Hauling in a bid With 19 automatic bids hanging in the balance for the final two weeks of the Division III football regular season, almost all the teams who had a chance to clinch Saturday did so. Widener clinched the Middle Atlantic Conference title, rallying from a 21-7 halftime deficit to beat Albright 28-24 (photo gallery). It ended Albright's seven-game winning streak. Franklin clinched the Heartland title with a win against Defiance, while TCNJ beat Buffalo State to wrap up the NJAC. Three Top 10 teams punched their ticket to the NCAA playoffs. No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor bounced back from the loss at No. 2 UW-Whitewater to dominate East Texas Baptist 72-7 in the ASC clincher. The Warhawks took care of business on the road, beating UW-Stout 26-10 to win another WIAC title. No. 9 Washington & Jefferson took the PAC's first automatic bid by handling Thomas More 42-0. Check out Saturday's scoreboard. Bryan Haywood's touchdown with under four minutes left was the deciding score in North Carolina Wesleyan's 24-17 win against Ferrum. The Battling Bishops are the USA South champions. Muhlenberg kept its undefeated season in tact and captured the Centennial title with a 31-7 win at Ursinus. The Illini-Badger conference narrowly avoided a messy four-way tie when Concordia (Wis.) squeaked by Benedictine 7-0 while the Liberty League is in a four-way tie after Hobart beat Union (photo gallery) and Rochester knocked off RPI. Nobody controls their own destiny in the LL in Week 11, all needing help to claim the automatic bid. The MIAA may also have to break out the rule book to solve its three-way tie. Olivet scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to surprise Hope 28-25 in Holland and forge a logjam between the Comets, Dutchmen and Alma. The Pool B picture got a little clearer as Case Western Reserve held off Washington U. 35-27 to remain unbeaten and get closer to locking up a playoff bid. Whitworth forced five turnovers to dump No. 12 Linfield 10-6. Pool B hopefuls No. 8 Wesley and No. 11 Salisbury are idle. The CCIW is still a three-team race after North Central beat upstart Illinois Wesleyan 23-7 and Carthage held off No. 4 Wheaton (Ill.) 35-27. The Thunder control their own destiny against Illinois Wesleyan next week. If IWU beats Wheaton (Ill.), North Central can grab the automatic bid by beating Carthage. No. 22 St. Olaf rallied from a 21-7 deficit to destroy crosstown rival Carleton 85-28. It's the highest point total in Division III this season, though margin of victory is not part of the playoff selection criteria. Alfred is slowly sinking back to earth after a 42-25 loss at Ithaca but remains in control of its own destiny in the Empire 8 and can clinch with a win at St. John Fisher next Saturday. Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon each won and will come into next week's game for the ODAC title a combined 15-3. They were fifth and seventh of seven teams in the conference's preseason poll. Elsewhere, Susquehanna did not complete a pass for the first 58 minutes but put together a drive, scoring a touchdown and adding a two-point conversion on the final play of the game to win at WPI 8-7. Birmingham-Southern picked up its first win since 1939, beating Sewanee, while Gallaudet picked up its second win of the season, defeating SUNY-Maritime 28-13. On Friday night, No. 18 Bethel survived Augsburg in a game under the lights in the Metrodome, 44-35. The Royals stay unbeaten in the MIAC heading into their Week 11 home game against St. John's. | |
| Permalink | Nov 3, 2007 | |
Case wins first outright UAA title
By Matt Florjancic D3football.com CLEVELAND -- Playing in the second-to-last game of the season with an outright University Athletic Association championship on the line was something the Case Western Reserve senior class could have only dreamt about four years ago. However, they trusted in a new coach, Greg Debeljak, and now the dream is a reality. The Spartans (9-0, 3-0 UAA) secured the school’s first-ever UAA championship with a 35-27 victory over the Washington University Bears (6-3, 1-2) in front of 2,392 fans at Case Field. “It was our goal at the beginning of the season,” Debeljak said of playing for the UAA crown. “I told the guys they had the chance to be the best football team at the school in the last 20 years and I set the bar too low. “I think they have the chance to be the best team this school has ever had,” he added. “I’m very happy for the group of guys, especially the seniors. I got the job four years ago in late March, so the recruiting season was pretty much over. We got four guys that stayed in and they became champions.” Claiming the UAA championship was a great accomplishment for a team that had just two winning seasons since 1991. Coincidentally, the last time the Spartans defeated Washington University was in 1991 by a 22-21 count. “Wash U is a program that we’re aspiring to be like,” said Debeljak. “A win against them to win the UAA