As the fall semester begins, BHSU athletics have launched into full swing with competitive matchups across football, cross country, golf, soccer, volleyball, softball and rodeo.
Yellow Jacket football began its season at home Aug. 28, marking the 75th anniversary of Yellow Jacket football at Lyle Hare Stadium. In a matchup against the University of Sioux Falls Cougars, the Yellow Jackets fell behind early but mounted a strong second-quarter comeback. However, the Jackets ultimately fell 27-21.
Quarterback Luke Duby threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver TJ Chukwurah stood out with ten receptions for 109 yards and all three touchdowns.
The team then spent the next three weeks on the road, falling to Grand Valley State 48-36 despite strong performances from Duby, who put up 359 yards and four touchdowns through the air, and Chukwurah who somehow managed to increase his performance from the previous week, hauling in 12 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
The Yellow Jackets then went on to face the Chadron State Eagles. Although they narrowly lost 31-28, the running game came alive for the Jackets, racking up 120 combined yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Running back Danny Davis and backup quarterback Kade Weber each contributed a rushing touchdown.
Jacket football secured its first win of the season Sep. 20, taking down Fort Lewis 25-19, improving their record to 1-3.
However, the Yellow Jackets were unable to start up a winning streak and fell to Colorado School of Mines 36-27 on homecoming night. And the losing streak at home would continue Oct. 4 in the 140th Black Hills Brawl against rival South Dakota School of Mines, which concluded with a home defeat of 27-13.
With a current record of 1-5, the Yellow Jacket football team will take on Western Colorado on the road on Oct. 11.
Cross Country finds early success
At their first home meet of the season in Sturgis on Sept. 5, the Yellow Jacket cross country team placed two runners in the top five, with another taking sixth at the Gage McSpadden Memorial race. The men’s team took home first place with 31 points, and the women’s team took second with 45 points.
The next race on the schedule took the men’s and women’s runners to the Greeno/Dirskin Invitational Sept. 20. The men’s team struggled, finishing the race in 4th with 103 points. Gavin Kuhlenbeck was the only top-five finisher wearing the green and gold, finishing first with a time of 24:50.06 on the 8,000-meter course.
The women’s team could not improve upon its success from the previous week either, finishing 3rd overall with 115 points and placing no top-five finishers.
Women’s Golf Starts Strong
The women’s Yellow Jacket golf team placed sixth at the Homestake Golf Tournament in Spearfish on Sept. 22-23. The team followed up its sixth-place finish by coming in seventh on Oct. 6 and 8th place on Oct. 7 at the Yellowjacket Fall Invite in Billings, Montana.
Women’s Soccer Finds Success
The Yellow Jacket women’s soccer team started the season off with a 0-0 tie against MSU Moorhead Sept. 5, but followed up with a 4-1 win over Minnesota Crookston Sept. 7.
The following week, the Jackets fell 0-1 against Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 12 at the Nebraska-Kearney Soccer Invite, and found themselves in a 0-0 stalemate with Northwestern Oklahoma State two days later.
BHSU returned home Sept. 18 to defeat the Dakota State Spartans 4-0, and sparked the first win-streak of the season after a 1-0 home victory over Montana State Billings Sept. 20.
The Jackets bumped their streak to three after a 2-1 victory over New Mexico Highlands on the road Sept. 26, however the streak would extend no further after a 1-2 loss to Adams State in Alamosa, Colo.
The Yellow Jackets returned home to face Colorado School of Mines Oct. 3 and CSU Pueblo Oct. 5. Both games ended poorly for the home team, resulting in 0-1 and 1-2 losses, respectively.
Volleyball Rebounds after Slow Start to their Season
The BHSU volleyball team struggled to get the ball rolling in its season opener at the Eagle Classic tournament, starting off 0-4 with losses to Augustana 2-3, Saint Martin’s 0-3, the University of Mary 1-3 and Northern State 1-3.
However, the Yellow Jackets responded with three-straight victories to just one loss Sept. 11-12 at the 1st International Bank Homecoming Classic tournament, including two clean sweep 3-0 victories over Brandon University and UMary.
The Jackets travelled to Durango, Colo., Sept. 19 to take on Fort Lewis, but the game ended in a 0-3 loss for BHSU. The following day, the Jackets took on Western Colorado on the road, coming away with a 3-1 victory.
After a week of rest, the Yellow Jackets hosted Colorado Christian Sept. 26 and CSU Pueblo Sept. 27. Both matches ended in 0-3 losses for the home team.
BHSU met South Dakota School of Mines on its home court Sept. 30, but was unable to keep up with its rival, losing 1-3. However, the Jackets were able to start the weekend off right with a 3-2 win over Chadron State at home Oct. 4.