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SE LOUISIANA-SOUTH DAKOTA South Dakota defeats Southeastern Louisiana 44-13 VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) Noah Shepard passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more, leading South Dakota to a 44-13 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.

Shepard completed 21 of 29 passes, connecting in the end zone with Will Powell on a 14-yard throw and with Ben Oberle on a 54-yard pass.

He rushed for 96 yards, twice scoring on 1-yard runs. Chris Ganious rushed for 101 yards and contributed two touchdowns for the Coyotes (3-1), scoring on 3- and 12-yard runs. Dustin Nowotny kicked a 47-yard field goal.

Simmie Yarborough scored the only touchdown for the Lions (2-2), catching a 23-yard pass from Brian Babin. Jeff Turner scored two field goals, including one from 52 yards.

Babin was 23-for-37 passing for 205 yards.

N DAKOTA ST-S ILLINOIS Southern Illinois defeats North Dakota State 24-14 CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) Chris Dieker threw two touchdown passes as Southern Illinois held off North Dakota State 24-14 in a Missouri Valley Football Conference opener Saturday night.

Dieker connected with Jeff Evans on a 61-yard pass to open the scoring, then finished it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Joe Allaria midway through the fourth quarter. Dieker was 10 of 23 for 186 yards for the Salukis (2-1, 1-0).

Southern's Deji Karim rushed for 127 yards on 23 carries, including a 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Kyle Dougherty added a field goal.

D.J. McNorton scored on a 1-yard run for North Dakota State (1-3, 0-1), and Gerry Ebel scored the other touchdown on a blocked field-goal return.

Pat Paschall led all rushers with 150 yards on 28 carries for North Dakota State.

PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS Hoffman decries performance-enhancing drugs YANKTON, S.D. (AP) Former Miss South Dakota Alexandra Hoffman spread the word about the dangers of performance-enhancing substances during her reign last year.

And she's still delivering the message that the drugs are not worth the risk to athletes' mental and physical health.

Hoffman talked about the substances this past week in a speech at Mount Marty College.

Hoffman, a South Dakota State University student, is an athlete.

She has taken part in swimming, Basketball and cross-country during her high school and college years.

She says athletes use drugs to build muscles, stimulate their bodies, lose weight or relax. But, in her words, "The bottom line is, it's cheating." Hoffman says the drugs provide a short-term gain but can do harm over the long haul.

MSU BAND Minot State gets marching band MINOT, N.D. (AP) Minot State University has a marching band for the first time in 25 years.

The 60-member group has been practicing to perform in Saturday's homecoming parade.

Senior and band member Jennifer Brenna says it's great to be part of the effort to revive the marching band.

Band Director Joe Alme, who was there when MSU's marching band performed in the Rose Bowl parade in 1969, credits MSU President David Fuller with bringing back the marching band.

Fuller says he sees the band as a symbolically important step with the school's decision to move its athletic programs from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. He says a marching band boosts school spirit.

Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 09-27-09 0230CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list