SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – St. Louis manager Mike Matheny will watch the game again, once things slow down, so he can truly appreciate just what his Cardinals pulled off in Washington to return to the NL championship series.  San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy doesn’t need another look to know how impressive the reigning World Series champions’ ninth-inning comeback was.

The Cardinals erased a six-run deficit and rallied to win 9-7 in the nation’s capital on Friday night.  Bochy’s team had its own remarkable rally: Three road wins at Cincinnati to advance after dropping the first two games of the division series at home to the Reds.

The last two World Series winners sure are showing their championship mettle in mid-October. They face off in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday night at San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) – Austin Johnson kicked a 24-yard field goal with 59 seconds to play and Southern Illinois rallied to beat Northern Iowa 34-31 on Saturday.  The Salukis (4-3, 3-1 MVC) trailed 21-6 in the second quarter when Kenn Boatright blocked a UNI punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. The Panthers (1-5, 0-3) were driving for a touchdown late in the half when SIU’s Bryan Presume picked up the ball at the goal line and ran 100 yards for a touchdown. A 2-point conversion tied it at 21.

Southern Illinois took a 31-21 lead thanks in part to Kory Faulkner’s 21-yard scoring pass to MyCole Pruitt, but Northern Iowa tied it at 31 before Johnson’s winning kick. David Johnson ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers. Faulkner ran for a 49-yard touchdown for SIU.

VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) – Mike Ratelle returned a kickoff for a touchdown, helping Drake beat winless Valparaiso 35-21 on Saturday afternoon. Ratelle’s 88-yard kickoff return, followed by a kick by Cam Bohnert, gave Drake (5-2, 4-0, Pioneer League) its first touchdown of the day. Adding to the score, Mike Piatkowski threw for one touchdown – a 10-yard pass to T.J. James – and 1 yard for another. Piatkowski was 22 of 36 for 327 yards. Trey Morse also scored on a 29-yard run.  Trey Morse also scored on a 29-yard run for the Bulldogs.

For the Crusaders, Eric Slenk had two touchdowns – a 24-yard catch from Ben Lehman in the first quarter and a 23-yard catch from Quinn Schafer in the fourth. Lehman was 11 of 26 for 100 yards and Schafer was 6 of 8 for 78 yards.   Ryan Leher ran 3 yards for a Valparaiso (0-6, 0-3 Pioneer League) touchdown.