No. 1 Central Loses 21-20; Eastern Loses 43-33

From the Central Washington Web page:

ELLENSBURG (Nov. 28) — Senior Mike Waller (Pomona, Calif./Todd Beamer HS) scored a 15-yard receiving touchdown with six seconds remaining, but the ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked as top-ranked Central Washington University suffered a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to second-ranked Northwest Missouri State in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship on Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium.

Here’s a recap of the Eastern Washington game:

There were no late-game heroics for the Eagles this week, but they had a mid-game scoring slump instead.

Stephen F. Austin rolled up 563 yards of offense to help open up a 25-point lead and held on to defeat Eastern Washington University 44-33 Saturday (Nov. 28) in a first round game in the NCAA Championship Subdivision Playoffs at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Eastern rallied back from a 25-point deficit after the Lumberjacks took a 37-12 lead with 5:54 left in the third quarter. But the Eagles couldn’t overcome a stretch in the second and third quarters in which they went just over 27 minutes without a touchdown and were out-scored 27-2.

Eastern senior quarterback Matt Nichols had school records for completions and attempts as he finished 43-of-76 for 461 yards and three touchdowns as Eastern scored 21 of the final 28 points. In the loss, he broke the Big Sky Conference career passing yards record and finished third in FCS history in total offense (13,308) and sixth in passing yards (12,616).

The 13th-ranked Eagles finished with 595 yards of total offense as the two teams combined for 1,158. The Eagles finished the season 8-4, after clinching a playoff berth by scoring with 3:30 left on Nov. 21 to defeat Northern Arizona 49-45. The Eagles closed the regular season with a four-game winning streak, winning those by a combined 172-107 margin.