Texas State and Kansas will play for a place in the ACR DIAA final after both won games in the Eastern Bracket quarterfinals Saturday.

Both quarterfinals were tight, but it did seem like the fact that the Lonestar teams had played conference games more recently might have set them up a little better.

Texas State vs Minnesota

Minnesota vs Texas State started as a defensive game with the Gophers having more of the possession and the Renegades working hard on defense. Minnesota finally broke through on the outside to lead 7-0. 

But after that the Texas State pack started to show some power both in the scrum and the loose. That gave the Renegades some go-forward and eventually they scored in the corner to inch closer 7-5 after 32 minutes. Four minutes later they scored under the posts to take a 12-7 lead. 

That try, along with an injury to flyhalf Russell Enea shook Minnesota a bit and they were impatient to get the lead back. Running a kickable penalty the Gophers were thwarted, but eventually did opt for points and scrumhalf Bennett Coffou was accurate to make it 12-10. Texas State answered with one of their own for  15-10 lead.

Coffou then tapped quickly to scamper in under the posts. His conversion put Minnesota up 17-15. Texas State came right back and crossed the tryline but were held up. But the pressure finally told and a try put them back in front 22-17 with 15 minutes to go.

The Renegades held off Minnesota one more time then broke out to get into UM territory. As time wound down Texas State iced it with a try and a comeback victory.

 Kansas vs UT San Antonio

This was a big playoff game for UTSA and playing at the home of the Jayhawks didn't make it any easier.

The wind had picked up making kicking for goal difficult. Still UTSA worried about Kansas flyhalf Chandler Owens' kicking and guarded against that. The result was a little bit more space in the defensive line. Kansas sent their big boys straight ahead and set up a try in the corner to lead 5-0.

San Antonio sent their big men going, too and replied with a try, which they converted to lead 7-5. With the first half almost over Kansas put No. 8 Trevor Lister over and Owens converted for a 12-7 lead.

The rest of the game was a defensive battle with neither side able to get much going. UTSA threw everything they had at the Jayhawks but Kansas held them out, and the game ended 12-7.

So Kansas will play Texas State on Sunday for the right to go to the ACR DIAA spring final. The Western Bracket will be played next week.