By Adam Johnson
D3sports.com

It's Show Me Saturday in the West Region as six teams battle to show why they should be in the post season. Three teams will go for sure -- a couple others with have to wait on the selection committee.

From Thousand Oaks, Calif., to Waverly, Iowa, and Arden Hills, Minn., in between, three games are for all the marbles in determining the conference championship. 

Let's take a look at each game with a little help from some independent coaches who have played both teams.

In Minnesota, it has essentially become the annual conference championship showdown between No. 16 Bethel and No. 3 St. John's. This year the Royals host it and will look for their second straight win over the Johnnies. Both teams enter with undefeated conference records and a mix of interesting games this season. Comparing scores won't work for this game; St. John's squeaked by St. Olaf 30-29 while Bethel nipped St. Thomas 19-18. The Royals then trounced St. Olaf 35-14 while St. John's beat up St. Thomas 51-34. 

This game will come down to the players on the field and there are some good ones. St. John's quarterback Alex Kofoed will continue to add to his 10,000 career yards while Bethel quarterback Ben Wetzell will be dangerous on the ground and through the air.

"St. John's needs to stop Bethel's running game and Bethel needs to stop St. John's passing game," said Carleton coach Kurt Ramler, who lost to both teams including a nail-biter to St. John's. 

"This game is for all the beans in the conference," Ramler said. "It will likely determine MVP, as well, between Kofoed and Wetzell."

In Iowa, two more conference unbeaten teams will battle for the IIAC crown. No. 12 Wartburg and No. 4 Central will battle it out in Waverly for the automatic bid to the playoffs. Wartburg will rely on a stingy defense that allows just over a touchdown per game to slow the potent Dutch offense. Central quarterback Tim Connell has thrown 26 touchdowns this year helping minimize the limited role of running back Vance Schuring's due to injuries. 

"This game will come down to who can create turnovers," said Dubuque coach Vincent Brautigam, who lost to both teams including a 37-34 overtime thriller to Central. "Both teams take extremely good care of the ball."

Far out west, Cal Lutheran and Redlands will determine the SCIAC crown. Upstart Cal Lutheran hosts this match up and will aim for the undefeated conference record. Redlands is riding high averaging 51.5 points per game in their last four conference wins. Cal Lutheran is averaging 42 points per game through five wins so this game could likely be a shootout. Redlands quarterback Dan Selway has thrown for more than 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns while Cal Lutheran has used a committee of quarterbacks due to injury to throw for more than 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns. Both teams are complemented with solid rushing attacks with several running backs.

"Redlands is playing awfully good right now," said Occidental coach Dale Widolff whose Tigers beat Redlands early in the season and lost to Cal Lutheran. "This game should come down to Cal Lutheran's ability to play pass defense."

Three games, three coaches' opinions and three championships at stake -- that's what Show Me Saturday is all about.

Pirates pick off second straight NWC title

Whitworth picked up its second straight NWC title on Saturday thanks to the passes Phil Entel picked off. The senior free safety set a school record by intercepting three of the five interceptions by the Pirates, including one he returned 32 yards for a touchdown, in a 10-6 win against visiting Linfield.

Entel's interception return on the first play of the second quarter gave the Pirates a lead they would never relinquish. He then had two of the four second half interceptions that kept the Wildcats out of scoring range.

The Pirates clinched their second straight outright NWC title, they tied a school record for combined victories in back to back seasons (18, tying the consecutive nine-win seasons in 1960 and 1961), and defeated the Wildcats in back to back seasons for the first time since 1953 and 1954.

85 points in 88th meeting

Carleton and St. Olaf battle every year for the "Goat Trophy" -- the symbol for bragging rights between these two schools located in Northfield, Minn. St. Olaf nearly tallied a point for all 88 times these two teams have battled settling on 85 points after trailing 21-7 early in the second half. 

St. Olaf scored the game's final 63 points, including 28 in the third quarter and 28 more in the fourth.

The 85 points is the second-highest total in St. Olaf history, and the most points either team scored in this rivalry. The Oles have now won the last 11 head-to-head matchups against the Knights.

