The new era of Eastern football ended with a first-round playoff loss as the Panthers fell to South Dakota State, 58-10, Saturday in Brookings, SD.

The Jackrabbits were led by a strong running game that had them totaling 434 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the winning effort. Sophomore running back Zach Zenner had a career-best performance, rushing for 295 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries, while his backup, Reggie Gandy, gashed Eastern for 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

“I am very impressed with (Zenner),” Eastern head coach Dino Babers said. “My hat is off to him. He is special, you guys have a special one with him.”

Zenner recorded the first touchdown of the game on a 68-yard scamper that had the Jackrabbits taking a 7-0 lead with 4:27 remaining in the first quarter.

Zenner would add his second of three rushing touchdowns early in the second quarter when he scored from four yards out after gashing the Eastern defense for a 41-yard run to set up the score.

“We ran a lot of power formation runs today,” Zenner said. “It just kept working and the offensive line did a great job creating big holes.”

Zenner would add his third and final touchdown of the game mid-way through the second quarter, running the ball in from seven yards out to give the Jackrabbits a 24-3 lead.

“They were very sound upfront,” Eastern defensive back D.J. Bland said. “(Zenner) didn’t try to do anything special, he just hit his gaps and followed behind his line.”

South Dakota State would add a field goal and a last-second touchdown to take a commanding, 38-3, lead into the half time break.

A blocked punt that had South Dakota State regaining possession with the ball inside Eastern’s five-yard line set up the Jackrabbits last-second touchdown.

Quarterback Austin Sumner connected with fullback Cam Jones for his lone touchdown pass of the game as time expired in the first half.

Defensively, the Jackrabbits kept the high-powered Eastern offense in check, limiting it to just 366 yards of total offense and a season low 10 points.

“You could see how physical they were on the football field and they wore us down,” Babers said. “In the first quarter, it seemed like we could hang in there, but over the long haul, they just wore us down. We need to get our guys back in the weight room and prepare for the challenge when we get back here next year.”

Eastern quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 221 yards and an interception, breaking a 26-game streak where he threw for at least one touchdown.

The junior fell just 20 yards short of breaking Sean Payton’s single-season passing yard record, but did surpass Payton’s school record for total offense in a single-season.

Garoppolo also fell three touchdowns short of tying former Eastern quarterback Tony Romo for the school record for touchdown passes in a single-season.

Red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora led all receivers, totaling 133 yards on 12 receptions. Lora finished the season with an FCS record of 136 receptions to go along with 1,664 receiving yards. He fell just 48 yards short of setting the FCS record for receiving yards in a single-season.

In the running game, Eastern was led by red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker as he totaled 125 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Walker finished the season with 1,133 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.

With the loss, the Panthers finished the 2012 season with an overall record of 7-5.

South Dakota State will advance to the second round to take on the defending national champions in North Dakota State.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-2812 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.