YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) _ Dusty Burk passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns as Illinois State won its first Gateway Football Conference title by beating Youngstown State 31-28 Saturday night.

Jacob Niete caught TD passes of 20 yards with 13:24 left in the third period and 19 yards with 29 seconds to go in the period as Illinois State (7-2 and 5-0), which trailed 14-10 at halftime, went ahead 24-14.

Burk also threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tom Bardwell with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Walter James had a 5-yard run for Illinois State with 5:39 left in the second quarter and Jake Strader had a 27-yard field goal in the first.

Tim Johnson's interception of a Burk pass halted Illinois State's first drive. Johnson returned the ball 8 yards to the Illinois State 18 and Adrian Brown capped a three-play drive with a 1-yard TD run.

Youngstown State (7-2 and 4-1) was led by Jeff Ryan, who threw for 202 yards and three touchdown passes: 5 yards to Dennis Dlugosz in the second and 6 yards to John Schumacher and 11 yards to Elliott Giles in the fourth.