No, there's no Pool C trophy, but if there were, Muhlenberg would have gotten one of those for its trophy case as well. Muhlenberg athletics photo

Five weeks to Salem. We knew Johns Hopkins, Christopher Newport, and Wesley would have an opportunity to get there. Two other Mid-Atlantic teams will join them. The Wolverines will host ODAC champ Hampden-Sydney, the Blue Jays will host NJAC champ Rowan, the Captains travel to MAC runner-up Delaware Valley, and Muhlenberg earned a Pool C berth and will travel to MAC champ Widener.

Join the bracket challenge and see if you can best my picks, which include a Mid-Atlantic team playing in the Stagg Bowl on Dec. 19.

Muhlenberg is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2010, and the first time ever as a Pool C selection. There are very few conferences in the country with the credibility and level of competition to present a strong at-large case for the conference runner-up. With nine conference games each season, Centennial Conference teams have a miniscule non-conference resume. Their strength of schedule is largely dependent on their conference rivals.

The Centennial teams went 7-3 in non-conference play this season. The Mules defeated 2-8 Wilkes in the season opener. But they played conference champion No. 7 Johns Hopkins tough, trailing just 28-23 early in the fourth quarter before losing 42-26. That game was also played in September, and the Mules closed the regular season with six straight victories. Their average margin of victory in nine wins was 27.8. Those factors built a solid resume and the selection committee took notice.

“We expected to be in,” said Mules head coach Mike Donnelly. “We felt we were deserving. We know that every game counts and we know that you can be 9-1 and be a bubble team.”

In the second NCAA regional rankings, Muhlenberg was tied with Texas Lutheran for fifth in the South Region, ahead of Centre. Both TLU and Centre earned at-large bids to the tournament. The Mules knew they would have at least one more game to play, whether it was a first round tournament game or an ECAC bowl game.

They earned a trip to undefeated MAC champion Widener, renewing an old rivalry that was last played in 1982. The following year, Muhlenberg left the MAC to join the Centennial and the teams have not met since.

The Mules are led by sophomore quarterback Nick Palladino and freshman running back Max Cepeda, but the tone was set by the upperclassmen who took the program to a new level in the offseason.

“This team has worked extremely hard. Our kids have been just crazy workaholics,” said Donnelly. “After last year’s offseason, that was the one thing that became obvious. Each team is known for one thing and for this team it’s their work ethic.”

Palladino is playing well beyond his years. He tossed 23 touchdowns to just two interceptions this season. He averaged 261 passing yards per game and directed an offense that put up 431.5 yards and 38.6 points per game.

“He’s very intelligent. He’s playing the quarterback position at a level beyond his age,” said Donnelly. “He’s a great competitor and he’s got a tremendous arm. He’s got all of the components to be a great quarterback.”

Most importantly, he has not tried to do too much. He turned the ball over just four times all season and never turned it over twice in the same game. Sometimes, he was counted on to sling the ball all over the field. Other times, he was asked to be a game manager. No matter what he was asked to do, he delivered.

“He does a great job of implementing the coaches’ game plan each week,” said Donnelly. “He is extremely flexible.”

#ODACtion

Long story short, Hampden-Sydney will represent the ODAC in the playoffs for the fifth time six years. The Tigers will limp into the postseason after losing the biggest game of the season battling injuries, but they are happy to be back in the postseason for the second straight year. The Tigers finished tied atop to conference at 5-2, along with Guilford, Bridgewater, and Emory and Henry. The ODAC tiebreaker takes each team’s record against the teams with which it is tied. Guilford and Hampden-Sydney each went 2-1 against the three teams they were tied with at 5-2, while Bridgewater and Emory and Henry are eliminated by virtue of their 1-2 marks against those opponents. Then, the next tiebreaker gives Hampden-Sydney the title by virtue of its 35-28 overtime head-to-head win over the Quakers.

This season closely parallels the 2008 ODAC season. Both years, Emory and Henry was picked to finish last in the coaches’ preseason poll. Both years, the Wasps were one of four teams to earn a share of the conference title. Both years, the team to earn the conference’s automatic playoff berth by virtue of the tiebreakers was not one of the teams with the best overall record.

