W. Illinois wins on late goal-line stand

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Western Illinois’ Dre Gibbs rushed for 101 yards and the decisive touchdown, and the Leatherneck defense made a goal-line stand in the closing seconds to defeat Sam Houston State 35-28 on Thursday.

Sam Houston drove to the 1 with 21 second to go, but the Leathernecks stopped the Bearkats on three straight plays. Blake Joseph’s pass from the 3 for Jason Madkins in the end zone with no time remaining after a penalty fell short.

Chris Brown gave Sam Houston a 28-21 lead with a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third.

Leatherneck quarterback Matt Barr, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 437 yards, hit Lito Senatus for a 30-yard touchdown to tie the game 28-28 with 3:55 to go in the third.

Iowa St. 34, N.Dakota St. 17

AMES, Iowa — Austen Arnaud threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, both to Marquis Hamilton, and Iowa State made coach Paul Rhoads a winner in his debut.

Alexander Robinson added 83 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Cyclones (1-0), who snapped a 10-game losing streak.

North Dakota State (0-1) got as close as 24-17 midway through the third quarter. Pat Paschall rushed for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown for North Dakota State.

E. Illinois 31, Illinois St. 6

CHARLESTON, Ill. — Jake Christensen fired three touchdown passes to pace Eastern Illinois over Illinois State.

Christensen connected on 14 of 22 passes for 167 yards. Mon Williams rushed 16 times for 87 yards and a touchdown for Eastern Illinois, which led 14-0 at intermission and then scored on its opening drive of the second half to pull away.

Drew Kiel passed 3 yards to Ben Graves for the Redbirds’ only score. Kiel finished 20 of 22 for 140 yards. Geno Blow ran 13 times for 37 yards for Illinois State.