PHILADELPHIA — Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse threw two touchdown passes to Daniel Sobkowicz, and Victor Dawson rushed for 155 yards and a score to lead the unseeded Redbirds to a 30-14 victory over No. 12 Villanova in a Football Championship Subdivision semifinal Saturday night at Villanova Stadium.
The Redbirds (12-4) put an emphatic end to the Wildcats’ 11-game winning streak that started in the regular season and continued into the 24-team playoffs. Illinois State will play No. 2 Montana State in the title game on Jan. 5 at Vanderbilt University’s FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.
Illinois State lost 37-7 to Southern Illinois to close the regular season before pulling off road wins over No. 16 seed Southeastern Louisiana, No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 8 UC Davis and the Wildcats (12-3) to reach the national championship game.
Rittenhouse connected with Sobkowicz on a 53-yard past late in the first quarter for the game’s first points.
Dawson scored on a 1-yard run at the end of a 13-play drive — aided by three penalties against the Wildcats — to build a two-score lead in the second quarter. Rittenhouse threw a short pass on first down that Seth Glatz turned into a 68-yard gain, then hit Sobkowicz two plays later for an 8-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead at halftime.
Michael Cosentino did all the Redbirds’ scoring in the second half with two third-quarter field goals and another in the fourth.
Rittenhouse completed 18 of 38 passes for 251 yards with an interception. Sobkowicz had seven receptions for 97 yards, and Dawson did his damage on 34 carries.
Pat McQuaide had 199 yards on 13-for-30 passing for Villanova, including a 16-yard touchdown to Antonio Johnson with 3:18 remaining, and Jack Barnum kicked two field goals for the Wildcats.
Illinois State gets its second shot at an FCS national title. The Redbirds were runners-up in 2014, losing 29-27 to North Dakota State as the Bison won their fourth of five straight championships.
Villanova was also aiming for what would have been its second appearance in the FCS final. The Wildcats beat Montana 23-21 in 2009, when the title game was played at Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium.
No. 2 Montana State 48, No. 3 Montana 23
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State quarterback Justin Lamson accounted for four touchdowns, Adam Jones rushed for 131 yards and a pair of scores, and the Bobcats beat visiting Montana in an FCS semifinal.
Next up for Montana State (13-2) is the program’s fourth appearance in the title game and the third in coach Brett Vigen’s five seasons. The Bobcats, who won the 1984 national championship, lost to North Dakota State in the title games for the 2021 and 2024 seasons.
Bryce Grebe returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown that capped the scoring with 7:01 to play.
Lamson was 13-of-19 passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for touchdowns of 4 and 7 yards. Taco Dowler had five receptions for 125 yards, which included an 87-yard touchdown.
Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat was 27-of-42 passing for 251 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Taco Dowler’s twin brother Caden added a 5-yard touchdown run. Eli Gillman rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for the Grizzlies (13-2).
Montana State defensive back Caden Dowler, the Big Sky Conference’s defensive player of the year, left the game in the first quarter due to an apparent wrist injury. Dowler entered Saturday with six interceptions — two of which he returned for touchdowns — in his past five games.
Grizzlies wide receiver Brooks Davis, tight end Evan Shafer and defensive lineman Jereb Ramos left the game due to injury and did not return. Micah Harper was ejected early in the second quarter after he was called for targeting.
A crowd of 25,437 jammed into Bobcat Stadium to make the 125th meeting between the programs — but the first in the playoffs — arguably the biggest sporting event in state history. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 75-45-5, but Montana State has won three straight meetings, including 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 to close the regular season and clinch the Big Sky title, and eight of the past 10.
NCAA DIVISION II
Ferris State 42, Harding 21
MCKINNEY, Texas — Will Bower threw for two touchdowns and rushed for three more as Ferris State won its fourth NCAA Division II national champion in the past five years.
The Bulldogs, a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference program from Big Rapids, Michigan, were ranked first in the AFCA coaches’ poll. They conclude their season at 16-0 and stretch their winning streak to 30 consecutive games, last losing on Aug. 31, 2024.
Bower scored two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to put the Bulldogs up 14-0, then threw for another with just more than two minutes remaining in the half. Ferris State led 21-14 at the break.
Chase Carter racked up 111 rushing yards on seven carries, and he broke free for a 64-yard touchdown to start the third quarter. The Bulldogs ran for 363 yards.
Bower scored his third rushing touchdown of the day and threw his second touchdown pass to Carson Gulker to put the game on ice and secure the repeat for the Bulldogs.
Bower finished 10-of-16 passing for 177 yards, and he rushed for 39 yards on five carries.
Andrew Miller had 70 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries for the second-ranked Bisons (15-1), a Great American Conference program from Searcy, Arkansas.
Ferris State is now tied for the second-most D-II national championships with four in all, joining Grand Valley State and Valdosta State. Northwest Missouri leads with six titles.
NAIA
Grand View (Iowa) 22, Keiser (Florida) 16
FORT WORTH, Texas — Dalten Van Pelt rushed for 144 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown, Jackson Waring threw a tiebreaking touchdown pass, and Grand View beat Keiser to win its second straight NAIA championship and cap a 14-0 season.
Keiser, which lost 35-7 to Grand View in last year’s title game, finished this season 12-1.
In their only other meeting, Keiser, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beat Grand View, from Des Moines, Iowa, in a semifinal in 2022 before losing in the championship game.
Tied at 13 in the fourth quarter Saturday, Waring, a two-time NAIA player of the year, threw a 40-yard pass to Corey Phillips as the Vikings regained the lead in the fourth quarter. Cory Wood later extended the lead with his third field goal of the game.
Dorian Hall kicked his third field goal with two seconds left, and Keiser recovered the onside kick before an incomplete pass ended the game.
The Seahawks led 3-0 after the first quarter, then the Vikings responded with two field goals and Van Pelt’s long run with 22 seconds left in the first half, for a 13-3 lead.
Keiser tied the game in the third quarter on Shea Spencer’s 7-yard pass to Maurico Porcha and a field goal.
Grand View’s Waring passed for 144 yards.
Keiser’s Spencer threw for 290 yards, Porcha had 114 receiving yards and Dallas Desouza totaled 102.