SWC75
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SECOND ROUND
#1 MINNESOTA STATE- MANKATO, (Aka Mankato State), slipped by #5 Pittsburg State 24-21. This was the definition of a back and forth game: 7-0, 7-3, 7-10, 14-10, 14-13, 2-113 and 21-21, followed by two missed field goals and overtime. The Mavericks had to settle for a 29 yard field goal by Alden Haffar and the sweat out a Pittsburg State possession. But they didn’t have to sweat long as the Gorilla’s went right for the end zone, where Tyler Henderson was waiting for it. His interception sent Mankato on to the next round. The Mavs won the yardage battle 400-345. Ricky loud passed for 214 yards and 2 scores while running for 91 more and another score.
#2 MINNESOTA-DULUTH outscored #7 Ouachita State 48-45. It looked bad for the Bulldogs when the Tigers twice marched into the red zone in the fourth quarter, already leading 39-35. But they fumbled both times and, on the second occasion the Bulldogs marched 74 yards in 11 player to score on a 7 yard pass from Drew Bauer to Zach Zweifel and take the load. Ouachita sent the game into overtime and then took a 45-42 lead on Shelton Wooley’s field goals. Zweifel then hooked up with Bauer again, with Zweifelthrowing the ball this time from 9 yards out for the winner. Baptist outgained Duluth 57 6-509. Logan Lauters rushed for 1261 yards and three TDs for the winners. Kiehl Frazer and Steve Kehner both had over 100 for OBU and Kehner scored 4 times. Frazier threw for 295 yards and 2 scores but Bauer matched that with 293 and 2
#8 COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO blew away #24 Angelo State 52-14. CSU-P plays in the “Thunderdome” and they had plenty of thunder in sending the Rams galloping back to Texas. The Thunderwolves outgained state only 425-327 but forced four turnovers, one a fumble returned for a score and also had a 90 ayrd punt return for a score. The game was a rout from the beginning, with the score mounting from 14-7 to 31-7 to 52-7 through the first three periods. Cameron McDondle rushed for 167 yards and 2TDs while Chris Bonner threw for 242 yards and 3TDs.
#9 OHIO DOMINCAN upset #4 Ferris State 46-33. The Panthers scored three times in the fourth quarter to take control of the game. Down 24-27, “freshman JT McFarland (Zanesville, Ohio) had two acrobatic catches on third down plays to get ODU to the goal line, and freshman Darryl Johnson (Mason, Ohio) ran it in over the left side from the one yard line to put ODU in front 31-27 moments into the fourth.” (ohiodomincan.com) Ferris QB Jason Vander Lean (6-4 241) rambled 24 yards to give his team the lead at 33-31 but that was it for the favored home team. Mark Miller threw a 30 yard pass to Nick McKnight, (does he watch Nick-at-Night?) and 29 yarder to Darryl Johnson for the win. Dominican outgained their hosts, 548-428. Miller completed 34 of 46 for 462 yards and 4TDs. Vander lean ran for 128 yards and a score and passed for 241 and three more scores.
#10 CONCORD won their first ever post season game in their tenth try, beating #15 West Chester 51-36. The Mountain Lions trailed the Golden Rams 27-28 at the half. Two third quarter lightning strikes turned the game around in a minute and thirty five seconds of game time. Ryan Stewart took a screen pass and ran 50 yards throu8gh the West Chester defense to score and then, after an interception, Calvinaugh (Calvinaugh?) Jones raced 87 yard to push the lead to 41-28. The Rams never got within 8 points after that. Despite the long run, West Chester out-rushed Concord 263-221 and out-passed them 428-388, making the total offense in this wild game 691-619, but it’s the points that count. Jones ran for 178 yards and 2TDs. Brandon Monk gained 122 and Eddie Elliott 116 for West Chester but they scored only once between them. Brian Novak completed only 14 passes for Concord but they were for 388 yards and 2TDs, including a 71 yarder to T.J. Smith. Sean McCartney passed for 341 yards and 3 scores for the Rams. Tim Brown caught 9 of McCartney’s passes for 216 yards and two scores while Stewart (124 yards) and Smith (117) each scored once for the winners.
