BROOKINGS, S.D. – Duquesne's historical 2018 season came to an end on Saturday in the second round of the FCS Playoffs, as the Dukes fell by a score of 51-6 to fifth-seeded South Dakota State in the snow at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The Dukes, who were playing in their first FCS Playoff Second Round game in program history, close out the season with a 9-4 record.
Duquesne won its fifth Northeast Conference title in 2018 in addition to notching its first FCS Playoff victory with a 31-10 victory at No. 16 Towson last week.
The perennial FCS power Jackrabbits (9-2), who are making their seventh straight postseason appearance, built a 24-0 halftime advantage on Saturday.
SDSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the contest when quarterback Taryn Christian rolled out to the right and hit Cade Johnson on a 43-yard touchdown strike.
Following a Duquesne fumble late in the first quarter, wide receiver Isaiah Hill took a pitch on a reverse play 23 yards to the end zone on the first play of the second stanza.
Pierre Strong Jr. extended the Jackrabbits' lead to three scores, taking a handoff 52 yards up the right sideline for the SDSU touchdown late in the second quarter.
Chase Vinatieri's 39-yard field goal as the snow began to fall hard in the final minute of the opening half which gave the Jackrabbits a 24-0 edge at the break.
On the opening drive of the second half, Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic) hauled in a 68-yard reception from Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla./William T. Dwyer/FAU) to the SDSU seven-yard line.
Two plays later, Parr kept it himself for a three-yard touchdown run to get the Dukes on the board.
The Jackrabbits blocked the extra point after Duquesne minimized the deficit to 24-6.
SDSU, which came into the game ranked third in the FCS in scoring offense, responded with 27 unanswered points to close out the game.
Parr completed 14-of-24 pass attempts for 160 yards while Daquan Worley (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville/Penn State) led the Dukes with 60 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Taylor tallied a career-high 97 receiving yards on five catches for Duquesne, including the career-long 68-yarder which set up the Dukes' score.
Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) recorded four catches for 31 yards, becoming the program's all-time leader in career receiving yards. Crawford closes his Dukes career with 190 catches for 2,719 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Nohea Keahi (Wailuka, Hawaii/Baldwin/Chabot) paced the Duquesne defense with six tackles (three solo) including 1.5 tackles for loss.
SDSU outgained the Dukes 470-244, including a 326-84 advantage on the ground.
The Dukes saw their six-game winning streak snapped by the host Jackrabbits. In a season with a pair of games against FBS opponents, Duquesne tallied its most wins since 2011.
SDSU moves on to face fourth-seeded Kennesaw State in the FCS Quarterfinals in Georgia next Friday or Saturday. The Owls topped Wofford 13-10 on Saturday afternoon.
GAME NOTES
- A.J. Hines finishes the season with 1,520 rushing yards, good for the second-most in a single-season in program history. The Walter Payton Award finalist's 15 rushing scores are tied for the school single-season record. He also set a new single-season record with 102 points while his 1,756 all-purpose yards rank second in a season in school history.
- Crawford closed out the 2018 season with 1,048 receiving yards, joining Chris King as the only Dukes in the FCS era to post back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons.
- Parr closes the season with seven rushing touchdowns, rushing for at least one score in each of the final five games of the year.
- SDSU improves to 2-1 all-time against the Dukes. The Jackrabbits defeated Duquesne in the 2017 season opener in Brookings, while the Dukes claimed a 34-12 victory over SDSU in 1932 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
