Bison Football overcomes slow start, rolls Abilene Christian in FCS Playoffs
Steve Hallstrom
Special to The Farmer
There were a few nervous moments, but in the end Bison fans were able to relax and celebrate a hard fought win in the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
Despite a slow start and 14-point deficit with 10 minutes to go in the first half, the NDSU football team roared back and flew past Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon 51-31, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with 7th-seeded Mercer.
NDSU took the opening kick and marched down the field to the ACU 3 yard line. On 4th down, coach Tim Polasek opted for a field goal instead of an offensive play, and the boot was good for a 3-0 lead.
But 15th-seeded ACU responded with a 75-yard drive and capped it off with a 13 yard touchdown pass from star quarterback Maverick McIvor and the Wildcats had the attention of everyone in the Fargodome with a 7-3 lead.
NDSU was unable to do much with the ensuing possession and punted back to ACU. The drive started at the Wildcats 10 yard line with 4 seconds to play in the first quarter and if any of the fans thought the Wildcats were content just to seek a modest gain to close the quarter, they would have been wrong.-Running back Sam Hicks took a handoff and sprinted 90 yards through the Bison defense and a stunned Fargodome crowd was looking up at a scoreboard that said 17-3 in favor of Abilene Christian heading to the second quarter.
The Bison needed a spark, and they got one on the ensuing kickoff when freshman Jackson Williams took the kick 5 yards deep in his end zone and dashed through the ACU kick coverage for a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown (that actually covered 105 yards). Griffin Crosa kicked his second of three field goals, and RaJa Nelson caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cam Miller to put the Bison ahead 20-17 before halftime.
Bison fans were breathing easier but the game was still in doubt. McIvor came in as a top-5 FCS quarterback and the Bison knew he was not done fighting. But the Bison defense regained its footing while the offense kicked into another gear. Miller ran the ball in for a 1-yard score to open the 3rd quarter, then connected on two more TD passes in the third, a 30-yard strike to TK Marshall down the right sideline and a 36-yarder to Bryce Lance that beat the Wildcats deep.
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