South Dakota St. tops S. Illinois 31-26 in FCS quarterfinals

Updated May. 3, 2021 12:22 a.m. ET

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BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Mark Gronowski threw two touchdown passes to Jadon Janke and ran 67 yards for the go-ahead score to help South Dakota State rally from a 13-point deficit and beat Southern Illinois 31-26 on Sunday night in the FCS playoffs.

Top-seeded South Dakota State (7-1), which No. 3 in the STATS FCS poll, will host fifth-ranked Delaware in the semifinals Saturday.

Nico Gualdoni made a 33-yard field goal to give Southern Illinois (6-4) a 20-7 lead with 22 seconds left in the second quarter, but the Jackrabbits scored the next 24 points to take the lead for good.

Isaiah Davis

Janke, whose 23-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter opened the scoring, caught a 26-yard TD pass midway through the third to trim SDSU's deficit to 20-17.

The Salukis were stopped at the 1 on a fourth-and-goal play on their ensuing drive before Gronowski pulled the handoff on a zone-read play and raced down the left sideline to put the Jackrabbits in front early in the fourth. Davis scored on a 4-yard run that made it 31-20 with 7:11 to play.

Landon Lenoir had six receptions for 129 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown, for SIU.

Gronowski finished 9 of 16 for 183 yards and had 142 yards rushing on 13 carries.

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