Lamar, Incarnate Word suffer setbacks in first round
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Marcus Weymiller rushed for 128 yards, Trevor Allen ran for 112, and Austin Errthum kicked three field goals as Northern Iowa edged mistake-prone Lamar 16-13 in a first-round Football Championship Subdivision playoff game Saturday.
Errthum kicked field goals in the first, second and fourth quarters, the final one a 35yarder with 13:09 left for the final three-point margin.
Northern Iowa's Eli Dunne threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Rima to tie the game at 13 with two minutes left in the first half.
Lamar scored on a 73-yard pass play from Darrel Colbert to Kirkland Banks on the second play of the game but a botched conversion attempt left the score 6-0. Colbert connected with Case Robison on a 25-yard score later in the first quarter for a 13-3 lead.
But the Cardinals (7-5), making their first FCS playoff appearance, lost two fumbles in the red zone and had two field-goal attempts go wide right, all in the second half. Elvin Martinez's second miss, a 36-yarder, came with 2:50 left in the game, and the Panthers (7-5) were able to run all but 15 seconds off the clock.
MONTANA ST. 35 INCARNATE WORD 14
Troy Andersen ran for a touchdown and threw for another to lead the Bobcats to a win over the Cardinals in the first round of the FCS playoffs at Bozeman, Mont.
His touchdown run was his school-record 20th of the season, while his touchdown pass was just his third.
Montana State (8-4) got a key touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Travis Jonsen scored on a keeper from the 19 to push its lead to 28-14 after a personal foul moved the ball back from the 4-yard-line. Andersen then hit Jonsen from 37 yards out to put the Bobcats up 35-14.
Quarterback Sean Brophy, filling in for the injured Jon Copeland, was making his first start of the season after starting all the games last year for Incarnate Word (6-5).
He finished 22-of-35 passing for 313 yards and two scores.
NICHOLLS ST. 49, SAN DIEGO 30
Chase Fourcade passed for 337 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 82 yards and two more scores to help the Colonels beat the Toreros in the first round of the FCS playoffs at Thibodaux, La.
Nicholls State (9-3) advanced to a second-round matchup at No. 3 seed Eastern Washington next Saturday.
ELSEWHERE
A.J. Hines turned a screen pass into a 71-yard touchdown for the lead, rushed for 175 yards and another score and Duquesne defeated host Towson 31-10 in a relentless downpour to advance to the second round. … Freshman Nathan Walker rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown, helping Wofford beat visiting Elon 19-7 to advance to the second round for the third season in a row. … Daniel Santacaterina threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, and host Southeast Missouri claimed its first FCS playoff victory in program history, scoring all its points in the third quarter in a 28-14 win over Stony Brook. … Ben DiNucci passed for 223 yards and a touchdown, and the James Madison defense clamped down on visiting Delaware for a 20-6 win.