/notables/2018/11/week10-top25-roundup

Top 25: NCC beats IWU, UST rallies, Salisbury upset

North Central comes up to the line.
North Central had a big day on offense at Illinois Wesleyan.
North Central athletics file photo by Steve Woltmann
 

Wesley knocked off its unbeaten archrival, North Central handled Illinois Wesleyan, St. Thomas had to rally down two scores in the fourth quarter and Bethel made sure everyone knew it was ranked for a reason in Saturday's Division III football Top 25 action. 

Wesley missed an extra point with 61 seconds to play, missed another in overtime, Khaaliq Burroughs threw five interceptions and Wesley still knocked off its archrival, defeating No. 18 Salisbury 19-13. The loss is the first on the season for the Sea Gulls after eight consecutive wins. The Wolverines held the option offense of the Sea Gulls to 195 yards, all of them on the ground. Wesley improved to 6-3, 5-3 in the NJAC, with all three losses coming by one point apiece.

Devinne Greene had three of the five Sea Gull interceptions, one of which set Salisbury up on the 41-yard line and led to its second touchdown, giving his team a 13-0 lead. 

North Central scored 24 consecutive points from the second to fourth quarter and the No. 10 Cardinals pulled away to a 38-20 victory at No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan. After a 24-yard touchdown pass by Brandon Bauer tied the game at 14 apiece late in the second quarter, the Cardinals immediately answered,as Cameron Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to allow NCC to retake the lead. The Cardinals opened the second half with a 63-yard touchdown drive to take the lead, then followed with a 98-yard drive early in the fourth. Broc Rutter made an 86-yard completion to Michael Sfikas on third-and-14, then ran the ball in from 6 yards out on the next play to give North Central a three-touchdown advantage.

In the tournament

The following teams have qualified for the 2018 NCAA Division III playoffs:

Berry (SAA)
Brockport (E8)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (SCIAC)
Delaware Valley (MAC)
Denison (NCAC)
Eureka (NACC)
Framingham State (MASCAC)
Frostburg State (NJAC)
Hanover (HCAC)
Husson (ECFC)
Johns Hopkins (CC)
Martin Luther (UMAC)
Mary Hardin-Baylor (ASC)
Marvyille (USAC)
Mount Union (OAC)
North Central (CCIW)
Randolph-Macon (ODAC)
RPI (LL)
St. John's (MIAC)
St. Norbert (MWC)
Trine (MIAA)
UW-Whitewater (WIAC)
Wartburg (ARC)
Washington & Jefferson (PAC)
Western New England (CCC)
Whitworth (NWC)

St. Thomas took its first lead with 2:28 left in the game and the No. 7-ranked Tommies rallied to win 14-13 at Gustavus Adolphus. The Tommies, who were shut out through three quarters for the first time since the 2011 national semifinals at UW-Whitewater, brought in Ronnie Jones at quarterback after Jacques Perra went 10-for-17 for 54 yards with two interceptions. Jones led the Tommies on a touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 13-7. Later in the quarter, Mark Dowdle ran out of the end zone with a fake punt to keep the Tommies' drive alive and Jones followed by hitting Gabe Green for a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-8 to take the lead.

It was just Jones' fifth completion on the afternoon. He attempted 17 passes.

"Sometimes you need a little spark," Tommies coach Glenn Caruso said on St. Thomas' radio postgame show. "Sometimes that comes through defensive pressure, sometimes no-huddle offense, sometimes a personnel change."

Bethel picked off Augsburg quarterbacks four times and six players scored rushing touchdowns as the No. 25 Royals rolled past Augsburg 75-0. The Auggies managed just 155 yards of total offense. Bethel and St. Thomas square off at Bethel next Saturday, with the winner in good shape for an at-large bid to the playoffs. 

Joseph Ortiz caught 18 passes for 170 yards and Brockport's Rashad Baker caught four passes, all of them on defense and one in the end zone in the closing seconds of a 21-16 win vs. Cortland. The Red Dragons fell to 7-2, 5-2 in the Empire 8, while Brockport improved to 9-0, 6-0 and clinched the conference's automatic bid. Cortland managed 66 rushing yards, but just 171 passing yards on 44 attempts, including five interceptions.

