NORMAL, Ill. – No. 15 Illinois State and No. 2 North Dakota State were separated by a touchdown at halftime of Saturday's Homecoming contest at Hancock Stadium, however the Bison (4-1, 1-0 MVFC) pulled away in the second half for a 42-10 victory over the Redbirds (3-2, 0-1 MVFC) in front of a crowd of 11,687 fans.
How It Happened:
•   The Bison took an early lead, as they scored on their opening possession of the game on a 7-yard shovel pass for a touchdown from Cam Miller to Bryce Lance to take a 7-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.
•   NDSU extended its lead to 14-0 thanks to a 16-play drive that took over 10 minutes off the clock that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Mekhi Collins with 4:45 left to play before halftime.
•   The Redbirds quickly answered the Bison score with one of their own, driving 74 yards in just under two minutes to score on a 2-yard touchdown run by Wenkers Wright to cut the NDSU lead to 14-7 with 2:56 left in the second quarter.
•   A 40-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Barika Kpeenu moved the score to 21-7 in favor of the Bison with 10:55 left in the third quarter and a 14-yard touchdown run by CharMar Brown extended the lead to 28-7 on NDSU's next possession with 6:07 left in the stanza.
•   Kpeenu would find the endzone once again with 1:51 left in the third quarter, as he ran off right tackle for a 9-yard touchdown run to widen the Bison lead to 35-7.
•   The NDSU lead would grow to 42-7 with 11:27 left in the game when Cole Payton broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run.
•   Ian Wagner would get the Redbirds back on the board with a 38-yard field goal with 5:44 left to play in the game, as the score moved to 42-10 in favor of the Bison.
Game Notes: Â Â
•   Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse finished the game 10-for-14 for 132 yards in the contest, finding Xavier Loyd three times for 52 yards and Eddie Kasper three times for 51 yards in the contest.
•   The Redbird defense was led by senior captain Keondre Jackson, who had a team-high nine tackles including six solo stops.
•   Tye Niekamp recorded six tackles and a half tackle-for-loss, while Mark Cannon Jr. and Dillon Gearhart added eight tackles each in the loss to the Bison.
Next Up:
Following three-straight home games, the Redbirds return to the road next weekend to play in Carbondale against Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1 MVFC) with kickoff slated for 6 p.m.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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