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Holy Cross 35, UNH 19

Things didn’t go they way University of New Hampshire fans hoped they would at Fitton Field on Saturday.

UNH had its season come to an end after it turned the ball over five times — three interceptions and two fumbles — and had a punt blocked in a 35-19 loss to Holy Cross in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

GAME STATISTICS

Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka rushed for 103 yards and scored three touchdowns, and running back Peter Oliver ran for 175 yards and two TDs on 30 carries.  Eighth-seeded Holy Cross (12-0) will play the winner between top-ranked South Dakota State and Delaware.

UNH running back Dylan Laube was held to 52 yards on 17 attempts as Holy Cross outgained UNH (9-4) on the ground 303-22.

Holy Cross led 7-5 at halftime and scored touchdowns on each of its first four second-half possessions.

Oliver upped the lead to 14-5 with a 4-yard run on the Crusaders’ first possession in the third quarter after UNH fumbled the ball away on its own 33-yard line. Then, Walter Reynolds’s 51-yard interception return set up a seven-play, 19-yard drive capped by Sluka’s 5-yard pass to Jalen Coker that extended the lead to 21-5 with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

UNH pulled within 21-11 when QB Max Brosmer (21 of 36 for 242 yards) completed an 11-yard TD pass to tight end Kyle Lepkowski. The pass on the conversion attempt failed.

Sluka made it 28-11 on a 3-yard touchdown run, and added a 47-yard TD run with 6:17 left.

UNH completed the scoring on Brosmer’s 14-yard pass to wide receiver Joey Corcoran.

Holy Cross opened the scoring on a 39-yard run by Oliver with 7:27 remaining in the opening quarter. The TD was set up by a Reynolds interception on UNH’s first play from scrimmage.

UNH got on the scoreboard when defensive end Josiah Silver blocked a Holy Cross punt and the ball rolled out of the end zone. That made it 7-2 with 3:30 left in the first quarter.

Following a Holy Cross fumble — its first lost fumble of the season — UNH cut its deficit to 7-5 when Nick Mazzie made a 36-yard field goal with 5:20 remaining in the first half.

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