Brandon Ravenel of Stafford To Play in FCS Championship Game

2017 Jan 3

Brandon Ravenel of Stafford and No. 4 James Madison will face Youngstown State in the NCAA FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas. The game, which takes place at Toyota Stadium, will be played Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 at noon ET (11 a.m. CT) on ESPN2.

The Dukes (13-1) advanced to the title game after defeating North Dakota State Friday night in Fargo. The win ended NDSU's 22-game win streak in the playoffs in what was its first postseason loss in 2,198 days and the first at the Fargodome since 1991.

Senior running back Khalid Abdullahran for 180 yards on 23 carries on Friday night as No. 4 James Madison rolled to a 27-17 win over No. 1 North Dakota State to earn its first trip to the NCAA FCS National Championship since 2004.

The Dukes (13-1) racked up 445 yards of total offense against the Bison (12-2), who entered Friday's semifinal as the ninth-ranked defense in the country after surrendering just 310.2 yards per game up to this point.

Abdullah gouged NDSU for 7.8 yards per carry on the evening, rolling to a career-high 232 all-purpose yards. The senior pulled in a pair of catches for 51 yards, including a career-long 41-yard snag and a 10-yard touchdown with 6:51 left in the second quarter that put the Dukes up 17-0.

JMU continued its balanced offense, rushing for 203 yards and passing for 242 more, as junior quarterback Bryan Schor went 11-18 for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Junior wide receiver John Miller pulled in a pair of long catches that totaled 70 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown that sealed the contest at 27-17 with 6:59 to play.

The Dukes leaped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half, with Schor finding junior tight end Jonathan Kloosterman for a 14-yard score and Abdullah for a 10-yard strike, while sophomore kicker Tyler Gray added a 24-yard field goal.

NDSU used a score just before halftime to seize the momentum, adding a field goal and a touchdown in the third quarter to tie things at 17-17 with 5:53 to play in the period. Gray drilled a career-long 45-yard field goal to put the Dukes ahead to stay with 11:46 to play, with Schor's 25-yard strike to Miller providing the dagger.

The Penguins (12-3) punched their ticket to Frisco in thrilling fashion, scoring a touchdown with one second remaining, to beat No. 2 Eastern Washington 40-38 in Cheney, Wash., on Saturday night. Hunter Wells found Kevin Rader in the back of the end zone, who made a sensational catch off the back of a defender for the game-winning score. YSU outscored EWU 20-7 in the final quarter to complete the comeback.

It will be the fifth meeting all-time between JMU and YSU, with the Penguins leading 3-1. The teams last met in the first round of the 2006 playoffs - a 35-31 win for YSU in Youngstown.

This is the second championship appearance for the Dukes and the seventh for the Penguins. JMU won the 2004 title and YSU has claimed four championships -1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997.