CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Frostburg State traveled to second-seeded Johnson C. Smith and pulled off the win in Saturday’s NCAA Football Division II Super Region One first round.

The Bobcats advance to face California (Pa.) next weekend after the Vulcans also knocked out a seeded team from the CIAA — No. 3 Virginia Union — in Saturday’s opening round.

Frostburg State (10-2) earned the Mountain East Conference’s automatic qualifying berth and finished the regular season as co-champions. The Bobcats entered Saturday’s matchup with Johnson C. Smith, which won the CIAA Championship, with the MEC’s No. 1 scoring defense and total defense. The Golden Bulls’ offense finished with 27 carries for 36 rushing yards — 1.3 yards per carry — and failed to crack 300 yards of total offense.

The ground game carried the Frostburg State offense, as KJ Smothers carried 16 times for 115 yards and all three touchdowns, and Owen Doyle rushed 19 times for 95 yards. Quarterback Jordan Brooks completed 9 of 23 passes for 178 yards.

Smothers opened the scoring with a 41-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds left of the first quarter. He added another score on Frostburg State’s next possession, a 4-yard run that made it 14-0. Johnson C. Smith (10-2) cut the deficit in half on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Brian Lane to Deandre Proctor.

Smothers scored again with 56 seconds left on a 5-yard run to seal the game.

Defensively, Christian Taylor led Frostburg State with four sacks, the seventh player in MEC history to record at least as many sacks in a single game. The Bobcats got to the opposing quarterback for a total of five sacks, and Wylan Harich and Marquise Allsup had first-half interceptions.

Frostburg State lost to California (Pa.) on Nov. 1 in a regular season non-conference meeting, 31-26. Frostburg State was ranked No. 24 in the most recent AFCA Top 25 poll, while Cal has the second-most points of teams in the “others receiving votes” section.