Photo from University of South Dakota Sports Information South Central Calhoun graduate Kody Case, a freshman at South Dakota, breaks free for a run against Bowling Green last Saturday.

VERMILLION, S.D. — Kody Case wanted nothing more than to get back out on the football field as soon as he possibly could.

Case, a former South Central Calhoun all-stater, shined in his return to action for South Dakota here Saturday, catching 11 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-17 loss to No. 25 Montana inside the DakotaDome.

After working his way up the depth chart as a freshman for the Coyotes, Case was forced to the sidelines for much of last year with a handful of injuries.

“It felt great getting back on the field, feeling 100 percent healthy,” he said. “There is no better feeling than being out there with your brothers on game day.”

The redshirt sophomore tied the school record for single-game receptions and set a new career-high in yardage.

He scored on passes of three and nine yards from quarterback Austin Simmons.

“The offense seems to be clicking very well led by Austin,” Case said. “We hit a lot of stuff that we wanted to hit. We need to build on what we did well in this game and fix what we did not do well.”

One of Case’s touchdowns came on a fourth-and-4 gamble by South Dakota, completing a seven-play, 67-yard drive that cut the deficit in half at that point.

In 2017, Case played in 12 of 13 games for USD, making three starts. He was fourth on the team with 430 yards on 25 catches, scoring a freshman school record five touchdowns.

South Dakota, which finished last year 4-7, returns to the field next Saturday when they travel to No. 4 Oklahoma. The Sooners kicked off their season with Houston late Sunday night.