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Northern Iowa routs Monmouth 46-7 in FCS 1st round

Sports

November 25th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Eli Dunne threw for 260 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, Nikholi Jaghai caught two of Northern Iowa’s four interceptions, and the Panthers cruised past Monmouth 46-7 in the first round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.

Northern Iowa (8-4) had no turnovers and outgained the Hawks 520-202 to advance to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded South Dakota State next Saturday. Monmouth (9-3) was scoreless until Kenji Bahar’s 19-yard TD pass to Lonnie Moore made it 46-7 in the fourth quarter.

Bahar finished 15 of 28 for 141 yards and accounted for all of the Hawks’ turnovers with his four picks. Daurice Fountain had 10 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns for Northern Iowa. J’Veyon Browning ran for 136 yards, including a 57-yard burst to set up a field goal in the third quarter.

Much of Northern Iowa’s second string was already in the game by the time backup quarterback Colton Howell scored on a 17-yard keeper that made it 46-0 late in the third.