#14 BLOOMSBURG eliminated unranked Virginia State 35-14. A 28-0 run in the second and third quarters decided the game. The Huskies led the nation in defensive turnovers and that ability came to the fore when a blocked field goal attempt and return gave the Trojans the ball on Bloomsburg’s 18 yard line late in the first quarter with the game tied at 7. Donovan Morris ended the threat with an interception and the Huskies came back with those four unanswered touchdowns. D. J. McFadden caught a 58 yarder from Tim Kelly to make it 14-7. Kelly bootlegged from 6 yards out to make it 21-7. Virginia State fumbled on their own 40 in their first possession of the second half and Eddie Matteo ran 20 yards, then 11 yards and finally 5 yards for the score to make it 28-7. Kelly finished off a 72 yard drive with a one yard plunge to push it to 35-7. A single Trojan score in the fourth quarter was too little, too late. Matteo had 129 yards on 21 carries. Bloomsburg outgained VSU 405-267. Kelly had only 195 yards total offense but ran for three scores and passed for another.
#21 VALDOSTA STATE knocked off #3 Lenoir Rhyne 23-21. It was another back and forth game: 3-0, 3-7, 6-7, 6-14, 13-14, 16-14, 23-14 and then the final. The winners forced five turnovers. They were needed as the Blazers were out-gained 259-480. They opened the scoring with a field goal after a recovered fumble and pulled to within one just before the half with another field goal set up by an interception. A punt return set up the touchdown that got them to within a point again at 13-14. A sack-fumble set up the score that made it 23-14. They also intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. Sometimes that’s what you have to do to advance in the playoffs. Miles Freeman and Mike Patrick both rushed for over 100 yards for the Bears and Chris Robinson had 83. State’s leading rusher was Cedric O’Neal with 62 yards. Neither team passed much.
#25 WEST GEORGIA sent #11 Delta State home, 37-27. Most of the scoring came in the first half, which finished 27-27. They held one of the best offensive teams in the nation to 8 third quarter yards and shut them out in the second half after giving up 27 first half points. That’s called half-time adjustments, folks. WG actually had a 21-7 first quarter lead when State scored on three consecutive possessions. Seth Hinsley “tightroped the sideline on a 34 yard romp”, with 3:42 left in the half to tie it, although the conversion attempt failed. The Wolves were intercepted in the end zone on their opening drive of the second half but came back to take the lead on a 10 yard run by Brandon Lucas. The Statesman had one last gasp, driving to the Wolves’ 9 early in the fourth, where they surrendered the ball on downs. WG then drove to the State five but had to settle for a field goal. And that was it. State still led in yards, 393-344, based on what they did in the first half. (They average 500 yards a game) Hinsley ran for 126 yards and 2 scores.
The match-ups for the quarter-finals:
MINNESOTA-DULUTH 13-0 (556-256), ranked #2, post season record: 14-7 (2 titles)
At
MINNESOTA STATE (Mankato) 12-0 (509-150), ranked #1, post season record 6-7 (0 titles)
OHIO DOMINCAN 10-1 (435-217), lost to Ferris State 19-34, ranked #9, post season record: 3-2 (0 titles)
At
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 11-1 (502-171) lost to Fort Lewis 22-23, ranked #8, post season record: 2-3 (0 titles)
BLOOMSBURG (Pa) 11-1 (413-168), lost to Slippery Rock 26-28, ranked #14, post season record: 10-11 (0 titles)
At
CONCORD (W.Va) 12-0 (537-260) ranked #10, post season record: 1-9, (0 titles)
WEST GEORGIA 11-2 (431-242), lost to Valdosta State 6-40 and North Alabama 28-31, ranked #25, post season record: 5-5 (1 title)
At
VALDOSTA STATE (Ga) 10-2 (407-224), lost to Delta State 32-49 and to North Alabama 29-31, ranked #21, post season record: 21-9 (3 titles)
Comments: The NCAA brackets the teams regionally to reduce travel expenses and increase crowds so #1 is playing #2 in the quarterfinals. Duluth won the 2-008 and 2010 national championships. Mankato has never won one. Strangely, although they are both in the same conference, (the Northern Sun), Mankato and Duluth have not played this year. It’s a 16 team conference and they are in opposite divisions. They don’t have a title game so, essentially, this is it.
