MACOMB, Ill.—Western Illinois quarterback Connor Sampson passed for a career-high 368 yards and orchestrated three fourth-quarter touchdown drives to rally the Leathernecks to a 38-34 win against South Dakota Saturday at Hanson Field. The two teams combined for 378 yards and five touchdowns during a fourth quarter that had five lead changes. The Coyotes took a 34-31 lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Austin Simmons to Caleb Vander Esch with 1:24 remaining. Western Illinois countered with a 9-yard touchdown run by Clint Ratkovich with 34 seconds left. South Dakota reached the WIU 31 with6 ticks to go before Eric Carrera intercepted Simmons near the goal line to cement the win. South Dakota (3-6, 2-3 MVFC) ran a program-record 107 plays, totaled a program-record 37 first downs, rushed for 304 yards, totaled 578 yards, and blocked a punt, but couldn’t win the scoreboard. The Coyotes lost the turnover battle 2-0 and committed 14 penalties for 160 yards. Saturday marked the final outdoor game of the season for the Coyotes, who return home to host Youngstown State at 2 p.m. Saturday inside the DakotaDome. South Dakota will play two of its final three games in Vermillion.
