SPEARFISH — Black Hills State University fell 38-0 to CSU-Pueblo in its final Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football game of the season, Saturday, at Lyle Hare Stadium.
“I think that Pueblo’s a better team than we are,” said Yellow Jackets’ head coach Josh Breske, whose squad finished 5-4 in the conference and 7-4 overall. “We would have had to play our absolute best to have a chance to beat them, much like Colorado Mines.”
The ThunderWolves (7-2 in the conference, 8-3 overall) opened the scoring on Hunter Raquet’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Zach Rakowsky. Jacob Willig’s extra point put CSU-Pueblo ahead 7-0 at the first-quarter break.
Raquet added two more touchdown passes for CSU-Pueblo in the second period. He found Jordan Jones from 17 yards out and Curtis Luckadoo from 1 yard. Sullivan Moon kicked two extra points to put the ThunderWolves ahead 21-0 at halftime.
Another two touchdown passes from Raquet extended the CSU-Pueblo lead in the third quarter. Max Fine (2-yard catch) and CK Poulos (49-yard catch) reached the end zone. Moon kicked two conversions as the ThunderWolves led 35-0.
Moon kicked a 25-yard field goal to end the scoring in the fourth quarter at 38-0.
“I don’t think that we played our best game on offense,” Breske said. “Not that we weren’t able to move the ball: we just weren’t able to move it 10 yards in three plays.”
Black Hills State managed only 145 net rushing yards and 101 passing yards on the day: 246 total yards. CSU-Pueblo, by contrast, gained 483 net yards (216 rushing and 267 passing).
Yellow Jackets’ sophomore linebacker Aaron Thiele said CSU-Pueblo got after Black Hills State. He added a lot of the outcome was due to the Yellow Jacket players not doing things correctly on some plays.
Breske said ThunderWolves’ tailback Nick Bingham showed a lot of ability to break tackles (finishing with 83 yards on only four carries). “A little bit of that was highlighted with our inability to wrap up (on tackles),” Breske added.
“They’ve given everything that they’ve had, and that’s why I’m really, really proud of how hard they worked in the offseason, how hard they worked in the summer,” Breske said in describing the Yellow Jacket players in 2022.
Statistical leaders follow.
Net rushing — BHSU: Chance Eben 8 carries for 38 yards, Cameron Goods 7-34, Nolan Susel 13-31. CSU-Pueblo: Nick Bingham 4-83.
Receiving — BHSU: Hasaan Williams 4 catches for 15 yards, Connor Boyd 3-42, Isaiah Pressley 2-13. CSU-Pueblo: Andrew Cook 4-11.
Total tackles — BHSU: Aaron Thiele 8 (5 solo and 3 assist), Doodles Quinones 6 (2 solo and 4 assist), Ryder Blair 6 (1 solo and 5 assist). CSU-Pueblo: Jon Nuschy 8 (3 solo and 5 assist).
Breske was asked what would give the team the best chance of keeping this season’s momentum going. He said he and the coaches must have a really solid recruiting class to get on CSU-Pueblo’s level.
“Being a winning team, and having a 7-4 record, might give us access to a higher caliber and type of recruit,” said Breske, adding he is really pleased with those recruiting classes going forward.
Breske described the Yellow Jackets’ culture as players and coaches loving one another, putting the team over oneself, and making all decisions based on what benefits the team. “With that, goes a level of accountability,” he said.
Thiele said this season was a process of what the Yellow Jackets want to do as far as changing the team’s culture. He added Black Hills State could have been a nine-win team this year, dropping two games by a grand total of three points.
“That’s definitely what we got to do next year: just keep improving and keep taking those strides to becoming really, really good,” Thiele said.
Black Hills State improved by three games from 2021 to 2022. Thiele said he was a lot more comfortable on the field this season (his second), and many of his teammates were in that situation.
“Also, we’re just a tight group,” Thiele said. “We play for one another, and I think that shows when we play on defense.”
Thiele said a linebacker must be tough and gritty. He added he tries to keep everyone in good spirits while having good relationships, as all players are battling for one another.
“First and foremost, we just got to work hard and keep getting stronger, keep improving,” Thiele said when asked how to best keep things moving forward. “This offseason’s going to be huge for us.”
Thiele also cited the importance of continuing to mature and keep building confidence, along with proper communication and discipline.
“A lot of us are returning, so I think we’ll all have bigger roles and just have higher expectations for ourselves,” Thiele said.
The Yellow Jackets will lose only seven seniors to graduation from this year’s team. They include Hunter Stephens, whom Thiele said will really be missed.
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