By james art 
BROOKINGS — For the first time all season, South Dakota State’s backfield was available at full strength Saturday afternoon.
And downstate Murray was on the wrong end.
With seven different rushers, the Jacks racked up 343 yards on the ground and matched 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 ran out the clock on the blowout.
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 in the backfield was a good feeling, Johnson said.
“We’re definitely just coming back to ourselves,” he said. “We had to get back into the game and we saw some things we liked and we just had to execute. … I’m thankful for the guys in front who blocked me. I’ve had long games, but I haven’t been able to get it all together in one game, so I’m grateful.
That 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’ effort on the ground tied a season high with five rushing touchdowns and marked the third time this season that SDSU has rushed for 300 or more yards.
“I know we’re all working hard in the back room. We know that everyone who gets in there deserves to get in there. It’s good to see it play out and you don’t always get a chance in a game to get everyone involved there.”
Certainly the caliber of Jax’s 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 allowed a total of 52.2 points in its first five Valley games this year, and SDSU landed just that number on Saturday’s road trip.
Amar Johnson rushed six times but gave up 83 yards on the ground, but had one rushing and receiving score each. Those were the most rushing yards he has had this season in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
And the backups provided a punch, with Kirby Voorhees and Maxwell Woods rushing for touchdowns, along with another big effort from quarterback Chase Mason, who accounted for 68 yards on seven carries and a touchdown, though the day turned sour late when Mason left the game in the fourth quarter with a lower left leg injury. (SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers said Mason will be fine going forward.)
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
Voorhees and Angel Johnson missed time with injuries in the first eight games, including Voorhees, the speedy redshirt freshman from Florida who missed the last two games, so Rodgers said the goal is to get him back into the flow of the offense.
“We wanted to put some touches on Kirby early, but we knew he wasn’t going to play much in the game. He had an opportunity there on the goal line,” Rodgers said. “Angel and Amar are explosive and can go the distance, but it was good to have Maxwell and Brendan (Begemann). It’s good to be able to rotate, but it’s good to stay fresh and healthy and that’s what we’re going to have to keep doing going forward. Healthy bodies, you can play with your best talent and today we were able to get a lot of players on the field.”
Amar’ Johnson had his big rush of the day in the second quarter on a stretch play that was meant to go to the right, but he circled back to the left side, which had no Racer defenders left, to play a cutback and let the veteran rush back to the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown, putting SDSU up 28-6.
For all the explosive runs, Rodgers said he might have been most pleased with Angel Johnson’s four-yard run in the first half when the Jacks faced a 3rd-and-3 situation. It was one of 31 first downs SDSU scored in the game, including 15 via the run game.
“Instead of looking for a big hit, he took what the situation was and we got it and we were able to keep the chains moving,” Rodgers said. “I feel like we fell short of that with some situational awareness and not trying to go for a big hit when all you need is a yard or all you need is two yards. … I was happy about that.”
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
After the Jacks came through tough games against North Dakota State (215 yards on 36 carries) and South Dakota (166 yards on 44 carries), it felt good for SDSU’s offense to have its potent rushing attack back in shape.
“It’s great. It was really just getting to the second level and letting our running backs read our blocks. That’s been the main focus all week, creating that push in the front five,” center Gus Miller said. “There’s always a great connection between the offensive line and the running backs.”