North Dakota St. still a big hurdle for Sam Houston
FARGO, N.D. — The Sam Houston State Bearkats still don’t have an answer for the North Dakota State Bison, who will be playing in their sixth Football Championship Subdivision title game in the last seven years.
North Dakota State dominated Sam Houston State 55-13 on Friday night in the FCS semifinals, with the Bison improving to 4-0 in the postseason against the Bearkats.
Bruce Anderson scored five touchdowns — four in the first half — as North Dakota State totaled 642 yards and scored on six of their first seven possessions to take a 41-3 halftime lead.
Sam Houston State was seeking to advance to its third FCS title game with hopes of winning its first championship and the first for the Southland Conference. Instead, the Bison increased their series lead to 5-1.
“Their men were definitely better than my boys, that’s for sure,” Bearkats coach K.C. Keeler said. “I just can’t say enough about how good they are. We often talk about North Dakota State and Alabama, two great programs, and we’re trying to get there. We’re sort of that team that’s sitting on the cusp, but we’re not there.”
The second-seeded Bison (13-1) advance to play top-seeded James Madison in the FCS championship game at Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 6.
I’m just excited were going back to Frisco; it doesn’t matter who we play,” North Dakota State coach Chris Klieman said. “We have a bunch of leaders in that locker room who deserve to go back to that game.”
Sam Houston State (12-2) came in with the leading offense in the FCS, averaging more than 45 points and 552 yards of offense, but the Bearkats were overpowered by the Bison defense, finishing with 352 yards but only 176 in the first half.
Sam Houston State drove down the field on its first drive but couldn’t get into the end zone on firstand-goal from the North Dakota State 10 and settled for Tre Honshtein’s 28-yard field goal.
“That first drive, I told the guys all week, field goals are never going to beat us because we’re going to score enough points,” Klieman said. “They gave up three, and honestly that was a win for us because it just takes a while to get used to the speed of the game.”
The Bison responded with a 75-yard drive with quarterback Easton Stick scoring on a 6-yard run to start the run of 41 first-half points.
The Bearkats’ lone touchdown came on a 2-yard pass from Jeremiah Briscoe to Nathan Stewart in the third quarter. Briscoe was 29-of-51 passing for 289 yards, eclipsing 5,000 for the season, and one touchdown with three interceptions.
JAMES MADISON 51 SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 16
Marcus Marshall broke loose on a pair of long touchdown runs, and Jimmy Moreland had three interceptions as defending FCS national champion Dukes returned to the title game with an easy victory over the Jackrabbits, who had 10 turnovers, at Harrisonburg, Va.
The top-seeded Dukes (14-0) won their FCS-tying 26th consecutive game to return to the championship game against No. 2 seed North Dakota State, a 55-13 winner over Sam Houston State on Friday night.
Marshall, who helped set up a last-minute touchdown in the first half with a 38-yard kickoff return, raced up the middle to score twice to begin a 30-point third period that broke the game open. First he went 65 yards to score and, on the Dukes’ next possession, he sprinted for a career-best 87 yard touchdown run and a 35-10 lead.
TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 37 WEST FLORIDA 27
The Lions had this celebration planned for a long time.
A year after watching the Division II title game from the stands, Luis Perez led Texas A&M-Commerce to its first NCAA Division II title and second football championship, throwing for 323 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over the Argonauts at Kansas City, Kan.
The Lions (14-1) also won the 1972 NAIA championship.
Perez said that he had driven up to watch the 2016 championship game because he had a feeling that he and his teammates had a chance to be in this year’s game.
“We were a team of destiny,” Perez said. “We just believed it (all season).”
Perez completed 23 of 30 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. The Harlon Hill Award winner is the first quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in the title game since 2005. He finished the season with 4,999 passing yards.
West Florida (11-4) was playing in the 26th game in the two-year history of the program.
From staff and wire reports