FCS Semifinals Set: Sam Houston State, Georgia Southern, North Dakota State Join Montana

College football’s premier championship tournament has reached its semifinals round, with all four FCS playoffs top seeds advancing out of quarters. All four did so in convincing fashion, winning by two or more scores on Friday or Saturday.

Here are the 2011 FCS semifinals pairings. Times and TV schedules have yet to be determined, but one will be on Friday, Dec. 16 at 8 pm ET (ESPN2), and the other on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 2:30 pm ET (ESPNU). The final’s set for Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.

The Eagles offense, designed to hang onto the ball for long periods of time, did just that, holding a 23-minute advantage after that fourth down stand. They finished with 45. J.J. Wilcox produced 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Jaybo Shaw totaled 135 yards and three scores, and Dominique Swope churned out 81 yards of his own.

Sam Houston State has rushed for 194 yards, with Richard Sincere and Brian Bell both topping 60, and Bell has thrown for two touchdowns and run for another in building the Bearkats’ big lead.

The spectacular play of the half belonged to Montana State’s Elvis Akpla, whose insane one-handed catch is destined for highlights shows on Saturday night and for the rest of 2011.

There are great catches, and then there are transcendent ones. Montana State’s Elvis Akpla’s catch this afternoon against national No. 1 seed Sam Houston State in the two teams’ FCS Championship quarterfinal is decidedly in the latter category, and it shouldn’t take more than one view of the video to drop jaws.

Akpla reaches out over the defensive back to make what would have been a great leaping catch on its own, then pulls his right arm away to protect the ball, presses the ball against his helmet, and somehow maintains possession of the ball throughout the play despite his arm getting caught behind his back. Any one of those components would be amazing; Akpla does them all on one play.

Also, you’ll have the Army-Navy Game at 2:30 p.m. ET on CBS and the SWAC championship between Alabama A&M and Grambling State on ESPNU at 1 p.m. ET.