/notables/2023/11/week10-top25-wrap

Top 25 wrapup: Dramatic clinches

The UW-La Crosse sidelines stream onto the field after the game-ending field goal block.
Photo by Wade Gardner, d3photography.com
 

Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg survived a crazy day in the Centennial Conference, Wheaton won on the last play of the game, and UW-La Crosse won the WIAC's automatic bid in a manner just as dramatic as their last-second win against UW-Whitewater in October. This is the wrapup for Top 25 teams in Week 10.

No. 4 UW-La Crosse went to the last play of the game again in a battle against a WIAC power, as the game hung in doubt until Jack Kelly blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt by No. 7 UW-River Falls on the final play of the game, securing a 31-28 win. The Falcons were that close to coming all the way back to tie a game that had been 31-7 in La Crosse's favor early in the third quarter.

After that point, however, River Falls mounted two touchdown drives in the third quarter and one in the fourth, with quarterback Kaleb Blaha running for all three touchdowns and throwing a two-point conversion pass to Jake Hilton midway through the fourth. From there, La Crosse was able to run nearly four minutes off the clock, but River Falls got one final possession. The Falcons started on their own 22 and nearly went three-and-out, and brought the punt unit on, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout. But River Falls came back out and Blaha completed a 19-yard pass on fourth-and-5 to keep the drive alive. The Falcons got as close as the 10 and stopped the clock with an incomplete pass just out of Brody McKnight's reach out the back of the end zone, bringing on the field goal attempt.

The kick was blocked, apparently by Jack Kelly, and the celebration was on.

Who's clinched?

The following teams have clinched bids to the 2023 NCAA Division III football playoffs. Twenty-eight conferences receive automatic bids, with four at-large bids. The NESCAC does not participate in postseason play in football.

ARC: Wartburg
ASC: Hardin-Simmons
CC: Johns Hopkins
CCC: Endicott
CCIW: North Central
E8: Cortland
ECFC: Alfred State
HCAC: Mount St. Joseph
LAND: Susquehanna
LL: Ithaca
MAC: Delaware Valley
MASCAC: Western Connecticut
MIAA: Alma
MIAC: Bethel
MWC: Illinois College
NACC: Aurora
NCAC: DePauw
NEWMAC: Springfield
NJAC: Christopher Newport
NWC: Whitworth
OAC: Mount Union
ODAC: Randolph-Macon
PAC: Grove City
SAA: Trinity (Texas)
SCIAC: Chapman
UMAC: Minnesota-Morris
USAC: Belhaven
WIAC: UW-La Crosse

"Mitchell Collicott, our defensive line coach, runs the field goal block unit. And this year we were kind of like, we were using different guys. We were subbing and we just never got anything going," said UWL coach Matt Janus after the game.

"So me and Coach Gallicott in probably like Week 6 sat in his office and I said, 'I don't think it's worth the investment. I don't want to practice it anymore.' I don't want to, I don't want to move guys out anymore. We're going to do this. And he's the one guy who said, no, it's worth the investment. And I listened to him and sure glad I did."

No. 8 Johns Hopkins scored the final 21 points of Saturday's game Dickinson to turn a 23-13 deficit into a 34-23 victory that locked up at least a share of the Centennial Conference title and clinched a spot in the upcoming NCAA Division III Football playoffs. Dickinson had taken a 23-13 lead with back-to-back touchdowns in a 64-second span early in the third quarter. A 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Princeton Douglass was followed just over a minute later by a 9-yard Brendan Walker fumble return for a score that had given the Devils the 10-point lead.

Hardin-Simmons won, and got a little help, as the Cowboys clinched the American Southwest Conference automatic bid with a 59-19 win against Austin College and Mary Hardin-Baylor's win against East Texas Baptist. HSU (8-1, 5-0) got an interception return for a score from Carson Hanna, a kickoff return for a score from K.J. Peoples, and a Daemon Grimes punt return for a touchdown. HSU is the only team to have defeated UW-La Crosse.

No. 22 Muhlenberg survived and kept its at-large bid hopes intact as the Mules held on to win at home, 48-45 against Franklin & Marshall in double overtime. The Mules (8-1) had scored on a TD pass from Joe Repetti to Christopher Ard with 35 seconds left, and took a lead in the first OT when the same two connected for a 25-yard score. Franklin & Marshall (6-3) answered with a TD in overtime, but settled for the PAT kick and tied the game. Laurence Miller kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second OT but Repetti found James Nye in the end zone for a touchdown to let Muhlenberg close out the victory.

No. 12 Wheaton kept its at-large candidacy alive as well, as the Thunder scored on the final play of the game and went for the two-point conversion, defeating Washington U. 36-35. Ben Thorson's 34-yard Hail Mary pass found Seth Kortenhoeven among five Wash U defenders as the clock read 0:00, and Giovanni Weeks found the pilon on a toss sweep for the two-point conversion. Wheaton had led 28-20 with 8:57 to play before Wash U scored the next 15 points, including a Kenneth Hamilton 3-yard TD run with 1:10 left. But Wheaton took a short kickoff back out to its own 35, and Wheaton, still in possession of two timeouts, picked up 8, 13 and 15 yards to get into range.

Cortland made use of five interceptions and Zac Boyes threw four touchdown passes as Cortland clinched the Empire 8 automatic bid with a 41-17 win against Brockport. Cole Burgess caught nine passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns, including a 64-yarder late in the first quarter and a 71-yarder on the Red Dragons' first offensive snap after halftime. Brockport (7-2, 4-1) did get as close as 38-17 on a fumble return for a score by Kyle Haettich, but could not cut the deficit further.

Braxton Plunk threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as No. 2 Mount Union made it look easy against No. 13 John Carroll in a 49-14 win. JCU (7-2, 7-1) did cut a 28-7 deficit to 28-14 with a 79-yard drive on the opening possession of the second half, but Mount Union stopped them on fourth down at the Purple Raider 28 on the next drive, picked off the Blue Streaks on the team's subsequent possession, and forced two punts to seal the win. Wayne Ruby caught 10 passes for 137 yards and a score for Mount Union (9-0, 8-0), which clinched the Ohio Athletic Conference automatic bid.

Randolph-Macon clinched its return trip to the Division III playoffs, as the No. 10 Yellow Jackets rolled up 544 yards of total offense in a 49-16 win at Ferrum. Drew Campanale completed 12 of 19 passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns, while R-MC ran for 265 yards on the afternoon. The Yellow Jackets have scored at least 30 points in each of their past 27 games, the longest stretch in program history.

Connor McNabb rushed for 131 yards and one touchdown, and younger brother Luke McNabb passed for 249 yards and three scores in his first career start, leading ninth-ranked Linfield to a convincing 42-19 victory over Pacific Lutheran. The victory extended the Wildcats' Northwest Conference win streak to 33 consecutive games. More importantly, Linfield (8-0, 6-0) moved within one victory of clinching the program's fifth straight NWC crown. The 'Cats can sew up the league championship with a win at home next Saturday against unbeaten Whitworth.

No. 25 Delaware Valley rode its defense and its rushing attack to a 28-6 victory at Misericordia and its sixth consecutive MAC title, clinching the conference's automatic bid. The Aggies broke the game open midway through the third quarter when James Mahana blocked Misericordia's punt and the Aggies covered the ball at the Cougars' 30. Jack Fallon gained all 30 yards on that possession and picked up his second rushing touchdown, putting Del Val ahead 20-6. Fallon finished with 109 yards and two scores and the Del Val defense held the Cougars to 159 yards of total offense.

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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