outright, it’s very gratifying. Now, we’ve got to sustain, like they have over the last decade.” Late in the fourth quarter, Washington was driving and moved the ball out near midfield. On fourth-and-4 from their 49-yard-line, Bears quarterback Buck Smith found running back Jim O’Brien open over the middle. While Case middle linebacker Tom Brew was in pursuit of O’Brien, Bobby Bott ran up from his cornerback position and made the stop. O’Brien’s reception came up one yard short and Case took over on downs. “Our defensive coordinator Marcus Macalla and Tom Kaufman, the linebacker coach, have done a great job all year,” Debeljak said. “You just try to put your best players in position to make plays. That’s where we always try to put Tom (Brew), right in the middle. They ran ISO. They ran at our best player with their best guy and we stopped them.” “Guys were playing hard,” said Bears coach Larry Kindbom. “It wasn’t like the defenses weren’t playing hard. We’re not used to being in games like that. All of the sudden, we’re behind so we had to find a way to get back into it.” The Spartans began their drive at the 48-yard line with 1:38 showing on the fourth quarter clock and Washington University down to its final timeout. After Case quarterback Dan Whalen ran the ball back to the line of scrimmage on first down, the Bears burned their timeout, stopping play with 1:32 remaining. The Spartans wore the clock down to six seconds before punting away to the Bears. Whalen, who handles both the quarterbacking and punting duties for Case, sent the 32-yard kick to Washington University sophomore defensive back/kick returner Tim Machan. After receiving the punt at his 22, Machan ran to the far sideline before tossing the ball to Brandon Brown. With blockers in front, Brown turned worked his way to the 20 before pitching it to Bob Pine. With the UAA title and a long losing streak to Washington University hanging in the balance, Whalen and Brian Calderone put an end to the game by tackling Pine at the Case 14-yard-line. “I actually saw the Trinity (return) on film, but it’s one of the things that if it happens, it’s awesome,” Kindbom said. “We don’t sit and practice that. That shows how hard our guys were fighting to win that football game and that’s all I can ask them to do. “I’m real proud of them,” he added. “They played hard and had to come through injuries. Guys have had to step up. It was a football team that put its heart on the line and we came up short.” Washington University opened the scoring in the first quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run from Matt Glenn. The scamper capped off a five-play, 75-yard drive that took 2:01 of game time. The extra point attempt was blocked by Brew, holding the score at 6-0 in favor of the Bears. Later in the game, Case would block a second PAT attempt. “There was so much time left in the game,” Kindbom said. “Obviously, it is a momentum kind of a thing we had to deal with at the time. It wasn’t like we felt like we had to do anything special to come back into the game. It’s one of those things you like to think you’re going to get done and we didn’t get it done.” Case answered with a 50-yard scoring strike from Whalen to high school teammate Shaun Nicely. Sam Coffey’s extra point was good, giving the Spartans their first lead of the contest. Glenn and Nicely were not done scoring in the game. On the ensuing drive after Nicely’s first touchdown, Glenn went back to work for the Bears. Facing a first-and-goal from the 7, Glenn took the handoff between the right guard and tackle for six points. The two-point conversion was good, giving Washington U. the 14-7 edge over Case. On their next drive, Case went back to the aerial game. Nicely hauled a 33-yard touchdown reception and the extra point tied the game at 14. Nicely caught 12 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, while Washington University receiver Matt Koenigsknecht corralled five passes for 118 yards and a score. “We wanted to attack their corners with double moves and Dan was just putting the ball right there,” Debeljak said. “The line was blocking well. I was a little concerned when we couldn’t run the ball real well, but we came out in the second half and did some nice things. It was a great game and it turned on just a few key plays, as most big games do.” “Wash U.’s usually a more cover four (team),” Whalen said. “In the first quarter, they put everybody up five yards off the line of scrimmage and they were pressing hard. They really forced us to throw the football.” Thirty-five seconds before halftime, Case running back Corey Checkan scored from one yard away. Washington University scored twice in the third quarter, but Case posted the final points of the game. In nine seconds, Case scored two touchdowns. The first was a 22-yard pass from Whalen to Nicely, while the second touchdown came on a 32-yard fumble return by Calderone. | |
| Permalink | Nov 3, 2007 | |
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