Four easy wins in Brockport bracket

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RPI defense (RPI athletics file photo by Mick Neal)
RPI's defense allowed just one score in the Engineers' 38-14 win vs. Husson.
RPI athletics file photo by Mick Neal
 

Chalk reigned supreme as all four home teams won by at least two scores in the bottom right-hand corner of the bracket in the first round of the 2018 Division III football playoffs.

 

The past decade of playoffs

Here's how Division III conferences have performed in the playoffs over the past 10 postseasons, from 2009 through the first round of 2018:

 
  Conference W L Pct.  
  WIAC 44 9 .830  
  OAC 46 13 .780  
  Independents 16 7 .696  
  MIAC 30 15 .667  
  ASC 26 15 .634  
  NWC 18 12 .600  
  E8 17 12 .586  
  CCIW 17 15 .531  
  MAC 12 12 .500  
  NJAC 13 13 .500  
  Centennial 8 10 .444  
  NCAC 10 13 .435  
  SAA 3 4 .429  
  LL 6 9 .400  
  IIAC 7 12 .368  
  PAC 6 12 .333  
  HCAC 3 10 .231  
  MIAA 3 10 .231  
  SCAC 1 4 .200  
  USAC 2 10 .167  
  MWC 2 10 .167  
  ODAC 2 10 .167  
  NEFC/CCC 2 12 .143  
  ECFC 1 9 .100  
  NEWMAC 0 2 .000  
  UAA 0 2 .000  
  MASCAC 0 4 .000  
  UMAC 0 8 .000  
  NACC 0 10 .000  
  SCIAC 0 11 .000  

Brockport jumped out to a 24-0 lead and held on as Framingham State kept it respectable in the second half of a 40-27 win. Adam Wojenski threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one of them with 45 seconds left, as Framingham rolled up 453 yards of total offense in the loss. Just 3 of those yards came on the ground on 19 carries. Daquan Hubbard caught five passes for 159 yards and a touchdown as Joe Germinerio threw three touchdown passes, but completed just 19 of 40 passes in the win. Austin Dean picked up five quarterback hits, a sack and two tackles for loss.

RPI put Husson away in the second half, as George Marinopoulos threw three touchdown passes in a 38-14 win. Cory Brandon hit Kyle Gaudet for a 35-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter to tie the game for the Eagles (8-3), but the Engineers kept the Husson offense in check the rest of the way. Quan Soyini returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-14 with 7:57 left, but Brandon threw an interception on Husson's next possession and RPI scored one play later. Luke Watanabe picked off a pass and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown to seal the game with eight seconds left. RPI will travel to Brockport for the second-round game next Saturday.

Connor Cox was efficient early and his Frostburg State teammates made that stand up as the Bobcats defeated Western New England 42-24. The Bobcats were hosting an NCAA playoff game for the first time since 1993 and gave the crowd something to be excited about, as the two teams combined for 1,039 yards, 54 first downs and nine touchdowns. Frostburg finished with 582 yards in offense, the most in a single game since early in the 2013 campaign. Cox threw for a career-high 381 yards on 21-of-26 pass attempts with three touchdowns. Meanwhile, junior Malik Morris hauled in 11 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns and the Cox/Morris duo connected for a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter for a 21-10 FSU lead at the half.

The Bobcats will host Johns Hopkins, which made efficient work of MIT, taking a 42-0 lead into the locker room en route to a 49-0 victory. David Tammaro completed 21 of 27 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns, all of them in the first half, to stake the Blue Jays (10-1) to the big lead. Johns Hopkins outgained MIT 677 yards to 200. Freshman Nick Seidel posted a team-high five tackles for the Johns Hopkins defense, which allowed just 3.2 yards per play, held the Engineers to a 5-of-17 showing on third down attempts and forced 10 punts on 13 MIT possessions.