FCS playoffs roundup: There will be an all-Montana semifinal in the FCS playoffs

MISSOULA, Mont. — The No. 3-seeded Montana Grizzlies proved too much to handle on Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the No. 11-seeded South Dakota Coyotes 52-22 in the FCS playoff quarterfinals at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Griz used the home crowd to their advantage in an all-around dominant performance in all three phases of the game in front of a home crowd of 22,750 fans. The win sets up an all-Montana semifinal in the FCS playoffs as the Griz will go to face No. 2 Montana State on Dec. 20 for a trip to the national championship.

Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat had 305 yards and three passing scores, as Michael Wortham had 11 catches for 201 yards and two receiving touchdowns, as well as 43 rushing yards and a score.

All told, the Coyotes had 63 plays on offense for 351 total yards, but the 10 offensive penalties seemed to be a key difference in finding any consistency.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State ran for 227 yards as the Bobcats dominated the third-ranked rush defense in the country en route to beating Stephen F. Austin 44-28 on Friday to advance to the FCS playoff semifinals.

Adam Jones finished with 117 yards and Julius Davis had 96 on the ground for Montana State, which jumped out to a 24-0 lead. Justin Lamson had 246 passing yards for the Bobcats.

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Villanova overcame a 14-0 deficit as the No. 12 Wildcats beat fourth-seeded Tarleton State 26-21 on Saturday.

It is the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2010 that ‘Nova advanced to the semifinals. The Wildcats held Tarleton State to 56 yards rushing and 266 total yards while racking up 426 overall on their own.

Ja’briel Mace had a 47-yard run to trim Tarleton State’s lead to 21-19 in the third quarter and Braden Reed hauled in an 11-yard TD pass in the fourth to complete the comeback.

DAVIS, Calif. — Victor Dawson carried 29 times for 148 yards and Tommy Rittenhouse threw a 93-yard TD pass as Illinois State beat UC-Davis 42-31 on Saturday, one week after the Redbirds upset North Dakota State in Fargo.

Rittenhouse finished 15 of 20 for 266 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Daniel Sobkowicz had six receptions for 150 yards and two scores.

Davis quarterback Caden Pinnick was 24 of 41 for 402 yards with three touchdowns and a pick.

Trey Houchin of the Mitchell Republic contributed to this report.

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