Leading 37-13 with 10 and a half minutes left, Linfield seemed to have its game well in hand. But Puget Sound came back to score 22 points in six minutes, taking a 41-40 lead with less than a minute to play. That only set up Wyatt Smith for some last-minute heroics, however, as he hit J.D. Lasswell for a 59-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds to go to give No. 23 Linfield the 47-41 win.

D'Angelo Fulford completed 14 of 18 passes for 236 yards and three scores, and Ernie Burkes ran for 126 yards and a touchdown as No. 1 Mount Union defeated Muskingum 52-10, clinching the automatic bid from the Ohio Athletic Conference for the second consecutive season. Danny Robinson had a pair of sacks and Andrew Roesch had four tackles for loss in the win.

No. 14 Trine clinched the automatic bid from the MIAA on Saturday as the Thunder defeated Adrian and Hope defeated Kalamazoo. Lamar Carswell finished 1 yard shy of averaging 10.0 yards per carry, going 26 carries for 259 yards and three touchdowns in Trine's 42-47 win. Brandon Winter threw for two touchdowns in nine pass attempts. Kalamazoo lost to Hope 33-7.

Conor Davies scored a pair of touchdowns and the No. 15 RPI defense held St. Lawrence to 19 yards rushing as the Engineers defeated the Saints, 27-20, to clinch the Liberty League title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs. RPI improved to 8-0, 4-0 in the LL heading into the regular season finale with archrival Union.

No. 16 Delaware Valley registered two defensive touchdowns and eight sacks as the Aggies rolled over King's 49-0. Michael Nobile tallied four tackles for loss and three sacks for Delaware Valley. Stevenson intentionally took a safety with three seconds left to ensure a 33-32 win over Lycoming which guarantees the Mustangs will finish in front of FDU-Florham in the MAC standings. If Delaware Valley and Misericordia finish tied for first without playing each other, Stevenson's position relative to FDU-Florham could decide which team gets the automatic bid.

