards on six catches.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Adam Broders (Bloomfield, Neb.) collected 12 tackles, while fellow sophomore linebacker Shea Williams (Alexandria, S.D.) notched 11 stops. After surrendering the two early touchdowns, the South Dakota defense rebounded to allow just 71 total yards to UNC, outside of the fourth-quarter scoring drive.

Northern Colorado drew first blood in the game, when Waggener connected with wide receiver Alex Thompson on a 53-yard touchdown pass. After punting on its first possession, UNC’s defense forced South Dakota to do the same and partially blocked the punt. Starting on USD’s 48-yard line, the Bears committed two false start penalties, but Waggener found Thompson deep down the left side of the field for the three-play scoring drive in 1:55.

Redshirt freshman running back Marcus Sims (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) started to turn the momentum toward USD’s side with a 30-yard return on the ensuing kickoff. Three runs from Newton moved the ball into UNC territory, but the drive stalled. Two incomplete passes and a run on third down brought up a fourth-and-two play from UNC’s 23. USD elected to go for it, but an option to Ganious came up one-yard short to give the ball back to Northern Colorado.

The Bears attacked through the air for their second touchdown, as Waggener completed four passes over 10 yards on the eight-play, 78-yard scoring drive. Northern Colorado capped the 2:55 possession with a 24-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Jace Davis.

South Dakota got on the scoreboard with a 19-yard field goal from sophomore wide receiver Dustin Nowotny (Rapid City, S.D.) to cut the lead to 11 with 8:58 left in the second quarter. On a 10-play, 78-yard drive that showcased USD’s versatility, Ganious uncorked a 39-yard rush to move the Coyotes into UNC territory and Shepard hit Flanagan for 16 yards and Nowotny for 24 to get USD to the Bears’ one-yard line. A sack and two incompletions forced the field goal from Nowotny.

USD’s defense forced a Northern Colorado punt on the next drive and the Coyotes took over on their own 20-yard line. South Dakota shuffled along on several short runs before Shepard completed six-straight passes, including two over 15 yards, to move USD to Northern Colorado’s eight-yard line. Shepard found Flanagan on a slant for the touchdown pass to cap the 17-play, 80-yard drive in 5:16. The drive left 1:01 in the second quarter and UNC was unable to move the ball on the USD defense in the final minute of the first half.

South Dakota opened the second half with the ball and continued to build on its momentum with a systematic 11-play, 77-yard scoring drive to earn USD’s first lead of the game, 17-10, with 9:40 left in the third quarter. Shepard guided the USD offense courtesy of short passes and rushes, including a 16-yard scramble by himself and a 16-yard end-around to Flanagan. Another toss to Flanagan, this time for 12 yards, brought the Coyotes to UNC’s two and Shepard topped the drive with a sneak over the left-hand side of the line for the score.

USD defense continued to show improvement during the course of the game, as it forced a three-and-out from Northern Colorado on the ensuing drive. The Coyote offense moved the ball in big chunks once again behind a balanced attack. Shepard hit junior tight end London Landry (Lancaster, Calif.) for an 18-yard strike to midfield and Newton scampered for 38 yards to the UNC 19-yard line, before safety Max Hewitt intercepted Shepard on the goal line to help UNC’s defense dodge a bullet.

The squads exchanged punts early in the fourth quarter before UNC put together a 13-play, 89-yard scoring drive to regain a 21-17 lead with 5:20 left in the game. Waggener made four-straight completions, before hitting Hutchings for 16 yards to USD’s five-yard line. Running back Andre Harris rushed over the goal line three plays later for the go-ahead touchdown.

On the fourth play of USD’s subsequent drive, Shepard was intercepted over the middle by linebacker Logan Zabel to give the Bears the ball back, but two penalties forced UNC into a long-yardage situation and the USD defense forced a punt with 1:38 left.

USD took over on own 20-yard line, but three straight incompletions brought up fourth and 10 for the Coyotes with 1:25 left. Shepard’s pass for Nowotny fell incomplete and Northern Colorado was able to run out the clock.

The Coyotes return to the DakotaDome for their 2009 home finale at 4:05 p.m. next Saturday against Southern Utah. The contest will also mark Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day.

Courtesy: USD Sports Information.