Down to the wire
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Here’s where our bracket stands today:
Division III NCAA Regional Rankings
No. Name In-Region Overall
1. Rowan (Pool A) 5-0 7-0
2. Hobart (Pool A) 5-0 7-0
3. Delaware Valley (Pool A) 8-0 8-0
4. Union (Pool A/Pool C) 6-0 8-0
5. Alfred (Pool A/Pool C) 6-0 7-1
6. Ithaca (Pool A) 7-1 7-1
7. RPI (Pool A/Pool C) 6-1 6-1
8. St. John Fisher (Pool A/C) 8-1 8-1
9. Cortland State (Pool C) 6-2 6-2
10. Wilkes (Pool C) 6-2 6-2
Being ranked at this point doesn't guarantee selection, winning the automatic bid does. Seven teams nationally will receive Pool C bids. There's no guarantee eight East teams (in the NCAA's definition of East, which includes three of our conferences plus the NEFC and MAC and a few independents) will make the field. The NCAA puts ACFC teams Salisbury and Wesley in the South, but we cover them in Around the East because they play traditional East teams in conference.
Rowan is in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in the East, and the NJAC’s Pool A bid (the automatic bid), should it win its last two games against William Paterson and Montclair. They must finish the season without quarterback Mike Orihel, who was initially expected to come back from an injury to his throwing hand suffered against Cortland. A recent re-examination found that season ending surgery is required. The Profs also lost senior defensive end and co-captain Brian Bond to a season ending knee injury against Kean on Oct. 22.
Rowan is 2-0 with backup quarterback Joe Rankin including a 22-0 win over Brockport State last week.
Hobart can nail down the Pool A and Liberty League title by beating Union this week.
Of its remaining two games Delaware Valley has one reasonably tough game against Widener on Nov 12. The Aggies should prevail for a Pool A.
If Ithaca can beat Alfred this week, it will grab the E8 title and the Pool A bid. If Alfred wins that opens the door for the Saxons or St. John Fisher to grab the conference title when they play on Nov. 12.
The NEFC champion, who’s not ranked in the region, grabs another Pool A bid.
We’ll look into the possibility of the undefeated teams losing their conference bid and the potential Pool C bids next week. For now, Alfred only has a shot at the E8 title by winning out. Any loss gives the Saxons two losses and will put them out of Pool C contention. If Ithaca loses to Alfred their two losses could knock them out of Pool C contention. RPI must win their final two games against Rochester and Union for Pool C consideration. St. John Fisher must beat Alfred on Nov. 12, in order to remain Pool C eligible. Cortland is a long shot, even if they beat Ithaca on Nov. 12, for Pool C. The early-season loss to Buffalo State doesn’t help against all the other one-loss Pool C contenders in the country.
We’ll also look at the possibility of the East getting two Pool C bids next week against the other Pool C contenders next week. Also we will look at which team may slide over to the East region to fill up our bracket.
Wesley rebounds against Salisbury
Wesley scored 35 points in the second quarter and rebounded from its worst defeat in 16 years to roll past No. 17 Salisbury 63-19 on Homecoming at Wolverine Stadium.
The Wolverines (8-1, 3-1 Atlantic Central Football Conference) took a 42-13 lead at halftime and extended it to 63-13 in the fourth quarter.
Salisbury (6-2, 3-1) managed just 201 yards of offense, including 76 on the ground, after averaging 396.4 yards rushing entering the game.
“We went from the worst day to the best,” said Wesley coach Mike Drass, referencing last week’s 47-0 loss at Brockport State. “This week was a life lesson for us. … They came back from that shellacking and they proved something.”
Junior quarterback Chris Warrick led the Wolverine offense completing 27 of 36 for 439 yards and four touchdowns, and added two quarterback sneaks for scores.
The Prof defense dominated Brockport holding the Golden Eagles to seven first downs and 165 total yards of offense. Rowan forced five interceptions and recovered one fumble. Brockport was only in the red zone once all game.
