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| TJ Welch had a big day on the ground and a notable day through the air for Springfield's triple option offense. Photo by Steve LaBonte, d3photography.com |
Springfield ended Cortland's season for the second year in a row, Hanover got a rare NCAA playoff win for the HCAC, Susquehanna got a rematch with Christopher Newport, Chapman knocked away a two-point conversion attempt on the final play of the game and LaGrange and Muhlenberg each won thrillers that nobody could watch.
Chapman's Jacob Gaudi, a D3football.com preseason All-America pick at safety, made the play of the game and one of the plays of the day in the first round of the Division III football NCAA playoffs, as he knocked down a two-point conversion pass attempt on the final play of the game to preserve the Panthers' 18-16 win against Whitworth. It's just the second win for the SCIAC in the NCAA playoffs in the past decade. The Panthers (9-2) had taken the lead on a touchdown pass from Tyler Pacheco to Kade Zimmerman, but because Pacheco was called for taunting, Chapman had to attempt a 35-yard extra point, which was no good. That left Whitworth down 18-10 and gave the Pirates a chance to tie the game, which they nearly did as wide receiver Deacon Dietz found tight end Taylor Wells all alone in the end zone on a reverse pass as the clock hit 0:00. The extra point failed, however, when Gaudi knocked down a jump pass two-point attempt.
On a day where streaming difficulties on four of the five noon ET games dominated the conversation, LaGrange held on to win 24-21 as Framingham State was unable to cover an onside kick in the final minute and Muhlenberg got two key stops on Union down the stretch to win 34-26.
LaGrange only trailed for nine minutes in the game, but Framingham State (7-4) got a touchdown pass from Michael Marcucella with 1:22 left in the third quarter to make it a three-point game at 17-14. LaGrange edged the lead back up to 24-14 with 3:15 to play before Marcucella led the Rams on a 64-yard touchdown drive and capped it with a 2-yard run to make it 24-21 with 23 seconds left. But the onside kick attempt was not successful, and LaGrange ran out the clock.
The Panthers (10-1) had jumped out to a 17-7 lead shortly after halftime as Jace Black blocked a punt, setting LaGrange up at the Rams 24-yard line. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Tacaris Bozeman ran for a 24-yard touchdown to put his team up by 10. Bozeman ran for 65 yards and two touchdowns on the the afternoon, while Kirk Scott added 39 yards and another touchdown in the win.
T.J. Welch ran for 140 yards and a touchdown and Bode Dunn ran for 113 yards and another two scores as Springfield ended Cortland's season in the first round, defeating the Red Dragons 21-7. Dunn's first touchdown came with 1:09 left in the first half to tie the game at 7-7 going into the locker room. The teams traded punts twice in the third quarter, before Springfield broke through to start the fourth. Welch had a big gainer on a 19-yard run up the middle, then hit Luke Zoller for a 44-yard pass to get the Pride (9-2) into the red zone. From there, Springfield methodically used seven plays to go the final 17 yards and finish with Bode's second touchdown run, ending a 13-play, 96-yard drive that took 7:20.
After a Cortland three and out, Springfield did it again on its next possession, rolling for 84 yards on 10 plays, with Welch scampering 38 yards to make it 21-7 with 2:06 left. Cortland (8-3) failed to move the chains, and Springfield was able to run out the clock. Springfield held the ball for 34 minutes and limited Cortland to 146 passing yards, 128 rushing. Mike Rescigno was 13-for-26 passing for the Red Dragons, and ran for a team-high 78 yards.
Luke Spang threw three touchdown passes and spread the ball around to 10 pass-catchers and Muhlenberg held on to win 34-26. Span found Aidan Mack for a 4-yard TD pass with 14:03 left in the game, putting his team up 31-20. From there, Union quarterback Match Flanagan, who had already thrown two touchdown passes and run for one on the day, led his team on a long drive, where the Garnet Chargers went for 75 yards in 11 plays on a drive that ate up 5:50 and ended in a touchdown and a failed two-point conversion. That left Union down by five, 31-26, with 8:13 left. That seemed like a lot of time, but Muhlenberg ran the clock super well, keeping the ball on the ground for 10 of 12 plays, forcing Union to use its timeouts and finishing with a 32-yard Andrew Deutsch field goal to make it an eight-point game. Union was able to get one first down but Flanagan was intercepted in Muhlenberg territory by Leo Dauberman to end the threat. It was Dauberman's second interception of the day.
