Lennon’s Salukis fall to New Hampshire

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — R.J. Toman threw for 257 yards as No. 10 New Hampshire defeated No. 9 Southern Illinois 29-20 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The Salukis are led by former UND head football coach Dale Lennon, while former Jamestown College head football coach Tom Dosch is an assistant under Lennon at Southern Illinois.

New Hampshire (10-2) capitalized on three SIU turnovers and a blocked punt return for a touchdown to advance to its fourth second-round playoff appearance since 2004.

With the game tight at 19-13 in the last minutes of the third quarter, New Hampshire defensive back John Clements returned a blocked SIU punt 26 yards to put New Hampshire up 26-13 heading into the final quarter.

SIU quarterback Chris Dieker answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Haruff to come within a score, but Kicker Tom Bishop iced the game with a 32-yard field goal, his fifth on the day.

Bishop

s five field goals tied the Division I playoff record set previously by Fordham in 2002 and Western Illinois in 2003.

Bishop and the Wildcats were given a short field on many scores because of SIU turnovers. Dieker, who finished with 163 yards, threw two interceptions and running back Larry Warner recorded a costly fumble on an early Saluki drive to set up a New Hampshire score.

New Hampshire wide receiver Mike Boyle finished with 131 yards. Nearly half of those yards came on a 54-yard reception late in the second quarter that set Toman up for a two-yard rushing touchdown to put the Wildcats up 16-13 at the half.

The loss was Southern Illinois first at home since last season’s semifinal playoff defeat against Delaware.

Tags: new hampshire, southern illinois, college, football, salukis, lennon