They have a slew of common opponents:
Concordia lost to Duluth 20-13, Mankato 38-6 Advantage: Mankato
Augustana lost to Duluth 23-22, Mankato 34-28 Advantage: Mankato
SW Minnesota lost to Duluth 38-7, Mankato 56-14 Advantage: Mankato
Winona lost to Duluth 28-21, Mankato 44-24 Advantage: Mankato
Moorehead lost to Duluth 63-28, Mankato 69-13 Advantage: Mankato
St. Cloud lost to Duluth 44-21, Mankato 31-0 Advantage: Mankato
Bemidji lost to Duluth 38-10, Mankato 34-16 Advantage: Duluth
So I guess I’ll go with Mankato. We’ll see how much common opponent scores matter.
Ohio Dominican vs. Colorado State Pueblo is the battle of the newbies. Pueblo was “Southern Colorado until 2003 and started their football program in 1963. Ohio Dominican didn’t begin play uni8tl 2004. Neither has ever won anything but this could be the start of something big. Concord finally won a post season game and will try to win another against Bloomsburg, a veteran contender who has never gotten to a national title game. West Georgia is going back to the scene of their worst defeat. They won a D3 title a long time ago, (1982), but Valdosta has 3 titles and will tough to beat.
#1 MINNESOTA STATE- MANKATO, (Aka Mankato State), slipped by #5 Pittsburg State 24-21. This was the definition of a back and forth game: 7-0, 7-3, 7-10, 14-10, 14-13, 2-113 and 21-21, followed by two missed field goals and overtime. The Mavericks had to settle for a 29 yard field goal by Alden Haffar and the sweat out a Pittsburg State possession. But they didn’t have to sweat long as the Gorilla’s went right for the end zone, where Tyler Henderson was waiting for it. His interception sent Mankato on to the next round. The Mavs won the yardage battle 400-345. Ricky loud passed for 214 yards and 2 scores while running for 91 more and another score.
#2 MINNESOTA-DULUTH outscored #7 Ouachita State 48-45. It looked bad for the Bulldogs when the Tigers twice marched into the red zone in the fourth quarter, already leading 39-35. But they fumbled both times and, on the second occasion the Bulldogs marched 74 yards in 11 player to score on a 7 yard pass from Drew Bauer to Zach Zweifel and take the load. Ouachita sent the game into overtime and then took a 45-42 lead on Shelton Wooley’s field goals. Zweifel then hooked up with Bauer again, with Zweifelthrowing the ball this time from 9 yards out for the winner. Baptist outgained Duluth 57 6-509. Logan Lauters rushed for 1261 yards and three TDs for the winners. Kiehl Frazer and Steve Kehner both had over 100 for OBU and Kehner scored 4 times. Frazier threw for 295 yards and 2 scores but Bauer matched that with 293 and 2
#8 COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO blew away #24 Angelo State 52-14. CSU-P plays in the “Thunderdome” and they had plenty of thunder in sending the Rams galloping back to Texas. The Thunderwolves outgained state only 425-327 but forced four turnovers, one a fumble returned for a score and also had a 90 ayrd punt return for a score. The game was a rout from the beginning, with the score mounting from 14-7 to 31-7 to 52-7 through the first three periods. Cameron McDondle rushed for 167 yards and 2TDs while Chris Bonner threw for 242 yards and 3TDs.
