FARGO, N.D. – Kobe Johnson rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns and Dawson Weber intercepted two passes to lift No. 3 seed North Dakota State to a 35-32 win over seventh-seeded Incarnate Word in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on Friday, Dec. 16, before a crowd of 12,569 at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
Weber’s second interception with 1:13 left in the game sealed North Dakota State’s 10th trip in 12 years to Frisco, Texas, for the FCS national championship game, where the Bison (12-2) will play either No. 4 seed Montana State or No. 1 seed South Dakota State on Sunday, Jan. 8.
Incarnate Word (12-2) jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter, but NDSU took a 17-16 lead before halftime with a 27-yard Griffin Crosa field goal, Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown run and Cam Miller’s 2-yard TD run. Johnson’s 49-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the Bison their biggest lead of the night, 24-16.
UIW responded with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by quarterback Lindsay Scott’s 1-yard run,a nd Scott added another 1-yard TD run on the Cardinals’ next drive to give UIW a 29-24 lead.
The teams traded field goals with Crosa connecting from a career-long 47 yards and UIW’s Carson Mohr converting a 41-yarder to keep the Cardinals ahead 32-27 with 9:38 to play.
Johnson’s 31-yard touchdown run put NDSU ahead with 8:11 left, and wide receiver Braylon Henderson tossed a two-point conversion pass to tight end Joe Stoffel for a 35-32 lead.
Johnson averaged 9.1 yards on 15 carries for the Bison and Miller finished with a career-high 18 carries and 132 yards on the ground. North Dakota State rushed for 328 yards and averaged 6.8 yards on 48 carries.
Scott accounted for 362 of Incarnate Word’s 539 total yards. He went 30 of 46 passing for 282 yards and carried 21 times for 80 yards. UIW’s Marcus Cooper had 20 carries for 112 yards and Taylor Grimes made seven receptions for 77 yards.
Safety Michael Tutsie and linebacker James Kaczor each made 13 tackles to lead the Bison defense, defensive end Spencer Waege had three tackles for loss including a sack and one forced fumble, and cornerback Destin Talbert had two pass breakups.
UIW linebacker Isaiah Paul made a game-high 14 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and safety Kaleb Culp added 11 tackles for the Cardinals.
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