GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The Sacramento State offense scored six touchdowns and the defense tallied three sacks in the final two drives of the game to help the Hornets to a 42-35 win at No. 12 North Dakota in the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs on Saturday at the Alerus Center.

Sacramento State improved to 8-4 on the season and will now play at South Dakota next Saturday. The game against the Coyotes will mark the fourth straight season in which the Hornets have played in the second round of the playoffs. North Dakota finished its season at 7-5.

Kaiden Bennett broke a 35-35 tie with a 4-yard rush up the middle with 4:54 remaining in the game. During that drive Marcus Fulcher rushed for 12 yards, Anderson Grover had a 23-yard reception and Bennett had three rushes for a total of 20 yards.

UND started its drive at its own 32 and gained five yards on the opening play. Brock Mather sacked Tommy Schuster for a 3-yard loss on second down and nickelback Dorian Pollard followed with a 9-yard sack forcing the Fighting Hawks to punt. The Hornets were able to run out the clock on the next series behind a pair of first downs to close the game.

The loss was just the 30th for the Fighting Hawks at the Alerus Center in the last 21 years. However, Sacramento State has accounted for three of those defeats with wins in 2013, 2017 and today.

Sacramento State's offense was near perfect in the first half. The Hornets scored touchdowns on their first four drives of the game and amassed 313 yards in the half. Sacramento State took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards on seven plays capped by a 1-yard run from Bennett.

After North Dakota needed only four plays to tie the game at 7-7, the Hornets moved ahead with a 14-yard pass from Bennett to Anderson Grover with 5:51 left in the first quarter. The defense then forced a punt and Coleman Kuntz made it a two-score game with a 1-yard rush early in the second quarter.

North Dakota remained in striking distance with a 14-yard rush from Gaven Ziebarth midway through the quarter but Sacramento State responded with a 9-play, 75-yard drive which was capped by Kuntz' second 1-yard rushing score of the game. UND's final drive of the half was halted in Hornet territory when Ben Ahio stepped in front of a fourth-down pass for his first career interception.

The Hornets averaged 8.02 yards per play in the opening half. The team had 198 yards on the ground led by a season-best 105 from Bennett on just eight carries. Sacramento State was also 6-for-6 on third downs during the opening 30 minutes.

The Fighting Hawks started the second half with a 9-play drive which chewed nearly seven minutes off the clock. The team converted a pair of fourth downs during the series, including the 7-yard touchdown pass to Bo Belquist.

Sacramento State was forced to punt on its first drive of the second half and UND turned it into points with a touchdown drive. The big play in the drive was a 31-yard juggling catch by Belquist along the sideline which took the ball to the Hornet 12 and led to a 1-yard sneak from Schuster to tie the game, 28-28.

Sacramento State finished with 456 yards of offense while surrendering 358 to UND with both teams running 64 plays. The Hornets did not commit a penalty in the game — marking the first time that has occurred in school history in any contest.

Bennett set the program FCS Playoffs record with 126 rushing yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. Bennett also completed 17-of-22 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Grover led all receivers with six receptions for 96 yards.

Armon Bailey tied for the game high with eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks. As a team, the Hornets finished with four sacks. Gavin Davis-Smith, Anta'Veon McKenzie and Pollard each had seven tackles for a secondary which played without a trio of starters due to injuries.

Zierbarth led the UND offense with 96 rushing yards and two scores. Schuseter completed 11-of-17 passes for 137 yards with an interception and a passing touchdown.