COLLEGE PLAYOFFS

North Dakota St. rolls into semifinals

North Dakota State running back John Crockett (23) eludes Coastal Carolina defender Dominique Whiteside during an NCAA college football game in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Kevin Cederstrom)
North Dakota State running back John Crockett (23) eludes Coastal Carolina defender Dominique Whiteside during an NCAA college football game in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Kevin Cederstrom)

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State is losing its head coach, but it hasn’t lost its dominance.

Less than one week after Craig Bohl said he was leaving the Bison to coach Wyoming, top-seeded NDSU crushed No. 11 Coastal Carolina 48-14 in an FCS quarterfinal game Saturday.

Sam Ojuri rushed for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns and Brock Jensen completed 14 of 21 passes for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns as the two-time defending national champion Bison won their 22nd consecutive game. Jensen also ran for two touchdowns.

The Bison will host the winner of Southeastern Louisiana and New Hampshire in the semifinals Friday.

Bohl accepted the Wyoming job after 11 years and more than 100 victories at NDSU. He has said he expects most of his assistant coaches to follow him to Laramie. NDSU players and administration agreed to have Bohl and his staff coach the Bison until season’s end.

“We have 24 seniors on this team,” Bohl said. “There is not a lot that gets them rattled or off course.”

The Bison (13-0) outgained the Chanticleers 624-281. Coastal Carolina (12-3) entered the game averaging 43 points and 491 yards of offense.

It was clear from the start Bohl’s imminent departure would not affect the Bison. NDSU had a 219-29 edge in total yards and led 17-0 after the first quarter. The Bison led 31-0 before Lorenzo Taliaferro’s 3-yard touchdown run with 2:13 remaining in the second quarter got the Chanticleers on the board.

In other FCS games Saturday, Quincy Forte rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns and Eastern Washington pulled away from Jacksonville State in the second half for a 35-24 victory in the quarterfinals. Freshman linebacker Albert Havili returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to break open the game for third-seeded Eastern Washington (12-2). Jacksonville State (11-4) twice took a one-touchdown lead in the first half but lost quarterback Eli Jenkins to a knee injury just before halftime and managed a field goal the rest of the way behind backup Max Shortell.... Quarterback Sean Goldrich ran for a career-high 99 yards and three touchdowns, the last with 47 seconds left, and New Hampshire defeated Southeastern Louisiana 20-17. The victory put New Hampshire (10-4) into the national semifinals for the first time. Bryan Bennett was 25 of 46 for 269 yards and a touchdown for Southeastern (11-3), which saw its school-record 10-game winning streak snapped.

DIVISION II Justice leads Lenoir-Rhyne

HICKORY, N.C. - Josh Justice carried Lenoir-Rhyne to its first NCAA Division II championship game.

Justice rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns, and Lenoir-Rhyne advanced to the title game by beating West Chester 42-14 on Saturday.

“None of this has sunk in for any of us yet,” Coach Mike Houston said.

Isaiah Whitaker added two touchdown runs and Michael Patrick had a late scoring run for the option-oriented Bears (13-1), who scored the final 30 points after falling behind 14-12, rushed for 451 yards and didn’t attempt a pass in rainy, muddy conditions.

“No turnovers. What a phenomenal job of our quarterback, our fullbacks of taking care of the football,” Houston said. “The key to the game was us not turning the ball over, able to control the line of scrimmage, drive the football and make them defend us and what just was a great job by our offensive line and Josh Justice.”

Justice scored on runs of4, 2 and 1 yard to help the Bears earn their first Division II title-game appearance. It’s their first national championship game of any kind since the 1962 team lost to Central Oklahoma State in the NAIA final.

Sean McCartney completed 12 of 22 passes for 135 yards with 2 touchdowns with 1 interception for West Chester (13-2).

The Golden Rams reached the semifinals for just the second time in school history but were denied their first berth in the championship game.

In another Division II game Saturday, Northwest Missouri State committed two first-half turnovers, but the Grand Valley State Lakers were unable to utilize them and the Bearcats pulled away late in the second half for a 27-13 victory before 4,096 at Bearcat Stadium in Maryville, Mo. Grand Valley, after an early 6-0 lead, could only manage a third-quarter touchdown in its first semifinal appearance since 2009. The Lakers, who have won eight in a row, finished the season 12-3.

DIVISION III Mount Union advances

ALLIANCE, Ohio - A lot of numbers were staring Mount Union in the face Saturday - 16 trips to the Stagg Bowl, 19 consecutive Division III semifinal appearances, 28 victories in a row, 77 consecutive home victories.

But the only number with any significance for the Purple Raiders was 41.

With 1:38 remaining in the game, Mount Union’s Kevin Burke led the offense on a game-winning scoring drivein the snow to give the Purple Raiders the 41-40 victory over North Central (Ill.) in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs.

Burke completed 12 of 19 passes for 163 yards and 1 touchdown, but he burned North Central (13-1) with his feet, running for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns on 28 carries.

The Raiders (14-0) trailed 40-35 when they took the field late in the fourth following a 1-yard touchdown run from Matt Randolph, who finished the day with 20 carries for 68 yards and 3 scores.

North Central also was led by Spencer Stanek, who completed 19 of 37 passes for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns and had another 61 yards rushing on 11 attempts.

In another Division III game Saturday, Jordan Ratliffe ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Behrendt passed for 197 yards to lead Wisconsin-Whitewater to a 16-15 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Warhawks (14-0) rallied from a 12-0 first-half deficit to reach the national championship game for the eighth time in the past nine years. Wis.-Whitewater held the Crusaders (13-1) to 241 yards and 34 points below their scoring average. Ratliffe’s 3-yard touchdown run just before halftime cut Wis.-Whitewater’s gap to 12-7, and his 5-yard score midway through the third quarter gave the Warhawks the lead for good.

Playoffs glance FOOTBALL CHAMP. SUBDIVISION QUARTERFINALS Friday’s game Towson 49, Eastern Illinois 39 Saturday’s games North Dakota State 48, Coastal Carolina 14 E. Washington 35, Jacksonville State 24 New Hampshire 20, SE Louisiana 17 SEMIFINALS Friday, Dec. 20-Saturday, Dec. 21 Towson (12-2) vs. Eastern Washington (12-2) N. Dakota St. (13-0) vs. New Hampshire (10-4) DIVISION II SEMIFINALS Saturday’s games Lenoir-Rhyne 42, West Chester 14 NW Missouri State 27, Grand Valley State 13 CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday, Dec. 21 At Braly Municipal Stadium, Florence, Ala.

Lenoir-Rhyne (13-1) vs. NW Missouri State (14-0), 11 a.m.

DIVISION III SEMIFINALS Saturday’s games Mount Union 41, North Central (Ill.) 40 Wis.-Whitewater 16, Mary Hardin-Baylor 15 AMOS ALONZO STAGG BOWL Friday, Dec. 20 At Salem Stadium, Salem, Va.

Mount Union (14-0) vs. Wis.-Whitewater (14-0), 6 p.m.

Sports, Pages 31 on 12/15/2013

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