BROOKINGS — For the first time all season, South Dakota State’s cross country field was available in its entirety Saturday afternoon.

And lowly Murray State was on the wrong side.

With seven different rushers, the Jacks ran for 343 yards and tied a season-best five touchdowns en route to a 52-6 rout of the Racers at Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday. SDSU averaged 9 yards per carry and was 11.2 yards per carry through three quarters before the late plays that ended the clock in the burst.

Angel Johnson led the way with a career-best 132 yards on seven carries, highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown run, his first of the season. Before Saturday, he had 240 yards in six games this season, so the breakout effort was a good feeling, Johnson said.

“We definitely just got back to being ourselves,” he said. “We had to get back in the run game and we saw some things we liked and we just had to execute them. … I’m grateful to the guys who blocked in front of me. I had a few long runs, but I wasn’t able to get them all together in one game, so I’m grateful.

It set the table for an overall efficient day for the Jacks offense, which converted nine of its first 11 third-down attempts and finished with 595 total yards. Jacks’ rushing effort tied a season high with five rushing touchdowns and marked the third time this season SDSU has rushed for 300 yards or more.

“I know we all work hard in the back room. We know that anyone who goes in there deserves to go in there. It’s good to see how it plays out and you don’t always get a chance in a game to get everybody in there.”

Certainly, the caliber of Jacks’ opponent was a factor in the big numbers. Murray State entered Saturday’s game allowing 259.2 yards per game on the ground to Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents and 21 rushing touchdowns. The Racer defense has allowed 52.2 points overall in the Valley’s first five games this year, and SDSU landed exactly that number in Saturday’s loss.

Amar Johnson rushed six times but posted 83 yards on the ground, but had a rushing and receiving score each. It was the most rushing yards he had this season in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

And the backups packed a punch, with Kirby Vorhees and Maxwell Woods each rushing for a touchdown, along with another big effort from quarterback Chase Mason, who had 68 yards on seven carries and a touchdown, though the day was soured late when Mason left the game. in the fourth quarter with a lower left leg injury. (SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers said Mason will still be fine.)

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic

Vorhees and Angel Johnson have both missed time with injuries in the first eight games, including Vorhees, the speedy redshirt freshman from Florida who has missed the last two games, so Rogers said the goal is to get him back into the flow of the offense.

“We wanted to give Kirby some touches early, but we knew he wasn’t going to play much in the game. He had an opportunity there at the goal line,” Rogers said. “Angel and Amar are explosive and can go the distance, but it was good to have Maxwell and Brendan (Begeman). It’s good to be able to rotate, but it’s good to stay fresh and stay healthy, and that’s why we’re going to have to keep moving forward. Healthy bodies, you are able to play your best talent and today we managed to get a lot of players on the pitch.”

Amar Johnson had his high-speed play of the day in the second quarter with a stretch play that was designed to go right but looped back to the left side, which had no more Racer defenders to play with a drop and allowed the veteran sprinted back into the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown, putting SDSU up 28-6.

For all the explosive runs, Rogers said he would have been most pleased with Angel Johnson’s four-yard run in the first half when the Jacks were facing a third-and-three situation. It was one of SDSU’s 31 first downs in the game, including 15 through the running game.

“Instead of looking for a big shot, he took what the situation was and we got it and we were able to keep the chains moving,” Rogers said. “I feel like we failed at it with some situational awareness and we’re not trying to go for a big hit when all you need is one yard or all you need is two yards. … I enjoyed it.”

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic

After the Jacks went through tough games against North Dakota State (215 yards on 36 carries) and South Dakota (166 yards on 44 carries), it felt good to have SDSU’s offense again great power in form. .

“It’s wonderful. We were really just getting to the second level and they were letting our runners read our blocks. That was the main focus this week, creating that push into the top five,” center Gus Miller said. “It’s always a great relationship between the offensive line and the back.”

Marcus Traxler is assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A past winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist Award and the 2023 South Dakota Sports Writer of the Year, he has been with the paper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics. Traxler, a native of Minnesota, can be reached at [email protected].