SoCon champ Wofford ousted
FARGO, N.D. — Easton Stick passed for three first-half touchdowns and ran for another after the break to help second-seeded North Dakota State roll to a 42-10 win over seventh-seeded Wofford in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals Saturday.
Bruce Anderson also ran for two scores in the first half for the Bison (12-1), who piled up 265 yards and held Wofford to 95 and just four first downs, with two coming on fourth-down conversions.
Stick was 9-of-10 passing for 157 yards before halftime, with touchdowns to Connor Wentz (48 yards), Seth Wilson (18 yards) and Jeff Illies (4 yards). Stick’s 7-yard run accounted for the only points in the second half.
The Terriers (10-3) got a field goal on their initial possession and a touchdown after a fumble recovery gave them a short field.
North Dakota State, which won five straight titles before losing to eventual champion James Madison in the semifinals last year, piled up 261 yards on the ground and 464 yards of total offense. While the Bison were 7 yards shy of their season average on the ground, they held the Southern Conference champions to 134 rushing yards, 120 below their average.
Wofford ended up with 177 yards of total offense and eight first downs, going 1-for-12 on third down.
› South Dakota State 56, New Hampshire 14 BROOKINGS, S.D. — Taryn Christion threw two touchdown passes to Jake Wieneke, and each ran for another score as fifth-seeded South Dakota State whipped New Hampshire.
Cade Johnson returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown for the Jackrabbits (11-2), and Christion, Wieneke and Isaac Wallace each ran for a score in the first quarter as South Dakota State bolted to a 21-0 lead. Wieneke scored untouched from 48 yards on a reverse around the right side.
Christion found Wieneke for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 at halftime.
Wallace added a 48-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter before the Wildcats (9-5) got on the board with a 75-yard scoring play, with Trevor Knight hooking up with Kieran Presley. However, Johnson quickly wiped that out with his return.
South Dakota State finished with 451 yards of offense, with Wieneke totaling 140 yards on nine catches. It was his first 100yard game of the season but the 24th of his career.
Knight passed for 236 yards but was intercepted twice. Presley had seven catches for 133 yards.
› James Madison 31, Weber State 28 HARRISONBURG, Va. — Ethan Ratke kicked a career-long 46-yard field goal on the final play of the game as the top-seeded Dukes rallied to defeat Weber State late Friday night and run their winning streak to 25 games.
Ratke’s third field goal capped an eight-play, 39-yard drive after James Madison (130) forced the Wildcats (11-3) into a three-and-out and got the ball back on the James Madison 31 with 1:06 to play.
In a wild fourth quarter, the teams combined for 35 points, including Bryan Schor’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Riley Stapleton and Trai Sharp’s 2-point conversion run on an inside handoff with 2:08 to play.
Ratke, whose previous best field goal was 40 yards, kicked a 40-yarder with 7:52 to play to pull the Dukes within 21-20. Weber State followed with a 10-play, 82-yard drive capped by Stefan Cantwell’s 36-yard pass that Drew Batchelor pulled down between two defenders in the end zone, making it 28-20 with 3:14 to go.
Schor was only 21-for-45 but passed for 359 yards. Stapleton had eight catches for 189 yards, Terrence Alls snared six for 117 and Marcus Marshall ran for 128 yards on 14 carries, including two touchdowns.
Cantwell was just 12-of-30 passing but had two touchdowns and 238 yards and ran for a score, while teammate Kevin Smith had a touchdown rushing and receiving.