MORE MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL

North Dakota State 56, Northern Iowa 31

CEDAR CITY, IOWA

Easton Stick had two scoring runs and a touchdown pass and North Dakota State scored 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a rout with a thumping of Northern Iowa. The Bison (5-0, 2-0) trailed the 22nd-ranked Panthers (2-3, 1-1) by three points entering the fourth quarter. Stick started the scoring burst with a 75-yard strike to Bruce Anderson on the first play of a drive just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 35-31 lead. Stick completed just nine passes for 179 yards, but four of them went for TDs. He added 35 yards rushing. Eli Dunne passed for 362 yards and three TDs for the Panthers.

Illinois State 33, Western Illinois 16

NORMAL, ILL.

Luther Kirk returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Illinois State pulled away for a victory over Western Illinois. Kirk’s interception return was sandwiched around two James Robinson TD runs in the final quarter as the Redbirds (4-1, 1-1) erased a 16-12 deficit. Sean McGuire had two TD passes in the first half for the Leathernecks (2-3, 1-1) — a 16-yarder to Tony Tate and a 35-yarder to Steve McShane with 60 seconds left in the second quarter for a 13-12 halftime lead. Western Illinois upped its advantage to four points on Sam Crosa’s 21-yard third-quarter field goal. But the fourth quarter was all Illinois State. McGuire completed just 14 of 35 for 220 yards. Robinson finished with 145 yards rushing and three TDs on 29 carries.

South Dakota 35, Missouri State 28

VERMILLION, S.D.

Austin Simmons threw a go-ahead TD pass to Levi Falck early in the fourth quarter and South Dakota had a late goal-line stand to hold off Missouri State. The Coyotes (3-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) were trailing 28-27 when Simmons hit Falck from 40 yards out and then Simmons connected with Dakarai Allen for the 2-point conversion to cap the scoring. The Bears (3-2, 1-1) drove to the 1 with a chance to tie, but Donovan Daniels ran for no gain on a third-and-goal and was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on fourth with 2:22 left in the game. Simmons finished 28 of 38 for 337 yards with one touchdown. Peyton Huslig passed for 283 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns for Missouri State.

South Dakota State 54, Indiana State 51, OT

BROOKINGS, S.D.

Isaac Wallace scored on a two-yard plunge in overtime to give South Dakota State a victory over Indiana State. The Sycamores came back from 10 points down with three minutes to play to tie the game and took the lead on Jerry Nunez’s 20-yard field goal in overtime. Ja’Quan Keys raced 57 yards for a touchdown with 2:08 to play to get Indiana State within three, 48-45. Taryn Christion threw five touchdown passes to lead South Dakota State, completing 20 of 31 attempts for 229 yards. The Jackrabbits’ Pierre Strong Jr. finished with with 95 yards on six carries. Boyle finished 19 of 29 for 276 yards passing and two touchdowns. Keys had 19 carries for 159 yards rushing.

Associated Press