“The four-way tie speaks to the parity we mention each year. Over the past few years we have had the final week’s games in play for the title,” said ODAC commissioner Brad Bankston. “I think it speaks to the solid competition we have in the conference. I observed a number of weeks during the conference season when all four games came down to seven point or less. That is pretty impressive balance in my opinion. It is exciting to be associated with a conference where the competition is so balanced week in and week out.”

In 2008, Catholic and Hampden-Sydney both finished 8-2 (4-2). Emory and Henry and Randolph-Macon both finished 6-4 (4-2). The Wasps were coming off of an 0-10 season which included four forfeited wins. Heading into the final weeks of the season, the Tigers were in the driver’s seat after opening conference play 4-0. They dropped their final two conference games, to the Cardinals and Yellow Jackets. With its win in The Game, Randolph-Macon earned the conference’s coveted Pool A berth. Catholic could have won outright, but was upset by 3-6 Bridgewater in the regular season finale. The Yellow Jackets earned a trip to Alliance, where there were defeated by Mount Union, 56-0.

This year, Hampden-Sydney needed to win The Game to win the title outright. The Tigers played most of the game without a key playmaker on each side of the ball. Holton Walker only had three receptions for 39 yards in the first quarter. Safety John Moore had three tackles before leaving with an injury. The Yellow Jackets defense, led by defensive backs Danny Hunt, Deshaun Rogers, and Ryan Burns, gave the Tigers fits all day. Randolph-Macon held Nash Nance to a 16-44, 171 yards, one touchdown, two interception day. The Yellow Jackets offense controlled the game from start to finish, led by John Byrd’s 30 carries for 146 yards and two scores. Randolph-Macon’s first two drives of the game totaled 163 yards, but resulted in zero points due to two missed field goal attempts. But those drives set the tone for the game, in which R-MC possessed the ball for 38:34 and racked up 470 yards of offense compared to just 21:26 and 250 yards for H-SC.

While the Tigers were being upset at home, 220 miles to the southwest Emory and Henry was trying to keep pace with Guilford. The Quakers had taken Hampden-Sydney to overtime the week prior, but came up short. That, coupled with an Oct. 11 loss at Shenandoah, eliminated Guilford from contention for the automatic bid. The Wasps, on the other hand, had everything at stake on Saturday. When the result from Farmville went final, the Wasps had recently cut their deficit to three points. From there, it was all Guilford. The Quakers scored the final 21 points of the game to close out a 52-28 win and create a logjam at the top of the ODAC. Matt Pawlowski played brilliantly, completing 38 of 48 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns with no turnovers. Austen Thompson caught ten passes for 71 yards and three scores. The Quakers defense, led by Satiir Stevenson, held freshman Kevin Saxton to 203 yards passing and three turnovers with a completion percentage below 50.

The fourth team to claim a share of the title did so with little drama in Week 12. Bridgewater defeated Catholic, 40-13, behind 141 yards and four touchdowns from running back Jacob Wright. The turnarounds at the top are remarkable. Bridgewater claimed its first ODAC title since winning six straight to begin this century. The Eagles won just one conference game last season. Emory and Henry had no posted a winning record in league play since sharing that 2008 title. Their last 8-2 season came in 2000. Under first-year head coach Curt Newsome and with a freshman quarterback, expectations outside of the program were low entering the 2014 season. Guilford was winless in 2010, but has since improved in each of Chris Rusiewicz’s four seasons at the helm. The Quakers last 8-2 season came in 1997.

“I would put our coaches up against any in the country. I don’t think there was much doubt that Guilford and E&H were going to get better. Both Coach Rusiewicz and Newsome entered the league with impressive credentials,” said Bankston. “It shows that a lot of hard work and a great staff can turn your program around. I look forward to watching the league continue to improve in the years to come.”

While Hampden-Sydney will repeat as the ODAC’s playoff representative, there is plenty of competition for the top spot. The Tigers will graduate some of the conference’s top players, while the Quakers and Wasps return some of this season’s top performers. Shenandoah is on the rise and Washington and Lee expects to bounce back after an injury-ravaged season.

