Susquehanna University's football team makes it eight home games on the year this Saturday as their NCAA Third Round success beating Saint John's 41-38 set them up with a Saturday noon matchup against Bethel, coming off a 24-14 win over Wartburg, in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The River Hawks enter the fray with an 11-1 record, getting this far with tournament wins over Hobart and SJU, while Bethel is 11-2 by way of three playoff victories over Coe, Lake Forest, and Wartburg.

Saturday's quarterfinals game marks Susquehanna's first NCAA Elite Eight berth since 1991, while its 11 wins ties the program record for season wins set twice before between the NCAA-bound 1986 and 1991 teams. A win Saturday would advance SU to the semifinals, a feat matched only one other time by the 1991 squad, where they would face the winner of the Springfield-North Central matchup happening at North Central. On the other side of the bracket it's Mary Hardin-Baylor versus Johns Hopkins, Susquehanna's former Centennial Conference adversary, along with Salisbury against Mount Union. All semifinals games will kick off at 12 noon local time. The River Hawks hold a 5-5 all-time record in NCAA playoff games, including one from 1986 and two in 1991.

The Landmark Conference-champion River Hawks made it a pleasant flight back to Pennsylvania last Saturday night when they stunned the Johnnies on a walkoff field goal from Dominic Bourgeois from 37 yards out. The senior kicker also drilled a 43-yarder earlier in the game for the longest of his career. The day was highlighted with plenty of offensive firepower as senior receiver Kyle Howes tied his career high with ten receptions for 113 yards, with his one touchdown reception coming on a one-yard grab on fourth and goal to give Susquehanna its first lead of the game at 31-24 late in the third quarter. Rookie running back Rahshan La Mons notched another pillar to his historic campaign with 176 yards rushing on 29 carries and three touchdowns, including a 30-yard touchdown run for his longest of the game that gave the River Hawks a 38-24 lead. Quarterback Josh Ehrlich connected on 25-of-37 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown, while running for 51 yards on 16 carries for one touchdown and a long of 19. Susquehanna's defense stood in to keep Saint John's at bay, despite a prolific performance from SJU All-American quarterback Aaron Syverson who finished his day with 466 yards passing and completing 37-of-46. The line got to Syverson twice thanks to the play of Tim Pherson Jr. and Jake Schultes. The latter produced the game's only turnover as Schultes strip sacked Syverson on their way to the ground, taking the ball away from him. 

More good news followed this week as Susquehanna earned six D3football.com All-Region 2 selections, including three first-teamers in Howes, La Mons, and senior linebacker Garrett Carter. Ehrlich and junior defensive lineman Brian Layton received Second Team All-Region, while senior left tackle Nick Gonzalez picked up Third Team. Howes has caught 70 passes for 1,130 yards and 16 touchdown grabs, along with two rushing touchdowns and a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown to his credit for 19 total touchdowns. Howes is second all-time on the career boards with 197 receptions, 2,825 receiving yards, and 35 touchdown receptions. La Mons' big day Saturday at SJU helped him set the school record for rushing yards in a season with 1,453 and second with 18 touchdown rushes, one away from the mark set by Da'Avian Ellington in 2019. He holds the school record with 2,284 all-purpose yards split between his 402 receiving yards where he racked up three touchdown receptions off 36 catches, and 429 return yards where he took three punts back for touchdowns, a grand total of 24 touchdowns on the season. To boot, he threw a touchdown pass to Ehrlich at Wilkes on Oct. 21 on a halfback option play. Ehrlich stands fourth all-time with 5,881 yards of total offense between 4,426 passing yards (fifth all-time) and 1,455 rushing yards, while ranking fifth with 354 completions and 45 passing touchdowns. He holds the program season record with 2,864 passing yards, 32 touchdown passes, and 3,465 total offensive yards, while rocketing to second with 204 season completions, putting him 14 away from the mark set by Nick Crusco in 2017. Carter currently ranks sixth all-time with 11 career sacks, including five in 2023 and two this season, while leading the team this year in tackles with 74, including 32 solo and nine for loss. 

On the NCAA Division III national leaderboard Susquehanna possess the eighth-highest scoring offense with 47.3 points per game, fourth with a 57.5 third-down conversion percentage, first with 24.24 punt return yards per game - despite punting units opting to punt it away from the returners late in the season, seventh with 248.2 rushing yards per game, eighth with a 177.93 passing efficiency, third with 520.3 total offensive yards per game, and fifth with a 91.7 win percentage. Individually La Mons ranks third with 190.33 all-purpose yards per game, first with three punt return touchdowns, eighth with 7.16 rushing yards per carry, fifth with 12.0 points scored per game, and fourth with 24 total touchdowns. Ehrlich holds the ninth-best completion percentage in Div. III at 70.3, eighth with a 187.0 passing efficiency, seventh with 264 points responsible for, and 12 with 9.88 yards per pass attempt. Howes ranks ninth nationally this year with 16 touchdown receptions, 15th with 1,130 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns, and 16th with 114 total points scored.