Oct. 3: All times Eastern
Final
at Johns Hopkins 55, Dickinson 10
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at Mass-Dartmouth 31, Massachusetts Maritime 7
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Oct. 4: All times Eastern
Final
Plymouth State 34, at Dean 0
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at DePauw 75, Oberlin 0
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Final
at Endicott 53, University of New England 14
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Framingham State 22, at Fitchburg State 12
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at Wilkes 15, Catholic 13
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at Alfred State 41, Morrisville State 21
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Ithaca 10, at Rochester 6
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Final
at Springfield 28, Salve Regina 14
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at Merchant Marine 6, MIT 3
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Anna Maria 41, at Westfield State 14
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Final - OT
at St. John Fisher 31, Brockport 24
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Final
at Alfred 45, Hartwick 24
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Final - OT
at Belhaven 23, Brevard 20
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at Muhlenberg 39, Ursinus 36
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RPI 36, at Hobart 10
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at St. Lawrence 45, Hilbert 14
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at Salisbury 55, TCNJ 10
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at Western New England 35, Husson 10
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at Wesleyan 56, Hamilton 14
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Western Connecticut 63, at Juniata 15
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Allegheny 21, at Waynesburg 11
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at LaGrange 41, N.C. Wesleyan 24
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Washington and Jefferson 70, at Hiram 13
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Case Western Reserve 42, at St. Vincent 14
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at Cortland 28, Utica 13
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at Lycoming 17, Moravian 0
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at Berry 54, Rhodes 14
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at Centre 37, Millsaps 36
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Washington and Lee 42, at Hampden-Sydney 34
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Hope 55, at Trine 35
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Final - 2OT
Christopher Newport 49, at Rowan 41
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Final
Franklin and Marshall 35, at Gettysburg 28
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at Adrian 28, Albion 7
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at Westminster (Pa.) 52, Bethany 0
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at Southern Virginia 35, Greensboro 22
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at Shenandoah 24, Bridgewater 21
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Montclair State 38, at Kean 28
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Nichols 49, at Maine Maritime 20
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Guilford 55, at Gallaudet 0
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at William Paterson 32, Vermont State Castleton 7
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Williams 35, at Bowdoin 17
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WPI 14, at Norwich 7
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Coast Guard 28, at SUNY-Maritime 26
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at Augsburg 44, St. Olaf 13
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at Worcester State 19, Bridgewater State 10
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at Heidelberg 30, Capital 27
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at Bluffton 39, Manchester 23
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at Mount Union 62, Otterbein 7
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at Trinity (Conn.) 41, Tufts 14
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at Mount St. Joseph 41, Anderson 21
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Curry 62, at New England College 7
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Amherst 27, at Middlebury 17
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at Ohio Northern 42, Marietta 9
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at Carnegie Mellon 56, McDaniel 7
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at Wooster 14, Wittenberg 12
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Hanover 44, at Rose-Hulman 10
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at Alma 55, Calvin 6
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Randolph-Macon 35, at Roanoke 17
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Olivet 47, at Kalamazoo 44
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at Trinity (Texas) 65, Southwestern 14
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Maryville (Tenn.) 40, at Sewanee 7
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at Illinois College 59, Lawrence 0
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Augustana 24, at North Park 21
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Concordia (Wis.) 24, at St. Norbert 17
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at Concordia-Moorhead 49, St. Scholastica 21
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at UW-Oshkosh 21, UW-River Falls 17
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Wartburg 36, at Luther 3
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at UW-Platteville 52, UW-Stevens Point 0
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at Bethel 17, St. John's 10
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Carleton 45, at Gustavus Adolphus 28
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Aurora 49, at Lakeland 28
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Cornell 26, at Beloit 19
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Carroll 28, at Millikin 17
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Carthage 31, at Elmhurst 7
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Central 45, at Loras 27
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Final - 2OT
UW-La Crosse 23, at UW-Whitewater 20
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Final
UW-Stout 42, at UW-Eau Claire 17
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Chicago 52, at Knox 0
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at Coe 37, Buena Vista 10
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at Hardin-Simmons 69, Howard Payne 14
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at Concordia-Chicago 49, Eureka 20
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at Greenville 38, Westminster (Mo.) 24
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at Benedictine 42, Rockford 9
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Monmouth 49, at Grinnell 9
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at Huntingdon 26, Methodist 0
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Mary Hardin-Baylor 42, at East Texas Baptist 28
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at John Carroll 31, Wabash 28
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at Denison 35, Ohio Wesleyan 20
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at Dubuque 21, Nebraska Wesleyan 10
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Final
Union 28, at Buffalo State 6
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Lake Forest 38, at Ripon 0
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Whitworth 28, at Pacific 14
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at Lewis and Clark 58, Puget Sound 21
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Final
at Pacific Lutheran 31, Willamette 28
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Linfield 35, at George Fox 17
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Final
Franklin 34, at Muskingum 33
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Colby 13, at Bates 6
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Final
at Austin 41, Centenary (La.) 15
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at North Central (Ill.) 35, Wheaton (Ill.) 0
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at Washington U. 42, Illinois Wesleyan 40
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at Minnesota-Morris 35, Martin Luther 28
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Pomona-Pitzer 34, at La Verne 12
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Grove City 22, at Geneva 9
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at Macalester 29, Hamline 0
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at Crown 22, Northwestern (Minn.) 3
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at Chapman 27, Redlands 0
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at Cal Lutheran 22, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 17
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Oct. 3: All times Eastern
Final
at Johns Hopkins 55, Dickinson 10
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Oct. 4: All times Eastern
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at DePauw 75, Oberlin 0
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Hope 55, at Trine 35
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Final
at Cortland 28, Utica 13
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Final
at Salisbury 55, TCNJ 10
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Final - 2OT
Christopher Newport 49, at Rowan 41
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Final
Washington and Lee 42, at Hampden-Sydney 34
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Final
at Mount Union 62, Otterbein 7
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at Carnegie Mellon 56, McDaniel 7
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Final
at UW-Oshkosh 21, UW-River Falls 17
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Final
Wartburg 36, at Luther 3
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Final - 2OT
UW-La Crosse 23, at UW-Whitewater 20
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Final
at UW-Platteville 52, UW-Stevens Point 0
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at Bethel 17, St. John's 10
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Final
Mary Hardin-Baylor 42, at East Texas Baptist 28
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at Hardin-Simmons 69, Howard Payne 14
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at Trinity (Texas) 65, Southwestern 14
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Central 45, at Loras 27
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at John Carroll 31, Wabash 28
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at North Central (Ill.) 35, Wheaton (Ill.) 0
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