“All of the programs have invested in their facilities, coaching staffs and support in an effort to improve – a formula that spells a competitive conference for sure,” said Bankston. “Much of the credit for those improvements goes to the administrations and coaching staffs that have worked so hard to improve all aspects of their programs.”

The parity that gave rise to #ODACtion is not going anywhere.

Going out on a high note

Washington and Lee got back to form after a disappointing and frustrating season, rushing for 460 yards and scoring the final 26 points of the game in a 40-23 win over Shenandoah.

Ursinus rallied from a 24-7 deficit to defeat Dickinson, 47-31. Bears quarterback Kevin Monahan set a record with 442 passing yards and his main target, Darius Jones, set a program record with 263 receiving yards. On the other side of the ball, Red Devils running back Cedric Madden rushed 34 times for 270 yards, becoming the first Dickinson back to eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier since 1992. He finished his junior season with 1,160 yards.

Huntingdon and Maryville finished tied for second in the USA South. The Hawks finished 7-3 again in their second season as a member of the conference, defeating N.C. Wesleyan in the season finale behind a ground attack that piled up 339 rushing yards. Jay Ware and John Iwaniec each rushed for over 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns. The Hawks handed champion Christopher Newport its only conference loss of the season and should be a favorite to win in 2015 with the Captains departing for the NJAC. The Scots fell short in their bid for a third straight share of the conference title, but closed the season with a thrilling 24-23 win over Methodist. The Monarchs scored with five seconds remaining, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the ensuing celebration led to a 25-yard point after attempt, which the usually reliable Cody Ausherman missed.

Ward Udinski passed for 416 yards to lead Juniata to a .500 season. The Eagles’ 12 wins over the past two seasons is the most in a two-year span for the program since the Eagles won 13 games in 1987-88.

Gettysburg won the inaugural Lincoln Football Trophy, defeating Franklin and Marshall behind quarterback Sam McDermott who rushed for 106 yards and passed for 155.

Superlatives

Now, a look at the top individual performers who made this a memorable season in the Mid-Atlantic:

Scoring

Jacob Wright, Bridgewater, 10.8 points per game
Ward Udinski, Juniata, 10.2 points per game
Connor Winter, Muhlenberg, 9.2 points per game

Passing

Matt Pawlowski, Guilford, 347.6 yards per game
Graham Craig, LaGrange, 326.8 yards per game
Ward Udinski, Juniata, 287.8 yards per game

Rushing

Jacques Alston, N.C. Wesleyan, 146 yards per game
Cedrick Delaney, Shenandoah, 123.9 yards per game
Cedric Madden, Dickinson, 116.5 yards per game & John Byrd, Randolph-Macon, 116.2 yards per game

Receiving

Rudy Rudolph, Christopher Newport, 128.9 yards per game
Holton Walker, Hampden-Sydney, 118.3 yards per game
Adam Smith, Guilford, 107.2 yards per game

Interceptions

JerMario Gooch, Guilford, and Roth Healey, Emory and Henry, 6
Clint Peregoy, Emory and Henry; Jimmy McCarthy, Moravian, Jeremy Murphy, Huntingdon; and Josh White, Shenandoah, 5

Sacks

Steve Ambs, Ursinus, 12
Aamir Petrose, Wesley, 9.5
Michael Longo, Johns Hopkins, 8.5

Total Tackles

Zach Brownell, Huntingdon, 12 per game
Jim Barry, Susquehanna, 11.8 per game
Michael Messick, Shenandoah, 11.7

National Leaders

Jim Barry, Susquehanna, 87 solo tackles
Matt Pawlowski, Guilford, 38 passing touchdowns
Mark Manganaro, Dickinson, and Jeremy Murphy, Huntingdon, 4 blocked kicks

Gratitude

Another exciting regular season is in the books, but we still have five more weeks of football to enjoy. My thanks to all of you who read the column this year. Many thanks to those parents, players, coaches and fans who talked D3football with me throughout the season. A big thanks to all the SIDs who helped me each and every week. Thank you to Pat and Ryan for their tireless efforts editing and running this site. I am still humbled to write for the website that has been my laptop's homepage since 2003. I'll be writing playoff features over the next five weeks, so please keep reading. I hope to see many of you in Salem on Dec. 19.