CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – Pat Grace ruined Maine’s game plan.

Grace threw two long touchdown passes to freshman Jarred Herring to spark a second-quarter burst that carried Northern Iowa to a 40-15 victory over Maine on Saturday in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

“We came into the game with a plan of stopping the run,” Maine linebacker Andrew Downey said. “We wanted to make the quarterback beat us and he did a hell of a job beating us.”

Grace passed for 229 yards, completing 15 of 24 attempts, and ran for 54 yards on 15 carries as the third-seeded Panthers (11-2) won for the ninth straight time and improved to 9-0 in first-round playoff games at the UNI-Dome.

They’ll host New Hampshire in a quarterfinal game next Saturday.

Derrick Law ran for two UNI touchdowns and Corey Lewis became the school’s career rushing leader while also scoring a TD. The defense contributed by shutting down Maine’s running game, which took the Black Bears (8-5) out of their normal clock-eating scheme and forced them to throw more than they’d prefer.

“We knew we had to get ahead, as simple as that sounds,” said UNI coach Mark Farley, whose team led 23-7 at halftime. “They used the entire 40-second clock to snap the ball. We knew if we got ahead, particularly by a couple of possessions, we could take them out of that time killer.”

Maine stayed with the Panthers until UNI scored 16 points in just 5 minutes late in the first half to break a 7-7 tie.

Herring, a state sprint champion at Burlington High School, got behind the defense and Grace hit him in stride on a 42-yard touchdown to make it 14-7. Less than 2 minutes later, Northern Iowa got a safety when Maine quarterback Michael Brusko slipped and fell in the end zone.

That came after two false start penalties and a sack moved Maine back to its own 2-yard line.

Three plays after Maine’s free kick, Grace looked as if he was going to run, then noticed Herring running free and hit him with a 55-yard touchdown pass, making it 23-7 with 2:51 left in the half. Herring had just six catches for 115 yards coming in.

“The first one was just a go,” he said. “They gave us the center of the field and I went down the middle. The second, Pat was scrambling and I just kept moving.”

Lewis carried 14 times for 75 yards and scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter, three plays after a De’Veon Harris interception. He ran his career total to 3,886 yards, breaking the school record of 3,835 set by Jeff Stovall from 1993-96.

“That record, you’ve got to credit the offensive line,” Lewis said. “They went through so much ridicule this year, losing two (players) to the NFL. They stepped up, these guys. I appreciate everything they’ve done.

“The receivers blocking downfield, Pat Grace, too, the tight ends – it goes for everybody, not just me.”

Law carried 12 times for 64 yards and topped off the victory with a 10-yard TD run.

Northern Iowa, the Missouri Valley Conference co-champion, took a 7-0 lead on Law’s 2-yard TD run. Maine capitalized on Tyrell Jones’ punt block to tie it on Derek Session’s 1-yard run at the 10:16 mark in the second quarter.

But the Black Bears didn’t score again until Brusko threw an 10-yard touchdown pass to Session with 5:49 left. By then, the Panthers led 33-7.

“We’ve got a lot to learn,” Farley said. “We’re not perfect by any means.

“But I tell you what, the way we’re playing right now, the offensive line, the running game, the passing game – it’s neat to see when a Jarred Herring steps up … names that haven’t shown up previous to these last three weeks are now coming to the forefront making big-time plays for us. It shows we’ve got depth in our program, but there’s a lot of talent as well.”

Northern Iowa intercepted Brusko four times, sacked him three times and held Maine to 103 yards through the first three quarters. Brusko finished 15-of-23 for 180 yards.

Maine ended up beginning and finishing its season in Iowa. The Black Bears lost to Iowa 46-3 in Iowa City in their opener.

“We knew coming in that they were going to be a great team, especially up front,” Brusko said. “Their defensive line is probably the best we faced all year and I’d say that includes Iowa.”