All facets covered

UW-Eau Claire used a full team effort on Saturday to defeat UW-Stevens Point 28-7. The BluGolds got two touchdowns on offense with a 20 yard pass to Tony Hull and a three yard run from Matt Olson. Tom Dohr scored on special teams, returning a blocked punt 32 yards for a touchdown to give UW-Eau Claire a 21-7 lead. Cornerback Kyle Muelemans sealed the victory with a 35 yard interception return for a score with under three minutes to play.

Run, Bearcats, run

Willamette tallied 11 rushing touchdowns against Lewis and Clark on Saturday in notching a 77-17 win. Nineteen players rushed the ball for the bearcats, lead by Skylar Swinford with 108 yards and one touchdown. Even Marcus Woo, who finished the day with minus-4 yards rushing, notched a touchdown. The Bearcats finished with 599 yards rushing on the day.

Cobbers close book on historic year

Four significant records were broken on Saturday in Concordia's final game of the season against Gustavus Adolphus. Running back Cory Johnson surpassed Mike Jousma as the all-time leading rusher in Cobber football history. Johnson tallied 66 rushing yards and now has 2,424 for his career. That bettered the mark of 2,393 set by Jousma from 1991-93. Johnson has 2,424 rushing yards on only 346 attempts averaging 7.0 yards per carry.

The next record on the list was the single-season touchdown mark set when Adam Swingdorf rammed his way for a 1-yard score. The touchdown set a new record for touchdowns in a single season and also rushing touchdowns in a single year. Swingdorf scored one more touchdown in the game and finished the year with 19 overall touchdowns and 18 rushing scores. 

A final pair of team scoring records also fell against the Gusties. The Cobbers' 34 total points helps them break the mark for points in a single season finishing with 416 total points. That mark breaks the old record of 408 set back in 2004. This year's offense also trumped the 2004 record for touchdowns in a single season. In 2004, CC scored 54 touchdowns on the year. This season, Concordia ended the year with 58. Last year the Cobbers scored 24 touchdowns.

He's back

Macalester's Jacob McDonnell returned from a broken back suffered in Week 3 against Carleton and got right back into the swing of things. He tallied 257 yards rushing and 107 receiving for six touchdowns in a 62-42 victory over Crown. He now has 13 touchdowns in four games. 

News, notes and things you may have missed

• UW-Whitewater running back Justin Beaver collected personal season highs in carries with 44, and rushing yards with 248 as he adds to the WIAC record on a weekly basis.
• Cornell senior linebacker Chris Gustafson tied the school's single-season record for tackles-for-loss with 19, also held by Brett Murdock (2001). 
• Menlo running back Shaun Souza tallied only 88 total yards of offense but collected five touchdowns in the 45-13 victory over Puget sound.
• Occidental's Alex Groh punted the ball five times for an average of 46.6 yards per attempt, with two landing inside the 20-yard line and his longest of the day sailing 50 yards.
• UW-La Crosse notched its 15th consecutive win against UW-River Falls, 49-34.
• Chicago (seven) and Northwestern (five) combined for 12 turnovers in their game.
• The Hamline Pipers ended an 11-game losing streak to the St. Thomas Tommies, 41-34.
• Luther running back Tyler Sherden rushed 40 times for 297 yards and five touchdowns in a 47-51 victory over Simpson.
• UW-Oshkosh's Andy Moriarity rushed for 314 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Titans past UW-Platteville 35-20. The senior has gained 602 yards and five touchdowns in the last two weeks.

He said it:
"He's a great player and a great kid," UW-Stout coach Duey Naatz said of Beaver, "In the history of this league, there's never been a better (running back)."

I asked Carleton coach, and Johnnie alum, Kurt Ramler if he didn't have a game this week, would he be at the St. John's/Bethel game. "I'd likely be recruiting." Ramler said. "Maybe I could go to the game and hand out business cards."

Hamline coach Jim Good on the turmoil of the season, shifting players around to different positions and getting the first conference win of his short MIAC career.

"We're just trying to get (the players) on the bus and then we're trying to get them in the right seats."