S135 Quarterfinals Recap
The second round finished with a few surprises! Let's check out some of the head lines from those matches.
SECOND ROUND RECAP
N. Alabama went against a tough W. Chester team and proved why they are soo good this season in a 41-24 win. They nearly doubled the total yards and put up over 200 yards on the ground with 36 mins TOP.
Texas A&M-Commerce handled business in a dominant defensive performance 52-13 over Valdosta St. TAMC's defense rose to the challenge and made it difficult for VSU QB Adams completing only 35.1% on 37 pass attempts. They had the ball for 40 minutes in this one.
Cheyney started slow but finished strong, defeating W. New Mexico 37-13. They got it done on the ground with RB Lancaster gaining 263 yards on 28 rushes and found pay dirt 3 times.
Kentucky State's magical season is over, Winona St. is the real deal and is victorious 45-31. Rough start for Kentucky St down 17-7 at the half. Winona St. gashed a KSU for 8.9 yards per carry with RB Patterson who touched the ball 22 times. It was a better game in the 2nd half, but KSU still got outscored.
Saginaw Valley State's changes to their offense, brought out their teams full potential. Impressive 47-14 win over Midwestern St., they were in control the entire game. Held to under 200 yards of total offense, MSU could never get in sync. SVSU put up 500 yards of total offense and had the ball for almost 40 minutes.
Jaylien1 is proving to be the right hire at Humboldt St! Delivering one of this year's most impressive upsets, Humboldt St. wins 24-13 over Northern Michigan. If there is a game where it just didn't go right, this is it for Northern Michigan. Humboldt St. did a great job against the pass, holding NMU to them under 40%
Presbyterian is strong and everything has been clicking as they triumph 32-6 over Saint Joseph's. A steady performance where rposborne's team pulled away after the 1st quarter. PC QB Harris went 31/43 (72.1%) for 338 yards and a touchdown.
Ferris St. starts slow but gets back to business, sending Virginia St. home in a 27-10 victory. This was a well fought game and VSU kept it close at the half, down 17-10. FSU was able to get better ball movement through the air and averaged 6.0 yards per catch versus 3.8 with Virginia St.
QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Next round, we had the quarterfinals finish today and we end with the GLIAC sending two representatives to the finals. On the other side, it's going to be
Texas A&M-Commerce (16-0) akua29
VS
North Alabama (15-1) Fazbear05
The first quarter started out close in a 7-7 tie with both teams using long drives to gain control. TAMC opened with a 16 play, 75 yard drive for almost 7 minutes. UNA answered back with their own 12 play, 75 yard drive for nearly 5 minutes. As the game wore on, the drives per score slowly shortened as the stout Texas defense started to contain N. Alabama's offense. UNA managed to put up 21 more points, but Texas defense held them to under 200 total yards while their offense posted over 600 total yards.
Notable Performances
Texas RB Matthew Hall ran for 260 yards on 33 attempts and QB Jack Perez completed 72.7% on 33 attempts in the air.
Texas Defense - Allowed 199 total yards, 5 sacks and a 45% QB completition ratio.
Winona State (15-2) azcowboy1
VS
Cheyney (16-0) waregl72
The first half was fairly even ending at 17-14 with Cheyney leading. It looked like azcowboy1 may be able to pull it out, but the second half went all Cheyney (28-15). Total yards were similar only 2 yards difference apart and the time of possession was the same differing by a couple minutes. The momentum changed in the 3rd quarter when WSU had to punt on all 4 of their series. Most of WSU's scores were from long drives that worked their way down 60+ yards. They lacked the explosiveness and Cheyney was able to eanswer back some fast scores. CUP had 1 for 49 yards, 1 for 74 yards and 1 for 66 yard touchdowns.
Notable Performances
WSU QB Garcia posted 379 yards on 62 attempts (58.1%) and 4 TD's. He was sacked 3 times, 4 throw aways and 1 scramble.
Cheney RB Lancster went 26-167-1 and 9 rec for 64 yards.
Humboldt State (15-1) jaylien1
VS
Saginaw Valley St. (14-1) ojpick
Humboldt State entered the game knocking of a playoff favorite in Northern Michigan. NMU beat SVSU earlier in the season 42-0 when they were a 100% run team. SVSU was ranked #4 best teams when considering starting talent and they decided to open up the offense at the beginning of the tournament.
The game went down as expected and it was a close game all the way through. Both offenses jumped out strong posting multiple scores, but then it became a defensive game as both sides settled down. At the half, it was SVSU up 17-15 and the opportunity to receive the kickoff in the 2nd half. The ball changed hands 4 times, but it was Humboldt that was able to take the lead on a 43 yard field goal by K Derrick Baker. In the 4th quarter, it was SVSU who would make the final go ahead touchdown after a 14 play 82 yard drive.
Notable Performances
SVSU RB Joel Brown 29-110, 4 rec 68 yd 1 td
Ferris State (15-1)
coachoatie
VS
Presbyterian (15-1)
rposborne
Presbyterian has had a great season with a huge win over N. Alabama 23-20 and Ferris St. was flying high after they won their CC over Northern Michigan. Both teams are playing at the top of their game and like the other games, it was very close at the half with Presbyterian leading 24-23. Turnovers would be the difference in the 2nd half as PC had a rough 3rd quarter that put them in the hole quickly. With 5:55 left in the 3rd quarter, PC threw 2 interceptions in a row that FSU answered on with a pair of touchdowns. The deficit was too great and FSU put up another 13-0 in the fourth.
Notable Performances
FSU RB Thomas Fuller 12-93-3, 13 rec 122 yds
FSU Defense - 3 interceptions, 3 sacks, 3 throw aways, 1 scramble.