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Arkansas State jumped to an early 13-0 lead but couldn't hold on as Chandler Harnish and Northern Illinois topped the Red Wolves 38-21 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Harnish threw for 274 yards but didn't contribute close to his usual amount on the ground after hurting his ankle. Instead, it was a battle of wide receivers, with NIU's Martel Moore racking up 224 yards and Arkansas State's Taylor Stockemer reeling in 185. They each had one touchdown catch.
Two Brian Davis field goals and a Ryan Aplin QB sneak gave Arkansas State their 13-0 first quarter lead, which Harnish quickly cut to 6 points with a 9-yard strike to Perez Ashford. NIU took the lead in the second quarter on a 3-yard Jordan Lynch run, and with seconds left in the half extended the lead to 21-13 as Jamal Womble ran it in from the 1-yard line.
The Huskies built their lead further early in the 2nd half as Harnish connected with Moore for 43 yards. An early fourth quarter field goal by Matthew Sims made it 31-13, Huskies.
Aplin gave the Red Wolves some hope with his TD pass to Stockemer for 17 yards, but he was later intercepted by NIU's Dechane Durante who scored to make it 38-20.
Northern Illinois finished the season 11-3 and also won the MAC championship; Arkansas State fell to 10-3 but won the Sun Belt outright a year after going 4-8.
More previews and results: View the complete 2011-2012 bowl game schedule.
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