R-MC falls in semis

Yellow Jackets lose star QB to an injury

After spending all year dominating its opposition, Randolph-Macon saw its season end Saturday with a 49-14 NCAA Division III semifinal defeat to the Cortland Red Dragons at Day Field in Ashland.

The Yellow Jackets (13-1), the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s farthest-advancing football team in about two decades, saw the game all but decided in the first quarter.

The visitors (13-1) from New York, ranked 11th by d3football. com before the playoffs began, drove 82 yards for a touchdown on the first possession, returned No. 8 Randolph-Macon’s first punt 83 yards for a touchdown and never looked back.

Cortland advanced to the Stagg Bowl for the first time. The Red Dragons await the winner of North Central and Wartburg.

The Dragons’ Zac Boyes finished 23 of 30 for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Cole Burgess had game highs of 12 catches, 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Yellow Jackets star quarterback Drew Campanale went out injured after completing 7 of 12 for 38 yards and being intercepted once.

R-MC trailed 42-0 before Cameron Chatmon’s 3-yard run averted the shutout with 7:20 left in the third quarter. Nick Hale’s 2-yard TD run with 3:58 left in the fourth quarter closed the scoring.

FCS

South Dakota State 23, Villanova 12:

Isaiah Davis ran for 192 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown, and top-seeded South Dakota State, the defending national champion, defeated eighth-seeded Villanova in a quarterfinal in Brookings, South Dakota.

That touchdown early in the fourth quarter was the only offensive score by either team going into the wind, which gusted up to 45 miles an hour.

The Jackrabbits (13-0), who won their 27th straight game, will be at home against the winner of No. 4 Idaho and No. 5 Albany in the semifinals next weekend.

The only other touchdown going into the wind was Matthew Durrance’s punt block, scoop and score covering 45 yards in the second quarter that gave South Dakota State a 10-6 lead.

The Wildcats (10-3) had taken the lead on a 25-yard run by Jalen Jackson, but missed the extra point. Matthew Mercurio kicked a field goal late in the second quarter to pull them within 10-9.

Gronowski was 11 of 19 for 101 yards, and the Jackrabbits ran for 242 yards.

North Dakota State 45, South Dakota 17:

Cam Miller had a touchdown by pass and run, Cole Payton rushed for two scores and NDSU rolled over the thirdseeded Coyotes in an indoor quarterfinal in Vermillion, South Dakota.

The Bison (11-3), who have won nine of the past 11 FCS championships, will travel to secondseeded Montana for a semifinal matchup.

The Coyotes, who beat NDSU 24-19 in September, were down 21-0 after the rematch’s first quarter following an 82-yard punt return by Jayden Price. Miller ran 9 yards to cap NDSU’s opening 75-yard drive, and running quarterback Payton rushed for a 43-yard score.

Miller added a 4-yard TD pass to finish an 81-yard drive, and Payton ran 17 yards for a 35-3 halftime lead.

Late Friday

Montana 35, Furman 28: Junior Bergen returned two kicks for scores and Clifton McDowell threw a touchdown pass to Keelan White in overtime to send Montana (12-1) to the FCS semifinals with a home victory over Furman (10-3).

Montana, the second seed, will host and take a nine-game win streak into its semifinal in Missoula against North Dakota State. The Grizzlies, making a record 27th appearance in the FCS playoffs, have won 11 straight at home and improved to 11-0 all time at home in the quarterfinals.