NCAA Football Playoffs : Furman Moves Into Final by Beating Nevada Reno

John Bagwell ran for two touchdowns, and Bobby Lamb passed for one and ran for another to lead Furman to a 35-12 victory over Nevada Reno at Greenville, S.C., Saturday in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs.

Furman took advantage of three Nevada Reno turnovers to take a 21-6 halftime lead and was never threatened after that.

The Paladins (12-1) will face Georgia Southern next Saturday at Tacoma, Wash., for the national championship. Georgia Southern (12-2) defeated Northern Iowa, 40-33, in the other semifinal at Cedar Falls, Iowa, as quarterback Tracy Ham scored the winning touchdown on a 20-yard run with 34 seconds left.

In the Palm Bowl at McAllen, Tex., North Dakota State quarterback Jeff Bentrim rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another as the Bison routed North Alabama, 35-7, to win the NCAA Division II title.

Bentrim, last year’s leading scorer in Division II as a sophomore, ran for a four-yard touchdown on the first drive in the first quarter, a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter and threw an 11-yard touchdown strike to Len Kretchman in the third quarter.

North Alabama’s defense was ranked second in Division II, but the Bison rolled up 232 yards, with Chad Stark rushing 18 times for 113 yards.

The Bison had finished the regular season at 8-2-1, and the only way they could get into the playoffs was if eight teams lost and one tied in the final game. It happened.

In the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at Phenix City, Ala., Greg Wallace passed for one touchdown and scored another as Augustana (Ill.) College claimed its third consecutive NCAA Division III championship and extended its winning streak to 37 games with a 20-7 victory over Ithaca College.

The Vikings (13-0) took control of the game with two touchdowns within a 12-second span early in the second quarter.

Ithaca finished 11-2.