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Photo GalleryFARGO, N.D. -
John Crockett rushed for a career-high 195 yards and
Brock Jensen tied a school playoff record with three touchdown passes to lead No. 1-ranked North Dakota State to a 52-14 victory over 15th-ranked New Hampshire in the NCAA Division I football semifinals Friday, Dec. 20.
An NDSU playoff record crowd of 18,694 watched the final home game for 24 seniors and 11th-year head coach Craig Bohl as the Bison locked up their third straight trip to the NCAA Division I football championship game Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas, against either Towson or Eastern Washington.
NDSU's 52 points were a school record for the playoffs, surpassing the 51-11 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the 1990 Division II title game when Chris Simdorn threw three TD passes for the Bison.
North Dakota State won its 23rd straight game overall, its 14th straight at home, and improved to 14-0 to tie a school record for victories in a single season. The Bison are one win shy of the longest winning streak in program history, a 24-game run from 1964-66.
New Hampshire (10-5) struck first and early. Steven Thames picked off Jensen on the third play of the game and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
The Bison scored on their fourth possession. Jensen connected on a 50-yard scoring strike down the middle of the field to
Zach Vraa to tie the game 7-7,
Adam Keller hit a 32-yard field goal to go ahead, and the Bison scored 52 unanswered points.
NDSU's
Derrick Lang made his first career touchdown catch from seven yards out,
Leevon Perry scored his first points on a seven-yard fumble recovery after a dropped snap, and
Kevin Vaadeland caught a 20-yard TD pass over the middle to make it 31-7 before halftime.
Crockett carried 13 times and averaged 15.0 yards per carry, including a 24-yard run and season-long 40-yard burst to set up Lang's touchdown catch. Crockett went a career-long 71 yards on the first play after a
Christian Dudzik interception to set up a 1-yard run by Jensen two plays later and the Bison led 38-7 early in the third quarter.
UNH, which came into the game averaging 450 yards of total offense, managed just 184 total yards, the fewest by a Bison opponent in the last six games. Quarterback Sean Goldrich was 13 of 26 passing for 117 yards. Leading rusher Nico Steriti, averaging 72.9 yards per game, got seven yards on six carries.
Linebacker
Carlton Littlejohn had a 10 tackles and three pass breakups to lead the Bison defense and
Bryan Shepherd added six tackles and a 36-yard interception return.
AJ Van Voorhis tied a career-high with five tackles.