Prof defense shuts down Golden Eagles
On offense Matias Spahn drilled three field goals of 35, 31, 22 yards and one extra point. Dustin Katcher had one touchdown reception and Ulysses Encarnacion added a 2-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring at 22-0. Quarterback Joe Rankin was 26 of 43 for 244 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
Defensive end Keith Heimerl led the team with nine tackles. He also posted two sacks
and one forced fumble. Linebacker Zach Garren made seven stops and had one interception and two pass deflections. Linebacker Todd Trout also had seven tackles, including one sack. Safety Eric Bailey made six tackles, recovered one fumble, and had two interceptions and three pass deflections. Tackle Nick Tarasevich had one interception and two sacks, while cornerback Zakee Babb also had a pick.
“We lost (defensive end) Brian Bond and we had to move some things around. The defense hung in and they worked together. (Middle linebacker) Randy Tosh played some end, [outside linebacker] Zach Garren was moved to middle linebacker, and Todd Trout moved from weak to strongside linebacker,” said head coach Jay Accorsi.
“We rotated some new guys in like Chris Pinto and they had an impact,” added Accorsi.
“We moved some guys around and seemed to work out well. We practiced really hard on stunts during the week, and we played together as a team,” said Todd Trout.
Ithaca outlasts Springfield
Springfield sophomore quarterback Chris Sharpe threw a 23-yard touchdown pass and also scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown, but the Pride fell at home to No. 16 Ithaca 35-28, in SC’s Homecoming game at Benedum Field.
"You can't be happy with a close loss. The object is to win, not lose closely. We played better in the second half, but again we're disappointed," Springfield coach Mike DeLong said in The Rupublican. "We had a couple of opportunities here, but we played poorly in the first half, and you can't be happy with a close loss."
Ithaca (7-1, 5-0 Empire 8) senior quarterback Josh Felicetti completed 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Felicetti’s favorite target of the day, wide receiver Kelly Gordon, caught five passes for 76 yards, which were both career-highs for the junior.
Ithaca’s three running backs; junior James Davis, junior Alex Baez and sophomore Jamie Donovan, pounded out 66, 63 and 62 yards, respectively, for the Bombers. In total, Ithaca racked up 434 yards of offense.
Pride (2-5, 0-4) senior fullback Andre Clayton rushed for a team-best 75 yards on 21 carries to go along with a 3-yard touchdown run. Junior halfback Aland Joseph added 72 yards on just three carries, including a 65-yard touchdown run that put the Pride within reach (35-28) with 2:43 left in the game. SC totaled 328 total yards of rushing offense in the contest.
The Cadets rolled up a season-high 455 yards of total offense as they snapped a three-game losing streak with a 36-26 victory over Hartwick at Sabine Field. Norwich (3-5, 1-4 Empire 8) also got a season-high 254 yards rushing, twice its per-game average. Hartwick (4-4, 0-4 Empire 8) tallied 456 yards of total offense, 439 yards passing and 17 yards rushing.
Games to Watch
Hobart at Union, 1 p.m., Schenectady, N.Y.: The Liberty League Championship could be on the line again. In 2004, these two teams battled to overtime in which Hobart won 33-27. Both are undefeated in conference play. Union must win this week and beat RPI next week to take the title.
Alfred at Ithaca, 1 p.m., Ithaca, N.Y.: These two are undefeated in E8 play. Like Union, Alfred must win this week and beat St. John Fisher next week to capture the E8 title.
Notes
Linebacker Gene Lang led St. John Fisher with a team-high 17 tackles in a 43-2 St. John Fisher win over Utica. He made five unassisted stops and recorded one sack for a loss of 10 yards. Lang leads the Empire 8 with 112 tackles this season.
RPI’s Jimmy Robertson connected on 18 of 32 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including a long of 78 yards. He was intercepted just once. Among Jimmy's touchdown passes was an 8-yarder with just 28 seconds left in the first half, a 78-yarder in the third quarter to give RPI the lead (17-10) and a 42-yard strike late in the third quarter. With the win, Rensselaer retained the Transit Trophy.
Sean Ryan earns NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season after leading the Pioneers to a 38-0 non-conference road victory over Mount Ida. In William Paterson's most one-sided victory since 1994, he completed 13-of-15 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for an 11-yard score in the victory to go along with his scoring strikes of five, nine and nine yards apiece. Ryan currently ranks fifth in the NJAC in passer efficiency rating with a mark of 106.5.
Chris Warrick earned his fourth ACFC Offensive Player of the Week honor with a career day in Wesley’s victory over Salisbury. He threw for 439 yards going 28-of-37 for four touchdowns and he ran for two more scores.