Kitna’s Late-Game Heroics Send Cwu To Playoff Win

Small colleges

Quarterback John Kitna broke open a close game by leading three fourth-quarter touchdown drives as Central Washington beat HardinSimmons 40-20 in an NAIA Division II quarterfinal on Saturday.

Kitna threw for 377 yards and five touchdowns as CWU (9-3) advanced to next Saturday’s Division II semifinal at a time and location to be announced.

Hardin-Simmons (9-2) trailed 13-6 at the half before closing to 13-12 with 14:13 left on Todd Baumann’s 39-yard TD pass to Michael Daggs. But the Wildcats were about to pounce, thanks to Kitna.

He struck with a 53-yard TD pass to Kenny Russaw with 9:14 left in the third quarter. He followed with a 14-yard TD pass to Todd Murray with 9:39 left in the game. Kitna capped the surge with a 20-yard TD throw to Josh Woodard at the 9-minute mark.

With 1:39 left to play, Kitna completed a 20-yard TD pass to Russaw to make the score 40-20.

Kitna became the NAIA Division II total offense record-holder with 12,106 career yards.

Brian Beddow’s 23-yard field goal with 9:41 left in the first quarter put Hardin-Simmons on the board first, 3-0.

The Wildcats took the lead 6-3 when Jamie Christian plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out with 14:15 left in the half. Beddow responded for the Cowboys with a 27-yard field goal, tying the game 6-6 with 11:17 left in the half.

That was when Kitna put the Wildcats ahead for good with a 12-yard TD to Russaw pass with 1:08 left in the half.

NAIA Division I Championship

Central State 37, NE Oklahoma 7

At Tahlequah, Okla., behind the passing of Antonio Davis and a smothering defense, Central State of Ohio won its third NAIA Division I championship in six years with a 37-7 victory over Northeastern State.

Davis threw for 240 yards and four touchdowns, and he led the Marauders (10-1) on three straight time-consuming drives that put the Oklahoma school in a hole that its run-oriented offense couldn’t overcome.

The defending champion Redmen (7-5) went three-and-out on three of five possessions from midway through the first quarter until early in the fourth, when the game was all but out of reach.

Davis threw pinpoint passes all afternoon, and the Marauders rushed for 217 yards.

Omega Porcher, with 51 yards, was one of six players with at least 28 yards rushing.

Central State also won NAIA championships in 1982, 1990 and 1992.