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| Weather kept things interesting and visibility uncertain across multiple games on Saturday. DePauw athletics photo |
Wheaton knocked Wartburg out in the second round, DePauw sealed a win in the snow at Whitewater, John Carroll and Mount Union set up a meeting, Susquehanna got its revenge against Christopher Newport, Berry had to hold on against LaGrange, while UW-La Crosse ground out a win on the road in the snow at Hope and Eastern got a win in the program's first-ever Division III football playoff game. This is the second round recap.
Wheaton passed up a potential game-tying field goal with 10:25 to play in the game and scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to take a 21-16 lead at Wartburg. Then, when the Knights answered with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 5:01 remaining, Wheaton came right back down and took up all but the last 24 seconds, with Matt Crider finishing things off with his third touchdown run of the day, a 4-yard score that put Wheaton up to stay, 28-24, and send the Thunder to a huge playoff win on the road.
Wartburg had taken a 16-7 lead in the closing seconds of the second quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Jaxson Hoppes, but Wheaton (9-2), the No. 7 seed in the bracket, came out and set the tone with its first drive of the third quarter to cut the lead to 16-14. That was the last of the scoring before Wheaton broke through again in the fourth. Mark Forcucci threw for 228 yards on the day and Crider ran for 67 to go along with three TDs. Dawson Rud ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns for the Knights, whose season ends at 10-1.
Susquehanna advanced to the round of 16 for the second year in a row, and avenged an early-season loss by defeating Christopher Newport 42-28. Josh Ehrlich had a career-high three touchdown runs for the River Hawks (10-2), while throwing for two additional touchdowns in the win. Susquehanna jumped out to leads of 14-0 and 28-7 and maintained the multiple-score advantage.
La Crosse broke through a scoreless deadlock midway through the third quarter, as the Eagles were able to sustain a drive for the first time all game and break through for a touchdown to go up 6-0 with 4:57 left in the third quarter. Kyle Haas, who returned from injury to start at quarterback for UW-La Crosse (8-2), followed a 16-yard Gabe Lynch run by hitting Calahan Miles for a 20-yard gainer down to the Hope 25. Haas and Keaton Arendt connected to get the Eagles down to the 8, and Lynch ran it twice to get La Crosse into the end zone. The Eagles defense got to Hope quarterback Alex Thole for a huge 16-yard sack on third down, and a short punt put La Crosse on the Hope side of the 50. When the drive stalled, Michael Stack booted through a 25-yard field goal to make it 9-0 with 1:13 left in the quarter. Thole and the Flying Dutchmen did break through and scored on an eight-play, 80-yard drive to make it 9-7, but Hope was not able to convert on either of its final two drives. La Crosse managed just 210 yards of total offense and 10 first downs in the win.
Eric Wilson broke up a pass at the 2-yard line in the final minute, and Gashawn Moody made a juggling interception inside the 10 in the closing seconds, as Eastern held on to defeat Franklin & Marshall 28-24 and advance to the third round. It's Eastern's first trip to the NCAA playoffs and just the Eagles' third year of varsity football. Brett Nabb ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns and Jeremiah Avrilien ran for 109 yards and another score for Eastern, which never trailed. "That's a very good team," Eastern coach Billy Crocker said after the game. "Their No. 3 [Gary Lewis] just catches everything. Our big players on both sides of the ball just stepped up and made plays. This was an unbelievable environment for a game and we are grateful to come out on top."
Trinity (Texas) extended Hardin-Simmons' playoff drought to a quarter-century, as the Tigers defeated the Cowboys 34-24 in the second round game in Texas. Trinity led 20-7 late in the first half after two touchdown passes and a TD run by Hondo Franklin. HSU rallied to twice bring the game within three points, and was driving on Trinity with a minute left before TJ Scannell took a tipped ball, intercepted it, and ran 70 yards the other way for an touchdown that made it 34-24 and put the game away. Franklin threw for 226 yards and the two touchdowns on the day, while running for 125 yards and a score in the victory.
Springfield ripped off 56 yards on its first play of the game and scored first to go up 7-0, but Johns Hopkins scored the next 27 points and put the Pride away in a 34-14 win. Four separate JHU players scored touchdowns in that run, and Bay Harvey added a second touchdown run with 2:11 to play. The Hopkins defense limited Springfield to 224 yards of total offense and 193 yards, nearly 150 yards below their average.
DePauw handled the snow and the moment, knocking off UW-Whitewater 26-23 to reach the round of 16 for the second straight season. After a scoreless first quarter in full winter-storm conditions, the Tigers struck first with a 13-play, 85-yard drive capped by a Caden Whitehead 3-yard run. Whitewater answered immediately- a 52-yard strike from Justin Klinkner to Blake Haggerty- but DePauw nudged ahead 10-7 at the half with a late field goal.
The Warhawks briefly swung in front early in the third when Karsten Libby returned his interception of Scott Ballentine pass 29 yards for a 14-10 Warhawk lead. Ballentine regrouped and delivered the game’s decisive sequence: a pair of touchdown passes sandwiched around a Whitewater field goal. The first scoring strike went to his brother, Robby, the second to Evan Pitzer which put DePauw ahead 23-17 with 11:47 left. Matthew Berry’s 24-yard field goal at 4:56 extended the margin to 26-17, and Whitewater’s final chance ended when Holt Heldebrand intercepted Klinkner on a deep attempt.
DePauw’s nation-leading run defense dominated the matchup, holding the Warhawks to 20 yards on 19 carries, while the Tigers churned out 175 rushing yards on 46 attempts and controlled possession by nearly 17 minutes. Carson Johnson ran for 73 yards, Whitehead added 59 and a score, and Robby Ballentine finished with 90 receiving yards and a touchdown. DePauw moves to 10-1, while Whitewater closes its season at 8-3.
