BROOKINGS, S.D. — Taryn Christion threw two scoring passes to Jake Wieneke and both ran for another touchdown, Cade Johnson returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and fifth-seeded South Dakota State defeated the University of New Hampshire 56-14 in the FCS quarterfinals Saturday.
The Jackrabbits (11-2) will play at defending champion and top-seeded James Madison, which has won 25 straight, next weekend.
Christion, Wieneke and Isaac Wallace each ran for a score in the first quarter as South Dakota State bolted to a quick 21-0 advantage.
Wieneke scored untouched from 48 yards on a reverse around the right side.
Christion found Wieneke for a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-0 at the half.
Wallace added a 48-yard TD run late in the third quarter before the Wildcats (9-5) got on the board with a 75-yard scoring play, Trevor Knight hooking up with Kieran Presley. But Johnson quickly wiped that out with his return.
South Dakota State finished with 451 yards with Wieneke having a big day with nine catches for 140 yards – his first 100-yard game of the season and 24th of his career.
Knight passed for 236 yards but was intercepted twice. Presley had seven catches for 133 yards.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 42, WOFFORD 10: Easton Stick threw for three first-half touchdowns and then ran for another in the second half, and second-seeded North Dakota State (12-1) rolled past seventh-seeded Wofford (10-3) at Fargo, North Dakota.
Bruce Anderson also ran for two scores in the first half for the Bison, who will play the winner of Saturday’s late game, Kennesaw State at Sam Houston State, in the semifinals next weekend at home.
Stick completed 9 of 10 passes in the first half for 157 yards with touchdowns to Connor Wentz (48 yards), Seth Wilson (18 yards) and Jeff Illies (4 yards).
The Bison piled up 265 yards and held Wofford to 95 with four first downs, two on fourth-down conversions.
The Terriers got a field goal on their first possession and a touchdown after a fumble recovery gave them a short field.
Stick’s 7-yard run accounted for the only points in the second half.
North Dakota State, which won five straight titles before losing to eventual champion James Madison in the semifinals last year, finished with 261 yards on the ground and 464 yards overall.
While the Bison were seven yards shy of their season average on the ground, they held the Terriers to 134, which was 120 below their average.
Wofford ended up with eight first downs and 177 yards, going 1 of 12 on third downs.
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