Spang was 24-for-31 passing for 241 yards, while Flanagan was 26-for-34 for 300 yards. Muhlenberg advances to play at Mount Union in the second round.
Susquehanna blocked a field goal and Romero Lavalais Jr. returned it 70 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half and the River Hawks went on to defeat Washington & Jefferson, 38-32. W&J (8-3) had led 14-7 and took a 17-14 lead with 2:57 left in the half on Deven Wyandt's 25-yard field goal. Susquehanna seemed like it was ready to answer on the very next play, as Josh Ehrlich hit Carter McCauley deep downfield, but Luke Edwards knocked the ball out of McCauley's hands at the 1-yard line. W&J drove the other way, with Kellen Stahl hitting Jacob Macosko on a deep ball for 48 yards to get into River Hawks territory. The drive stalled at the 20, however, and Wyandt's 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Susquehanna's Xavier Maple, and Lavalais returned it the other direction for a touchdown as time expired in the first half.
Susquehanna (9-2) scored to start the second half as well to go up by 11, then extended it to 14 on a field goal by Dominic Bourgeois midway through the fourth quarter. W&J scored on its next drive and got the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 38-32, but Kayvon Waters intercepted Stahl to end the Presidents' final threat.
Stahl threw two touchdown passes to John Peduzzi, but Ehrlich threw for three scores and Rahshan La Mons scored one touchdown on the ground and one through the air for the River Hawks.
Hanover's win against Grove City came down to an onside kick as well as Hanover built a 17-0 lead and held off a late surge as the Panthers picked up their first playoff win since 2000, defeating the Wolverines 23-15. The teams played a scoreless first quarter, highlighted by Kane Powell-Smith forcing a fumble at the 2-yard line to keep Grove City off the board, before Hanover took control in the middle quarters.
Eian Roudebush opened the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and Clint Hearne’s 29-yard field goal sent the Panthers into the intermission with a 10-0 lead. Roudebush added a one-yard touchdown with 52 seconds left in the third quarter to push the advantage to 17-0. Grove City finally broke through with 8:29 left to play, as Ethan Wiley found Daniel Sullivan for a 12-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-7. Hanover answered on its next possession, with Roudebush hitting Jack Pennington on an 8-yard score with 2:46 left. The missed PAT kept the door open, and the Wolverines capitalized: Chase Rankin scored from 8 yards out and Grove City converted the two-point try to pull within 23-15 with 1:47 remaining. The Wolverines’ onside kick attempt went out of bounds and the Panthers ran out the clock to seal the win.
Roudebush led Hanover with 178 yards and a touchdown on 19-for-35 passing and paced the Panthers on the ground with 75 yards and two scores. Hanover outrushed Grove City 182-93. Seth McGroerty caught five passes for 120 yards to lead the Wolverines, who finish the season 8-3. Hanover advances to face North Central in the second round.
Concordia (Wis.) opened its first playoff appearance since 2013 by marching inside the Coe 10 on a possession that consumed nearly half of the first quarter, but the Kohawks flipped the script when Leighton Charters intercepted Falcon quarterback Roman Funk in the end zone. Coe wasted no time capitalizing, covering 80 yards in seven plays and striking first on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brady Kelly to Devon Kollasch on its way to a 44-7 win.
Concordia again found some rhythm on its second possession, only to stall on a turnover on downs. And again, Coe responded immediately. This time the Kohawks pieced together another quick scoring march, punctuated by a two-yard touchdown run from Quincy Drummer to extend the lead to 14-0 with 10:43 left in the second quarter. Coe added a field goal just before halftime to take a 17-7 lead into the break, then delivered a knockout blow to open the third quarter. The Kohawks drove 65 yards on their first possession of the half, with Kelly hitting Jeron Senters for a 12-yard touchdown that stretched the margin to 23-7 at the 9:08 mark. From there, Coe never looked back and steadily pulled away from the Falcons.
Kelly was nearly flawless, completing 22 of 25 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Drummer powered the offense in multiple ways, rushing for 70 yards and a score while adding six catches for 85 yards. Senters also hauled in six receptions for a team-high 97 yards and a touchdown. The Kohawks were sharp on third down all day, converting 7 of 9 attempts and denying Concordia the stops it needed to climb back into the game. Coe advances to face Bethel in the second round. Concordia’s season concludes at 9-2, led on Saturday by running backs Ashar Thomas with 81 yards on the ground and Jacob Pugh, who added 34 yards and the Falcons’ lone touchdown.