SPEARFISH, S.D. — October 24, 2015 — Chadron State jumped out to a 22-0 lead, but had to tally the game's final 14 points in order to slip past Black Hills State 39-38 in a wild and wooly Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference shootout here Saturday afternoon.

The pesky Yellow Jackets shut down the Eagles in the second and third periods and went on a  31-point scoring binge before Chadron State finally got on the scoreboard again with a field goal.

Undeterred, Black Hills responded with another touchdown to go ahead 38-25 with 11 minutes to play.  After having to punt on their next possession, the Eagles finally started clicking again when they got the ball back with about seven minutes remaining.

They initially drove 42 yards in 10 plays with quarterback Matt Vinson hitting inside receiver Zac Bargen with a seven-yard scoring pass with 4:28 to play.

The Eagles then tried an onside kick that Black Hills recovered.   The Jackets got one first down, before punting. Chadron State was penalized on its first play and had to go 90 yards for the winning touchdown.

The drive included three huge plays.

The first was a 36-yard pass to Bargen on fourth down and nine that gave the Eagles new life at the Black Hills 43. Tailback Derek Jackson then bolted 23 yards on a Statue of Liberty play and Vinson connected with redshirt freshman Matt Reader for a 20-yard touchdown to knot the score.  Alex Ferdinand then booted the winning point.

"I'm proud of our guys.  They found a way to win after being down two touchdowns," said CSC coach Jay Long.  "Black Hills really had things going in those middle quarters, but we made some big plays when we really needed them."

Black Hills finished with 29 first downs and the Eagles with just 14.  The Yellow Jackets also had a 532 to 434 yardage advantage, but the Eagles had no turnovers while coming up with three big ones.

Jackson, the Eagles' leading rusher with 20 carries for 94 yards, scored the game's first two touchdowns on one- and two-yard runs after fellow tailbacks Cody Paul and Kevin Coy had raced 54 and 70 yards, respectively, to set them up. 

The Eagles went ahead 22-0 early in the second period when Vinson hit Kyle Hooper with a five-yard TD pass, just seconds after Hooper had recovered a punt the Yellow Jackets had fumbled at their own 10.

But Black Hills was in charge the rest of the first half and the third period.  Tailback Phydell Paris, who rushed 35 times for 116 yards, scored on a pair of two-yard runs and a seven-yard jaunt.

As the fourth quarter opened, Hommel hit Bradley Adamson with a four-yard scoring pass after the pair had connected for 36 yards. 

The Eagles finally got back on the scoreboard with Ferdinand's 34-yard field goal, but Hommel soon hooked up with Eriq Swiftwater for a 52-yard pass play and then scampered 19 yards for a touchdown that put his team on top by 13 points, making CSC's chances of winning seem bleak.

Long said the play calling by offensive coordinator Chris Stein and the composure shown by Vinson were vital to the winning rally.       

Vinson completed 18 of 35 passes for 181 yards and the three touchdowns. Ten of his completions were during the last two TD drives.  Max Gray was CSC's top receiver with nine catches for 68 yards and Bargen had five for 73.

Hommel, a true freshman, clicked on 24 of 44 passes for 307 yards and also ran for 99.

Besides intercepting the late pass, Furrier was the Eagles leading tackler with 11 and also caught a two-point conversion toss from Cole Montgomery, normally a safety, following CSC's first touchdown. 

Brian Wood, who also intercepted a pass inside the 10-yard line in the third period, had nine tackles, eight of them solos.

The Eagles, now 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference, will host New Mexico Highlands this coming Saturday at noon.