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| Hobart remains unbeaten in the Liberty League, and leads Rochester by two games with one game left. Photo by Kevin Colton |
There's lots of talk about how the new NPI selection process affects Division III football, but one thing still stays the same: there are 28 automatic bids, and the first ones were handed out on Saturday, including to Hobart and King's, among teams outside the D3football.com Top 25.
Hobart got a little help in earlly afternoon play when Buffalo State defeated Rochester 35-21 in Liberty League play, leaving the Statesmen the opportunity to clinch the conference title and automatic bid outright with a win against RPI. And Hobart held off the Engineers in a 27-21 win. Hobart (8-1) took a 27-6 lead into the fourth quarter before RPI (3-4) rallied on two touchdown passes from Jake Kazanowsky to Sean Kelly to cut into the deficit. The Engineers drove again into Hobart territory before missing on a third down pass from the Hobart 24, and Mike McGhee sacked Kazanowsky on fourth down to end the possession with 2:05 left. The Statesmen were able to convert one first down on the following possession and ran out the clock. E.J. Taylor led Hobart with 100 yards on the ground.
Rochester had entered the day trailing Hobart by a game with a head-to-head meeting with Hobart still to come, but without Daniel Papantonis, their No. 1 threat in the backfield for the past four years, the Yellowjackets struggled and lost to Buffalo State 35-21. Rochester (6-2) managed just 66 yards on 42 carries, while Buffalo State (3-5) got a 42-yard fumble recovery for a TD by Domini Ferguson and scored 35 points on 237 yards of total offense.
Hobart, King's, Susquehanna and Aurora each clinched automatic bids to the expanded field of 40 teams for the 2024 Division III football playoffs. There remain 28 total automatic bids to be handed out, with the 12 at-large bids all determined by the NCAA's new NCAA Power Index (NPI) for Division III. The top 12 teams in that metric at the end of the season that do not get automatic bids will receive at-large bids to the playoffs. Those bids and the bracket will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 17.
King's stopped Delaware Valley on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with three seconds left and secured a 14-6 win that all but ensures the Monarchs will rule the MAC this season. After the Monarchs built a 14-0 halftime lead, the Aggies defense shut down King's offense, holding the Monarchs to 38 yards of total offense and one first down. DelVal got within 14-6 on a rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter and had three more trips to the red zone in that period but came away empty on all of them.
King's held DelVal to six points on five trips to the red zone and can win the conference title outright next week with a win at Albright, which has not beaten a conference foe other than Alvernia since 2019. The Monarchs are two games ahead of everyone else in the conference with two games to go, and they hold tiebreaker advantages over the teams directly behind them.
Springfield scored 14 points in each quarter to earn a 56-14 victory over Norwich. The Pride pushed its record to 8-0, 5-0 in NEWMAC play, while the Cadets remained winless at 0-8, 0-5. The Pride's triple-option offense had the ball for 36 minutes in the game and racked up 578 yards of total offense, including 485 yards on the ground as they averaged nearly eight yards per carry. Arsen Shtefan carried the ball 19 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while Jacob Silvester threw for 93 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 48 yards. JT Kinsey notched a team-best eight tackles as the Pride limited Norwich to just 1-for-10 on third down.
Dante Aviles-Santos went 24-of-37 passing for 323 yards and three touchdowns as Mass-Dartmouth took over sole possession of first place in the MASCAC, defeating Western Connecticut 41-30. The teams came into the day tied for first in conference play. The Wolves (6-2, 6-1) took a 30-27 lead in the third quarter when John Giller hit Julian Ferguson for a 40-yard touchdown pass, but Mass-Dartmouth (8-0, 7-0) scored the last two touchdowns to close it out.
Bethel and Brockport eached pitched shutouts in entire month of October, and while Brockport gave up its shutout streak on Saturday, they both extended their winning streaks, as Bethel defeated Carleton 50-7 to improve to 7-1 and Brockport got past Utica 20-10. The Royals allowed just eight points last month, in a 73-8 win against Augsburg. On Saturday, Joey Kidder caught three of Cooper Drews' six touchdown passes in the win, hauling in 11 passes for 183 yards, while Micah Niewald added 14 catches for 108 yards and a score. For Brockport, Isaiah Simmons ran for 259 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries and Sal Montapetro accounted for the rest of the scoring with two field goals. Bethel's only loss is 45-20 to St. John's and Brockport's came 27-21 at Susquehanna.
Luke Hoke caught a 5-yard pass from Joseph Riina in the second overtime to give Rowan a 16-10 win over Montclair State. The Profs claimed the inaugural "Breakfast Bowl," earning the trophy in the game that was created to highlight the rivalry while bringing awareness to food insecurity in the state. After neither team scored on its first possessions of overtime, Rowan had the ball first in the next series. Riina connected with Hoke, but the Profs couldn't convert the two-point conversion. Rowan's defense then sealed the win, stopping Montclair State (3-5; 1-4 NJAC) despite two penalties that gave the Red Hawks' extra chances. Montclair State got to the 7-yard line but three straight passes were off the mark. Rowan (4-4, 2-2) received the perpetual "Breakfast Bowl" trophy and the popular breakfast food is to be called "Pork Roll" for the calendar year until the next game. Contributions were taken at the game to benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, at the Egg Harbor and Hillside locations.
Randolph-Macon held the ball for more than 43 minutes, and the Yellow Jackets defense held the Generals to 187 yards of total offense as they defeated Washington & Lee 20-7 on the road on Saturday. RMC has won 23 consecutive ODAC contests, dating to the 2021 season. The Yellow Jackets ran 70 plays for 285 yards, while the Generals had 41 plays for their 187 yards