Bison Crush Richmond, Headed Back to Frisco

King Frazier rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns as North Dakota State advanced to its fifth straight NCAA Division I football championship game with a 33-7 victory over Richmond in the FCS semifinals Friday, Dec. 18, before a crowd of 18,105 at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.

North Dakota State’s defense held its opponent to a season-low yardage total for the third straight game.  Nick DeLuca made six tackles, Tre Dempsey and CJ Smith each intercepted passes, and the Bison had five pass breakups and five quarterback hurries in holding Richmond to 209 yards.

The Bison (12-2) got a 31-yard return from freshman Bruce Anderson on the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards in nine plays capped by Frazier’s two-yard run for a 6-0 lead.

Chase Morlock caught a 27-yard touchdown pass at the end of the first quarter, Zach Vraa hauled in a 12-yard touchdown, and Eric Perkins scored on an 88-yard punt return to give NDSU a 26-0 lead by halftime.

Richmond (10-4) got its only points on a 55-yard pass from quarterback Kyle Lauletta to Garrett Hudson early in the third quarter.  Lauletta finished 12 of 26 passing for 171 yards for the Spiders, who had just 38 yards on the ground.

Frazier scored on another 2-yard run with 6:11 left to close a methodical 18-play, 87-yard drive that consumed more than 10 minutes of the third and fourth quarters.

North Dakota State, the No. 3 overall seed in the playoffs, will play either Sam Houston State or No. 1 seed Jacksonville State in the championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Courtesy NDSU Athletics