State and area college football: Evans' TD catch lifts Salukis in OT

Published Oct. 11, 2010 10:03 a.m. ET

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CARBONDALE - Jeff Evans caught seven passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime, as Southern Illinois defeated Northern Iowa 45-38 Saturday.

Chris Dieker found Evans with a 7-yard scoring strike on the first possession of OT and the Salukis (3-3 overall, 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference) then stopped the Panthers (2-3, 2-1) on downs.

Southern Illinois built a 17-point halftime lead but had to rally late to force overtime. With his team down 38-31 and just over 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Dieker led the Salukis on a 72-yard scoring drive and capped it with a 3-yard run with 1:11 remaining in regulation.

Dieker threw two TD passes, and Paul McIntosh ran for a score and threw for another.

Indiana State 59, Illinois State 24

At Terre Haute, Ind., Ronnie Fouch threw four touchdown passes, Bryant Kent had 118 yards receiving and two scores and Indiana State defeated Illinois State.

Fouch was 16 of 22 for 250 yards, Kent had seven receptions and Shakir Bell added 146 rushing yards and one TD for the Sycamores (3-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley).

Matt Brown had three touchdown passes for the Redbirds (3-3, 2-2), and Tyrone Walker caught five passes for 131 yards and two scores.

E. Kentucky 35, E. Illinois 7

At Richmond, Ky., T.J. Pryor rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another score to lead Eastern Kentucky over Eastern Illinois.

Pryor scored on runs of 6, 2 and 30 yards in the first half to give the Colonels (2-3, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference) a 21-0 lead. The quarterback finished with 78 yards rushing on 11 carries.

The Panthers (0-6, 0-4) scored in the second quarter when Jimmy Garoppolo connected with Lorence Ricks on a 29-yard touchdown.

Garoppolo led Eastern Illinois with 272 yards passing but was sacked six times and intercepted twice. Kenny Whittaker caught eight passes for 102 yards.

South Dakota St. 33, WIU 29

At Brookings, S.D., Kyle Minett rushed for three touchdowns and 143 yards to lead South Dakota State past Western Illinois.

Thomas O'Brien connected with Colin Cochart on a scoring pass that secured the win for the Jackrabbits (1-4, 1-2, Missouri Valley). O'Brien finished with 206 passing yards.

Tyler Duffy also rushed for a touchdown.

Matt Barr threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns for the Leathernecks (4-2, 2-1), including a 46-yarder to Terriun Crump early in the fourth quarter that put Western Illinois ahead 21-14.

N. Illinois 31, Temple 17

At DeKalb, Chandler Harnish threw two touchdown passes and Chad Spann rushed for 100 yards and a score as Northern Illinois beat Temple.

Harnish was 20 of 25 for 211 yards and helped the Huskies (4-2, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) rally from a second-quarter deficit with 21 unanswered points.

The Owls (4-2, 1-1) led 17-10 after Chester Stewart threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Evan Rodriguez late in the first half.

Illinois College 26, St. Norbert 25Â Â

At De Pere, Wis., Mitch Niekamp threw a game-tying 20-yard touchdown pass to Brett Eschman with 1 minutes 48 seconds left, and Travis Downey's extra-point kick gave Illinois College a Midwest Conference victory over St. Norbert College.

Eschman's touchdown came on fourth-and-6. Niekamp completed 25 of 38 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Both teams are 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the MWC.