Arsen Shtefan had a big day for Springfield, with a touchdown and an onside kick recovery to seal the game. Springfield athletics photo

Carnegie Mellon rolled past DePauw, Springfield pulled off the road victory and Ithaca and North Central cruised in first-round action in the Division III football playoffs on Saturday. This recap covers games in the top right-hand bracket, or the North Central bracket.

Carnegie Mellon will play at North Central, while Ithaca will host Springfield. These sites will be formalized on Sunday.

• Playoff scoreboard
• Updated bracket
• Top left bracket: NACC, ARC send WIAC packing
• Top right bracket: Springfield picks up road win; home teams cruise
• Bottom left bracket: R-MC, Utica get stops; Mount, Del Val win big
• Bottom right bracket: Trinity wins on last-minute TD; Bethel edges Wheaton
• Even more game stories

Springfield handed Endicott its first loss of the season as the Pride ran past Endicott 17-14 on Saturday. On the opening drive, Endicott forced a fumble to turn the Pride over as Springfield coughed the ball up for just the fourth time this season. The Pride's defense get Endicott off the field in three plays, however, and Springfield's offense would strike 2:49 later as Arsen Shtefan powered in from 2 yards out with 6:31 on the clock.

The score remained that way until the first drive of the second half, when Endicott's Clayton Marengi found Shane Aylward for a 53-yard strike down the middle of the field to knot the game up at 7-7. Springfield answered with a time-burning 13-play drive. On third down from inside Endicott's 10 yard line, Blane Hart found the edge on the left and scampered into the end zone to put the Pride up 14-7 with 6:22 left in the third. Springfield also blocked a field goal, then Christian Hutra converted a field goal for the Pride, making it 17-7 and rendering Endicott's fourth-quarter drive for a touchdown too little too late.

DePauw forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, setting the Tigers up with excellent field position and allowing DePauw to take a 7-0 lead at Carnegie Mellon. But the Tartans slashed their way to 42 consecutive points and went on to win 45-14.

"I couldn't think of a group that I would be more proud and more excited to have Thanksgiving with," said CMU coach Ryan Larsen. "Since the day I've gotten here, these guys have embraced any change that we have made and we built off a solid foundation that was already existing here."

The win is the 18th in a row for CMU, and sets up what would have been a rematch for the Tartans, as the teams should have met in the first round of last year's playoffs. CMU vacated its spot in the 2021 playoffs because of positive COVID tests. 

Carnegie Mellon outgained DePauw 419-215 in total offense, led by Ben Mills completing 16 of 23 passes for 204 yards and three scores, while Tre Vasiliadis rushed for 167 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns.

Ithaca turned three UMass-Dartmouth turnovers into touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the game, and went on to cruise past the Corsairs, 63-20 on Saturday. UMass-Dartmouth received the opening kick but gave the ball to IC on its second snap as Jordan Sosa notched a strip sack and recovery at the UMD 24-yard line. With 12:42 on the clock, Jake Williams caught an 11-yard pass from A.J. Wingfield to give IC a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Donte Garcia forced a fumble and Tamir Rowser recovered at the UMD 29-yard line. Three minutes later, Williams pounded in his second score of the day with another 1-yard run at the 9:50 mark to make it a 14-0 game. It took just two more plays for the Corsairs to turn the ball over again as Matt DeSimpliciis knocked the ball away on a running play and Michael Roumes fell on the loose ball at the 27. The Bombers needed one play to move down to the goal line as Michael Anderson took a reverse 25 yards down to the 2. A heavy dose of Williams put the Bombers ahead 21-0 with 8:35 to go on a 1-yard run for his third score of the contest.

Extending its recent run of overpowering defense into the first round of the postseason, North Central ran past Lake Forest, 50-0. For the second time this season, the Cardinals (11-0) re-set the record for fewest total yards allowed, as the Foresters were outgained 558-66. The game featured Ethan Greenfield's 19th rushing touchdown of the season to go along with 18 carries for 131 yards, while Luke Lehnen was 15-for-21 passing for 215 yards. Lehnen threw for three tocudowns and ran for two more in the win.