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| Josh Ehrlich fought his way into the end zone on fourth down with under one minute left to give Susquehanna the lead for the first time. Photo by Tom Nettleton, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
Susquehanna scored with under a minute to play and held on on the last play of the game to defeat Bethel, while Johns Hopkins got past Mary Hardin-Baylor, Mount Union contained Salisbury and North Central shut down Springfielden route to a trip to the national semifinals.
Josh Ehrlich got his way into the end zone on an option keeper on fourth down and goal from the 1 with 38 seconds left, giving Susquehanna its first lead of the game, but Bethel came all the way back down the field and got to the River Hawks 25 with five seconds to play. Bypassing a 42-yard field goal attempt, Bethel went for the win, and quarterback Cooper Drews found Joey Kidder in the end zone for an apparent touchdown. However, it was called back because of a holding penalty, and Susquehanna held on for the 24-21 win.
Ehrlich went 14-for-27 for 215 yards and a TD, plus ran for 46 yards and a score as well. Micah Niewald had a huge day for Bethel, catching 16 passes for 154 yards and a score as Susquehanna had only slightly better success against Kidder, holding him to 11 catches for 78 yards.
Tyler Echeverry accounted for three total touchdowns, two of them on the ground, as Mount Union gradually pulled away from Salisbury en route to a 38-17 road win. After Salisbury cut the Mount Union lead to 14-10 late in the second quarter, Mount Union scored the next three times, including taking advantage of two Salisbury turnovers. After a short adjustment period, in which Salisbury took its first drive 11 plays and 81 yards for a touchdown run by Mason Fisher, the Purple Raiders defense either bottled up the Salisbury offense or took the ball away. The Sea Gulls did not have more than one first down on a drive for the entire third quarter, and only got back on the board once the Purple Raiders had taken 14-10 and extended it to 31-10.
TJ DeShields shook off a first quarter interception and rallied to finish 27-for-39 passing for 295 yards and three scores, one apiece to Echeverry, Tyrell Sanders and tight end Drew Sims. In addition, Noah Beaudrie took a couple of snaps in the second quarter and was 2-for-2 passing.
Johns Hopkins jumped out to a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter and held on to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor 17-10. The Blue Jays defense held UMHB to 29 yards on the ground in the win in returning to the national semifinals. Quarterback James Rinello led the way offensively, completing 21 of 29 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns as he continues to provide a spark to the Blue Jays offense.
On their second possession, the Blue Jays took over at their own 20 and used a 76-yard strike from Rinello to tight end Will Leger to move inside the Crusader 5-yard line. There, the Crusaders, who also rode an impressive defense all season, held and the Blue Jays had to settle for a 23-yard Brad Paxton field goal late in the first quarter. The three-point lead held until early in the second, when the Blue Jays polished off a 10-play, 57-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown strike from Rinello to Cole Crotty down the middle to push the lead to 10-0. Crotty's touchdown catch came on third-and-9 and marked third time on the drive and Rinello and Crotty connected to convert on a third down. After the Blue Jay defense forced another quick Mary Hardin-Baylor punt, Johns Hopkins needed just five plays to go 71 yards with Rinello finding sophomore Robby Enright alone down the sideline from 36 yards out to extend the lead to 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
The Blue Jays defense continued their elite play, including a late stand in the fourth quarter. With UMHB threatening at the Johns Hopkins 12-yard line, Isaac Urquidi and Will Seibert delivered consecutive sacks on third and fourth down to turn the ball over on downs and preserve the victory. Johns Hopkins advances to the national semifinals for the first time since 2018, where they will again travel to Mount Union, just as they did in their last appearance.
North Central continued its playoff excellence with a convincing 27-3 victory over Springfield. Stifling one of the nation's most potent rushing attacks, Springfield entered the contest with 71 rushing touchdowns on the season but failed to find the end zone against a disciplined Cardinal defense. North Central limited the Pride to just two third down conversions in 14 chances, with linebacker Matt Janiak headlining the effort with 17 tackles, including nine solo stops and three tackles for loss. Meanwhile, quarterback Luke Lehnen guided the offense with 96 passing yards and two touchdowns.
North Central, which entered the game ranked third nationally in rushing yards at 307 yards per contest, owned a 328-260 edge in total yards and a 232-227 edge on the ground against a Springfield option offense that led Division III in rushing (443 yards per game) for the season. The Cardinals did this despite seeing top running backs Joe Sacco and Charles Coleman exit the game early with apparent injuries. North Central’s Sean Allen stepped up to lead all rushers with 94 yards and one touchdown. Springfield’s Arsen Shtefan led Springfield with 92 yards on 20 attempts. With the win, the Cardinals advance to their fifth consecutive semifinal.