Berry survived a far different contest in a rematch with LaGrange, grinding out an 18-14 win to advance to the third round. The Panthers set the tone early, marching 14 plays for 64 yards and a 1-yard Henry Brodnax touchdown to open the scoring. Berry finally broke through late in the first quarter when Andrew Hunter bounced loose for a 29-yard touchdown, and the Vikings added a 2-point conversion for an 8-7 lead with 3:44 left. A short punt early in the second quarter flipped momentum back to LaGrange when Kirk Scott took the first play of the possession 34 yards for a touchdown and the Panthers carried a 14-8 lead into halftime.
Berry erased that deficit quickly after the break. Just four snaps into the third quarter, Colby Sikes ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run to put the Vikings ahead 15-14. Berry extended the margin to 18-14 with a field goal at 13:26 of the fourth, and the defense took it from there. LaGrange mounted one final push, driving to the Berry 9 with under three minutes left, but Brodnax’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone. The Vikings picked up a first down on the ensuing possession and ran out the clock.
Berry’s offense didn’t find its usual rhythm, but the defense delivered three takeaways to offset LaGrange’s 343-315 edge in total yardage. Chaz Pope led the Vikings with six tackles and an interception, while Michael Clark added three tackles for loss. Kirk Scott was a standout for LaGrange, finishing with a game-high 126 rushing yards and a touchdown. Berry improves to 10-1 while LaGrange’s breakthrough season ends at 10-2.
UW-Platteville powered through the snow and into the round of 16, earning its first NCAA playoff win since 2013 with a 24-7 victory over Alma (8-3). The Pioneers controlled the game with a physical ground attack and a defense that smothered one of Division III’s top offensive units, holding the Scots to just 91 yards on the ground and 242 yards of offense overall.
After Alma took a brief 7-3 lead early in the second quarter, Platteville responded with a 13-play, 99-yard drive just before halftime. Starting from their own one-yard line, the Pioneers flipped the field with a 29-yard completion to Trevor Syse before Trevor Burnett finished the march with a 1-yard score that sent Platteville into the break up 10-7. Alma’s best second-half chance ended with a missed 37-yard field goal, and the Pioneers immediately made the miss hurt. Nathan Uselding capped another long possession with a 17-yard strike to Shane Crandall early in the fourth to extend the margin.
Platteville put the game away with a final eight-play march, highlighted by back-to-back chunk runs from Zackary Bothun before Uselding punched in a short touchdown to make it 24-7 with 4:41 remaining. Uselding delivered an efficient day overall, throwing for 216 yards and a touchdown while adding a score on the ground. Kristian Gavric was his top target, catching eight passes for 100 yards. Bothun led the Pioneer ground game with 148 yards on 20 carries.
The Pioneers’ defense matched the offense’s ball control with a disruptive performance of its own. Alma quarterback Carter St. John completed just 8 of 20 passes, and the Scots converted only one of their three red-zone trips. Elijah Krantz and Carter Contreras combined for 17 tackles, with Contreras adding a fumble recovery after Logan Drone jarred the ball loose. Platteville nearly doubled Alma in time of possession and went a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone.
Cooper Drews accounted for six touchdowns, three through the air and three on the ground, as Bethel rolled past Coe 51-26. Bethel is the top seed in the lower left-hand quadrant of the bracket. Four of those six touchdowns came in a first-half run that left the Royals (11-0) up 30-7 at halftime. Coe quarterback Brady Kelly was limited to 17-for-30 passing for 179 yards and was sacked eight times, along with throwing one interception. Bethel will face Platteville in the third round.
Salisbury punched its ticket to the round of 16 with a 35-28 win over Endicott, outlasting the visiting Gulls in a back-and-forth second half. Salisbury’s option attack set the tone early, with Dario Belizaire’s 42-yard touchdown and two first-half scores from SyRus McGowan helping the hosts build a 20-7 halftime lead. Endicott surged out of the break, stringing together consecutive touchdown drives and briefly moving in front, 21-20, before Salisbury’s ground game seized control again. McGowan capped a 10-play answer with his third rushing touchdown, and after a muffed punt set up Endicott’s tying score late in the third, the Sea Gulls opened the fourth with the decisive blow- a 23-yard strike from McGowan to Belizaire for a 35-28 advantage. From there, the Salisbury defense closed the door. The Sea Gulls delivered three stops in the final quarter, including a fourth-and-goal stop at the 1-yard line. McGowan finished with 216 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, Belizaire added 132 rushing yards one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown as Salisbury rolled up 359 rushing yards in the win.
John Carroll held Randolph-Macon to just 41 yards of total offense and put up nearly that many points as the Blue Streaks defeated the Yellow Jackets, 35-6. Randolph-Macon had just 29 snaps on offense on the day, Nick Semptimphelter nearly set another record for completion percentage, completing 31 of 33 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the win, a 93.9% completion percentage. The NCAA Division III playoff record is held by North Central's Luke Lehnen, who completed 16 of 17 passes in last year's national semifinals vs. Susquehanna, a 94.1% mark. The Blue Streaks will face former Ohio Athletic Conference rival Mount Union, which rolled past Muhlenberg, 49-7.
Dylan Wheeler caught 10 passes for 144 yards, including a St. John's playoff record four touchdowns, as the Johnnies defeated Monmouth 49-15. the Johnnies scored on their first four possessions of the second half to put the game out of reach. Trey Feeney, who finished 32 of 48 passing for 387 yards and six touchdowns as the Johnnies rolled up 551 yards of total offense and put up 49 points against a team that came into the weekend as the Division III leader in scoring defense (6.4 points per game), total defense (153.7 yards per game) and passing defense (84.0 ypg).