MISSOULA, Mont. — Chase Reynolds rushed for 233 yards and two second-half touchdowns Saturday to lead Montana to a 31-13 win over Texas State in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
No. 23 Texas State (8-5) jumped out to a 10-0 lead before fifth-ranked and fourth-seeded Montana (12-1) scored on its final possession of the first half and its first two possessions of the second half to pull away.
Cole Bergquist passed for 177 yards and Montana's first score, a 14-yard touchdown pass to Marc Mariani with 16 seconds left in the half. Bergquist scored on a 21-yard run with 11:47 left in the third quarter to give the Griz the lead for good.
Bradley George passed for 259 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Luke with 4:33 left in the first quarter, to give Texas State a 10-0 lead.
Montana meets the winner of the Cal Poly-Weber State game next week.
APPALACHAIN ST. 37, S. CAROLINA ST. 21: At Boone, N.C., Armanti Edwards passed for a school record 433 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Appalachian State to a 37-21 victory against South Carolina State on Saturday in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The Mountaineers (11-2), three-time reigning Subdivision champions who were unbeaten in the Southern Conference this season, notched their first 400-yard passing game during the postseason in school history.
RICHMOND 38, E. KENTUCKY 10: At Richmond, Eric Ward threw for 245 yards, Tre Gray had a pair of touchdown receptions and Richmond took advantage of four turnovers to defeat Eastern Kentucky 38-10 in the first round of the Football Championship Series playoffs on Saturday. The Spiders (10-3), who have won six consecutive games, advanced to play at Appalachian State in the quarterfinals next Saturday. The Colonels (8-4) had a seven-game winning streak snapped and dropped their 13th straight non-conference road game. Ward was 16 of 23, completing seven passes to Gray for 87 yards. Kevin Grayson caught five passes for 107 yards. Richmond's Josh Vaughan rushed for 90 yards on 23 carries. The Spiders broke a 10-10 halftime tie by scoring on their first four possessions of the second half.
VILLANOVA 55, COLGATE 28: At Villanova, Matt Szczur returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a score and added two more TDs as Villanova cruised to a 55-28 victory over Colgate in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday. Jordan Scott scored three touchdowns for Patriot League champion Colgate (9-3), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped. It was Colgate's first loss since falling to Furman 42-21 on Sept. 13.
NEW HAMPSHIRE 29, S. ILLINOIS 20: At Carbondale, Ill., R.J. Toman threw for 257 yards as No. 10 New Hampshire defeated No. 9 Southern Illinois 29-20 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. New Hampshire defensive back John Clements returned a blocked SIU punt 26 yards to put New Hampshire up 26-13 heading into the final quarter. SIU quarterback Chris Dieker answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Haruff to come within a score, but kicker Tom Bishop iced the game with a 32-yard field goal, his fifth on the day.
JAMES MADISON 38, WOFFORD 35: At Harrisonburg, Va., Rodney Landers passed for three touchdowns and rushed for 166 yards and another score to lead James Madison to a 38-35 victory over Wofford in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on Saturday. Landers scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard run with 3:21 remaining in the game after throwing scoring passes of 15, 27 and 23 yards as the Dukes (11-1) built a 28-14 halftime lead. James Madison advanced to play Villanova (10-2) in the quarterfinals next Saturday. Wofford (9-3) kept pace with the Dukes behind Mike Rucker, who had 11 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown; Ben Widmyer, who rushed for 98 yards, and Dane Romero, who had 25 carries for 87 yards and four touchdowns.
N. IOWA 40, MAINE 15: At Cedar Falls, Iowa, Pat Grace threw two long touchdown passes to Jarred Herring to spark a second-quarter burst that carried Northern Iowa to a 40-15 victory over Maine on Saturday in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. Derrick Law ran for two touchdowns and Corey Lewis became Northern Iowa's career rushing leader while also scoring a TD for the third-seeded Panthers (11-2), who improved to 9-0 in first-round playoff games in the UNI-Dome.