FCS Championship: North Dakota State dethrones James Madison to reclaim title

Let the green and gold reign!
#FCSChampionship pic.twitter.com/aE8PwIK9FH

— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) January 6, 2018

North Dakota State staved off a late scoring threat by James Madison, reclaiming the FCS championship by avenging last year's semifinal loss to the Dukes with a 17-13 victory Saturday at Frisco, Texas.

James Madison's 26-game win streak -- the longest among all three divisions of college football -- was snapped. North Dakota State (14-1) won the title five straight years from 2011-15 before the Dukes (14-1) captured the championship last year.

The Bison survived after James Madison's Simeyon Robinson blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt by Cam Peterson with 4:37 left in regulation.

The Dukes started the drive at their 27-yard line after the block. After quarterback Bryan Schor ran 17 yards for a first down on the first series, James Madison converted on a fourth-and-9 play in which punter Harry O'Kelly ran the fake 24 yards to the North Dakota State 29 with 2:24 left.

The Dukes could not convert on a fourth-and-16 play with 1:10 remaining at the Bison 25. Schor was pressured to his right and heaved a high pass to the end zone that was batted down by North Dakota State defenders at the goal line.

The game ended with quarterback Easton Stick running behind the line, allowing the last four seconds to tick off on a fourth-and-1 play at the Bison 34-yard line. Stick was an effective 13 of 20 for 130 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

James Madison could not overcome North Dakota State's defense -- totaling only 241 yards -- and a season-high three turnovers that resulted in 10 points for the Bison.

North Dakota State looked like it would go into halftime with a 17-3 lead after Peterson made a 32-yard field goal with 39 seconds left in the first half. The field goal came after James Madison receiver Riley Stapleton fumbled the ball away on a 27-yard pass play.

Schor engineered a 69-yard drive in 33 seconds, however, to set up Ethan Ratke's 21-yard field goal with three seconds left to cut the lead to 17-6.

The field goal was set up after Schor completed three passes for 54 yards before North Dakota State's Dawson Weber was flagged for a pass interference call that put the ball at the 5-yard line with six seconds remaining in the half.

North Dakota State was forced to punt on its first possession of the second half and D'Angelo Amos made a 33-yard return to help set up a touchdown. The eight-play possession culminated on Marcus Marshall scoring on a 1-yard run with 9:26 left in the third quarter, trimming the lead to 17-13.

The Bison built a 17-3 lead behind a 3-yard touchdown run by Bruce Anderson on their first possession of the game and a 50-yard scoring pass from Stick to Darrius Shepherd with 4:14 left in the first half. The latter drive occurred after Schor threw an interception.