STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Victor Gabalis and Kayvon Britten each accounted for two touchdowns, Darius Cooper had 190 yards receiving with a score and No. 13 seed Tarleton State won its inaugural FCS playoff game with a 43-29 victory over unseeded Drake on Saturday in a first-round matchup.
Tarleton State (10-3) will travel to No. 4 seed South Dakota (9-2) in a second-round game on Dec. 7.
Drake jumped out to a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter behind Blake Ellingson’s 2-yard touchdown run and Luke Bailey’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Taj Hughes. Britten answered with a 6-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and his 1-yard TD run stretched the Texans’ lead to 29-14 late in the third.
Gabalis’ 49-yard touchdown pass to Cooper made it 36-21 with 10:49 remaining.
Gabalis was 26-of-36 passing for 337 yards with two touchdowns. Cooper finished with 11 catches and Britten added 146 yards rushing on 29 carries. Kyle Weber also scored on a pair of short-yardage touchdown runs for the Texans.
Bailey and Hailey connected again with a 10-yard score late in the third quarter that pulled the Bulldogs to 29-21. Bailey completed 31 of 49 passes with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. Hughes made 11 catches for 63 yards for Drake (8-3).
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