NCAA DIVISION I-AA Southern Illinois advances

Cal Poly beat Montana for the first time in 11 tries.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Arkee Whitlock ran for three touchdowns Saturday and Southern Illinois' defense kept Eastern Illinois out of the end zone as the Salukis took a 21-6 win in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
Southern Illinois (9-3) moves on to face Appalachian State (9-3) in the second round next Saturday.
The Salukis are making their third straight appearance in the playoffs, and Saturday's outcome was strikingly different from a year ago when they were ranked No. 1 and then upset in the opening round by Eastern Washington.
Whitlock scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter to cap a 70-yard drive after Eastern Illinois' Zach Yates opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal.
Whitlock scored from 5 yards out in the third quarter, capping a 76-yard march.
Tyler Wilke's 34-yard field goal early in the fourth cut the Salukis' lead to 14-6. But Whitlock added a 3-yard scoring run with 5:33 to go that capped a short 26-yard drive after Eastern had thrown an incomplete fourth-down pass on a fake punt.
Whitlock finished with 89 yards rushing on 23 carries for the Salukis. Vincent Webb gained 80 yards on 17 carries to lead Eastern, which finished 9-3.
New Hampshire 55, Colgate 21
DURHAM, N.H. -- Ricky Santos and David Ball, New Hampshire's touchdown twosome, combined for three scores and John McCoy ran for three more as the No. 1 Wildcats routed Colgate.
New Hampshire, 11-1, plays at home in the quarterfinals next Saturday against the winner of Eastern Washington and Northern Iowa.
Santos, a sophomore who threw for 33 touchdowns this season and 64 in two years, hooked up with Ball on scoring plays of 27 and 48 yards as the Wildcats surged to a 34-0 halftime lead. They combined on one other score from 18 yards in the fourth quarter to make it 55-14.
Santos also ran 8 yards for a score on the opening drive of the third quarter to end any hopes of a comeback by Colgate, 8-4, the Patriot League champion.
Santos, like Ball a candidate for the 1-AA player of the year, finished with 18 completions in 27 attempts for 252 yards and one interception. He also ran for a career-high 176 yards on 14 carries.
Ball's 18 touchdown receptions during the regular season led Division 1-AA, and he holds the school record for scores, yards receiving and catches.
Furman 14, Nicholls State 12
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ingle Martin overcame a sluggish passing game and Brandon Mays had 61 yards rushing to lead Furman.
The Paladins (10-2) defense stopped the Colonels (6-4) on fourth down on their own 39 with about five minutes remaining, and then drove deep into Nicholls State territory as the clock ran out.
The Paladins will face the winner of Hampton-Richmond.
Furman, which has been to the playoffs six of the past seven seasons, was sluggish from the start. But the Paladins scored on their opening possession of the third quarter to go ahead 14-6. Using a combination of five rushers led by Mays' 18 yards, Martin scored from the 1 with 8:06 remaining. Martin finished 5-of-12 for 68 yards and one interception.
Cal Poly 35, Montana 21
MISSOULA, Mont. -- James Noble rushed for 188 yards and a touchdown in each quarter to lead Cal Poly.
The No. 10 Mustangs (9-3) beat No. 9 Montana (8-4) for the first time in 11 tries and avenged a 36-27 loss to the Grizzlies on Oct. 22.
Noble, a freshman, had touchdown runs of 3, 4, 5 and 35 yards for Cal Poly, which advances to a second-round game against the winner of the Georgia Southern-Texas State game.
Matt Brennan passed for 130 yards and a 38-yard touchdown to Ramses Barden with 1:18 left in the half to give Cal Poly a 21-14 lead.
Lex Hilliard rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns and turned a shovel pass into a 66-yard score for Montana, when ended its season with two straight losses.
Cole Bergquist passed for 167 yards, but was sacked seven times, three times by Chris Gocong and twice by Chris White.