SWC75
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QUARTERFINALS
The battle of Minnesota was won by #1 MINNESOTA STATE, (aka Mankato State) who defeated #2 Minnesota - Duluth, who had won the D2 title in 2008 and 2010, 44-17. The game started out to be a close one, Mankato winning the first period 10-0 and Duluth the second by the same score. But the second half was all Mankato, 34-7, so I guess they had the right team in first place. Rickey Lloyd threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns while Coonor Thomas ran for 135 more and a score. The Mavericks forced four takeaways while never surrendering the ball themselves.
The “Thunderwolves” (love that name) of #8 COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO topped #9 Ohio Dominican, 31-28 thanks to an 83 yard fourth quarter punt return by wide receiver Daniel Wise, who had only returned 4 punts previously. The “Pack” held the panthers to 327 yards, 127 less than their season average. But they only gained 263 yards of their own so they needed help from their special teams to advance in the tournament. Cameron McDondle managed 105 yards rushing and a score. The Pack built up a 24-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game but barely held on to win thanks to Wise.
#10 CONCORD conquered #14 Bloomsburg 32-26. Like CS-Pueblo, they didn’t exactly march up and down the field, being held to 306 yards. And like the Thunderwolves, the Mountain Lions built up a big early lead, in this case 23-2. Bloomsburg rallied with a touchdown late in the first half and two more, along with a field goal in the third. To pull to within 26-29. But the Concord defense rose up to stop the Huskies on their 15 on downs and drove down for a field goal with 9:15 left. They again held on downs at their 11 and batted down still another fourth down pass at the Bloomsburg 42 to end the contest.
#25 WEST GEORGIA topped #21 Valdosta State 31-17. Again, the winners got off a great start, grabbing a 14-0 lead, and then withstood a comeback, Valdosta coming to within 21-17, before these Wolves closed it out with a field goal and a touchdown- on a 59 yard punt return by Darius Appling with 1:35 left. Sound familiar?
The semi-final match-ups:
It would obviously make sense to have Minnesota State- Mankato play Colorado State-Pueblo and Concord, which is in West Virginia, play West Georgia so naturally we get:
CONCORD (W.Va) 13-0 (569-286) ranked #10, post season record: 2-9, (0 titles)
At
MINNESOTA STATE (Mankato) 13-0 (553-167), ranked #1, post season record 7-7 (0 titles)
WEST GEORGIA 12-2 (462-269), lost to Valdosta State 6-40 and North Alabama 28-31, ranked #25, post season record: 6-5 (1 title)
At
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 12-1 (533-199) lost to Fort Lewis 22-23, ranked #8, post season record: 3-3 (0 titles)
Comment: none of these teams has ever won a championship so it will be quite a throll for whoever does.
The battle of Minnesota was won by #1 MINNESOTA STATE, (aka Mankato State) who defeated #2 Minnesota - Duluth, who had won the D2 title in 2008 and 2010, 44-17. The game started out to be a close one, Mankato winning the first period 10-0 and Duluth the second by the same score. But the second half was all Mankato, 34-7, so I guess they had the right team in first place. Rickey Lloyd threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns while Coonor Thomas ran for 135 more and a score. The Mavericks forced four takeaways while never surrendering the ball themselves.
The “Thunderwolves” (love that name) of #8 COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO topped #9 Ohio Dominican, 31-28 thanks to an 83 yard fourth quarter punt return by wide receiver Daniel Wise, who had only returned 4 punts previously. The “Pack” held the panthers to 327 yards, 127 less than their season average. But they only gained 263 yards of their own so they needed help from their special teams to advance in the tournament. Cameron McDondle managed 105 yards rushing and a score. The Pack built up a 24-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game but barely held on to win thanks to Wise.
#10 CONCORD conquered #14 Bloomsburg 32-26. Like CS-Pueblo, they didn’t exactly march up and down the field, being held to 306 yards. And like the Thunderwolves, the Mountain Lions built up a big early lead, in this case 23-2. Bloomsburg rallied with a touchdown late in the first half and two more, along with a field goal in the third. To pull to within 26-29. But the Concord defense rose up to stop the Huskies on their 15 on downs and drove down for a field goal with 9:15 left. They again held on downs at their 11 and batted down still another fourth down pass at the Bloomsburg 42 to end the contest.
#25 WEST GEORGIA topped #21 Valdosta State 31-17. Again, the winners got off a great start, grabbing a 14-0 lead, and then withstood a comeback, Valdosta coming to within 21-17, before these Wolves closed it out with a field goal and a touchdown- on a 59 yard punt return by Darius Appling with 1:35 left. Sound familiar?
The semi-final match-ups:
It would obviously make sense to have Minnesota State- Mankato play Colorado State-Pueblo and Concord, which is in West Virginia, play West Georgia so naturally we get:
CONCORD (W.Va) 13-0 (569-286) ranked #10, post season record: 2-9, (0 titles)
At
MINNESOTA STATE (Mankato) 13-0 (553-167), ranked #1, post season record 7-7 (0 titles)
WEST GEORGIA 12-2 (462-269), lost to Valdosta State 6-40 and North Alabama 28-31, ranked #25, post season record: 6-5 (1 title)
At
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 12-1 (533-199) lost to Fort Lewis 22-23, ranked #8, post season record: 3-3 (0 titles)
Comment: none of these teams has ever won a championship so it will be quite a throll for whoever does.
