/notables/2015/11/week10-top25-roundup

Top 25: T.More clinches; Wesley, St. Lawrence denied

More news about: Hobart | Salisbury | Thomas More

The team from Cincinnati beat the team from Cleveland to win a conference formerly based solely in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Thomas More athletics photo

Salisbury now has control of its own destiny in the New Jersey Athletic Conference race.
Salisbury athletics file photo

Thomas More clinched its bid to the playoffs, while Wesley and St. Lawrence were among those that had to wait on Saturday in Week 10's Top 25 action. 

Salisbury put Wesley's playoff bid on hold and potentially threw the Wolverines into the at-large discussion as the Sea Gulls defeated their Route 13 rival 38-35 on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Gulls can clinch the New Jersey Athletic Conference automatic bid next week with a win vs. archrival Frostburg State.

A back-and-forth game ended when Alex Potocko kicked a 36-yard field goal with 2:23 left and Wesley's final drive ended at its own 44-yard line. Wesley took its final lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter on a touchdown pass from Joe Callahan to Jamar Baynard. But Salisbury answered five plays later, with a 62-yard drive capped by a Brady Curley TD run to tie the game. The game remained tied until Potocko's heroics.

Hobart took over on its own 36-yard line with 47 seconds left in the game and used all but two of those seconds to drive and score the game-winning touchdown in a 19-17 win vs. No. 25 St. Lawrence. The Saints can still clinch the Liberty League's automatic bid with a win or an RPI loss.

No. 12 Thomas More scored once on special teams and once after a turnover in the fourth quarter to rally and defeat No. 18 Case Western Reserve 36-32, clinching the Presidents' Athletic Conference title. The Saints returned an extra point attempt 98 yards for a defensive two-point conversion to keep Case's lead to 32-29. Then after Jensen Gebhardt was picked off at the Case 4, Tyler Ellis forced a fumble and the Saints were in the end zone four plays later.

Kendall Roberson had another huge game, carrying the ball 50 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns and leading East Texas Baptist to a 27-21 upset win vs. No. 8 Hardin-Simmons. The win puts ETBU in control of the American Southwest Conference standings, but since the ASC has no automatic bid in 2015, any playoff bid is decided by the committee and the five ASC games will not be as important as the entire 10-game season. ETBU is 7-2 overall, but with non-conference games vs. Southwestern and non-Division III opponent Texas College, the Tigers will need to beat Mary Hardin-Baylor next week to have any shot at snagging the one Pool B playoff bid.

Wheaton made all sorts of tiebreaker conversations moot as the No. 7 Thunder scored twice in the fourth quarter to win at No. 22 Illinois Wesleyan, 40-27, to wrap up the CCIW's automatic bid. Stuart Walters rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns and Jonathan Germano threw for two scores and 304 yards as No. 11 Johns Hopkins wrapped up the Centennial Conference with a 45-24 win vs. Franklin and Marshall. 

No. 17 Washington and Lee remained undefeated and clinched the Old Dominion Athletic Conference automatic bid with a 52-33 win vs. Catholic. The Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to make the margin closer. W&L scored 21 points in the third quarter to lead 28-5 at halftime. The Generals won behind backup quarterback Matt Sgro, who was 5-for-6 passing in the W&L option attack. 

Top-ranked Mount Union was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in more than 40 games but the Purple Raiders recovered to defeat Baldwin Wallace 42-0. Mount Union needs to defeat John Carroll next week to clinch the Ohio Athletic Conference automatic bid. Taurice Scott was 21-for-27 passing and the Purple Raiders defense limited the Yellowjackets to 148 total yards.

Linfield won the Northwest Conference title for a conference-record seventh consecutive time as the No. 2 Wildcats defeated Puget Sound 72-3. It's the third game in a row that Linfield has held its opponent without a touchdown.

Devon Flynn kicked a 32-yard field goal to cap a wild comeback as Lycoming knocked off No. 19 Delaware Valley 43-42. The Warriors trailed 42-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter, but pulled within two on a touchdown pass form Chase Whiteman to Ryan Umpleby with under a minute to play. The Warriors failed on the two point conversion, but the Aggies failed to cover the onside kick, setting up the Warriors' game winning drive. Chase Whiteman finished with 372 yards and three touchdowns. The loss coupled with Albright's 30-26 victory over Stevenson puts Albright in first place in the MAC going into the final week.

UW-Oshkosh clinched its second WIAC automatic bid in three seasons as the Titans won 31-13 at UW-La Crosse. Devon Linzenmeyer had 100 rushing yards and Zach Kasuboski had 116 yards receiving, most of them from Brett Kasper. The Titans have won eight in a row after a season-opening loss to Robert Morris-Chicago, an NAIA scholarship program which is 6-3 after a 5-1 start.

St. Thomas exploded for a 36-point second quarter and rolled past Carleton 80-3 to clinch the automatic bid from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Tommies rolled up 628 yards of total offense with Jordan Roberts rushing for 104 yards and four scores and backup Tucker Trettel adding 110 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.

No. 13 St. John's didn't score in the last 40 minutes of the game but got more than enough early on to defeat Bethel 21-0 and ensure that the Johnnies will remain high in the West Region rankings. But they'll have to contend with UW-Whitewater, as the No. 6 Warhawks rolled over UW-River Falls 42-6.

Wabash and DePauw have set up a Monon Bell matchup with the NCAC automatic bid on the line. Wabash defeated Denison 38-7 while DePauw rolled over Oberlin. The Little Giants held Dushawn Brown, an All-America selection last season, to just 47 receiving yards.

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
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