FCS Playoffs 2011, Quarterfinal Scores And Results: North Dakota State Blanks Lehigh, 24-0

Behind three touchdowns from quarterback Jensen Buck -- two rushing, one passing -- and a stellar defensive performance, North Dakota State shutout Lehigh, 24-0, in a Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinal game in Fargo, ND. The Bison (12-1), the 20-team tournament's No. 2 seed, advances to their first FCS semifinals, as they will face No. 3 Georgia Southern in the semifinals, which will be held sometime next weekend. The Mountain Hawks ended its season with a 11-2 overall record.

After a scoreless first quarter, North Dakota State scored 17-unanswered point in the second quarter to take a commanding lead into halftime. Warren Holloway ignited the Bisons' scoring streak when he caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Jensen with 10:38 to go in the second. Jensen helped put North Dakota State up 14-0 when he scored a rushing touchdown with just 2:08 remaining in the first half. The Bison added a field goal with just five seconds to go in the second quarter to give themselves a 17-point advantage. From there, there was no looking back.

Overall, Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum tossed for 286 yards and broke the Patriot League single-season record with 4,376 yards, while wide receiver Jake Drwal caught 10 balls for a total of 111 yards.

FCS Playoffs 2011: Lehigh Vs North Dakota St. Game Time, TV Info & more

Lehigh will be without leading wide receiver Ryan Spadola when the Mountain Hawks visit North Dakota State in the 2011 FCS playoffs quarterfinals (4 p.m., ESPN3).

Ryan Spadola Tweet Gets Him Suspended For FCS Playoff Game

Lehigh will be without their All America WR Ryan Spadola this afternoon when they face #2 ranked North Dakota state in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs. Spadola had 96 catches for over 1,600 yards and 11 TDs this season, but a twitter message referring to the Towson football team, who Lehigh defeated in the previous round, has gotten him suspended for the game today.

Spadola, who is from Howell, NJ, retweeted the following message from a former high school teammate.

It appears the original user who tweeted the message to Spadola has deleted his account. So it's hard to say whether the former teammate was black or was using the term in a derogatory way. Either way though, clearly Spadola needed to exercise more judgement. On one hand, these are just college kids, but at the same time you are somewhat of a national figure if you're playing college football at this level. What you say or do can become news... and clearly that tweet isn't something Spadola would want representing himself in a hundred news stories around the internet. But that's what he got.

Spadola issued the following apology for the tweet.

"To my competitors, teammates and to everyone else who has seen the tweet I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior.

At the time I received and forwarded the tweet, I didn't stop to think about how this could be offensive. In hindsight, I recognize that it was clearly inappropriate. I would never do anything to intentionally harm or berate others regardless of ethnicity. Everyone who knows me knows that to be true."

FCS Playoffs 2011, Quarterfinals Preview: Lehigh Faces #2 North Dakota St. Without Ryan Spadola

Lehigh will face North Dakota State without their leading receiver Ryan Spadola.