#9 OHIO DOMINCAN upset #4 Ferris State 46-33. The Panthers scored three times in the fourth quarter to take control of the game. Down 24-27, “freshman JT McFarland (Zanesville, Ohio) had two acrobatic catches on third down plays to get ODU to the goal line, and freshman Darryl Johnson (Mason, Ohio) ran it in over the left side from the one yard line to put ODU in front 31-27 moments into the fourth.” (ohiodomincan.com) Ferris QB Jason Vander Lean (6-4 241) rambled 24 yards to give his team the lead at 33-31 but that was it for the favored home team. Mark Miller threw a 30 yard pass to Nick McKnight, (does he watch Nick-at-Night?) and 29 yarder to Darryl Johnson for the win. Dominican outgained their hosts, 548-428. Miller completed 34 of 46 for 462 yards and 4TDs. Vander lean ran for 128 yards and a score and passed for 241 and three more scores.
#10 CONCORD won their first ever post season game in their tenth try, beating #15 West Chester 51-36. The Mountain Lions trailed the Golden Rams 27-28 at the half. Two third quarter lightning strikes turned the game around in a minute and thirty five seconds of game time. Ryan Stewart took a screen pass and ran 50 yards throu8gh the West Chester defense to score and then, after an interception, Calvinaugh (Calvinaugh?) Jones raced 87 yard to push the lead to 41-28. The Rams never got within 8 points after that. Despite the long run, West Chester out-rushed Concord 263-221 and out-passed them 428-388, making the total offense in this wild game 691-619, but it’s the points that count. Jones ran for 178 yards and 2TDs. Brandon Monk gained 122 and Eddie Elliott 116 for West Chester but they scored only once between them. Brian Novak completed only 14 passes for Concord but they were for 388 yards and 2TDs, including a 71 yarder to T.J. Smith. Sean McCartney passed for 341 yards and 3 scores for the Rams. Tim Brown caught 9 of McCartney’s passes for 216 yards and two scores while Stewart (124 yards) and Smith (117) each scored once for the winners.
#14 BLOOMSBURG eliminated unranked Virginia State 35-14. A 28-0 run in the second and third quarters decided the game. The Huskies led the nation in defensive turnovers and that ability came to the fore when a blocked field goal attempt and return gave the Trojans the ball on Bloomsburg’s 18 yard line late in the first quarter with the game tied at 7. Donovan Morris ended the threat with an interception and the Huskies came back with those four unanswered touchdowns. D. J. McFadden caught a 58 yarder from Tim Kelly to make it 14-7. Kelly bootlegged from 6 yards out to make it 21-7. Virginia State fumbled on their own 40 in their first possession of the second half and Eddie Matteo ran 20 yards, then 11 yards and finally 5 yards for the score to make it 28-7. Kelly finished off a 72 yard drive with a one yard plunge to push it to 35-7. A single Trojan score in the fourth quarter was too little, too late. Matteo had 129 yards on 21 carries. Bloomsburg outgained VSU 405-267. Kelly had only 195 yards total offense but ran for three scores and passed for another.
#21 VALDOSTA STATE knocked off #3 Lenoir Rhyne 23-21. It was another back and forth game: 3-0, 3-7, 6-7, 6-14, 13-14, 16-14, 23-14 and then the final. The winners forced five turnovers. They were needed as the Blazers were out-gained 259-480. They opened the scoring with a field goal after a recovered fumble and pulled to within one just before the half with another field goal set up by an interception. A punt return set up the touchdown that got them to within a point again at 13-14. A sack-fumble set up the score that made it 23-14. They also intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. Sometimes that’s what you have to do to advance in the playoffs. Miles Freeman and Mike Patrick both rushed for over 100 yards for the Bears and Chris Robinson had 83. State’s leading rusher was Cedric O’Neal with 62 yards. Neither team passed much.
#25 WEST GEORGIA sent #11 Delta State home, 37-27. Most of the scoring came in the first half, which finished 27-27. They held one of the best offensive teams in the nation to 8 third quarter yards and shut them out in the second half after giving up 27 first half points. That’s called half-time adjustments, folks. WG actually had a 21-7 first quarter lead when State scored on three consecutive possessions. Seth Hinsley “tightroped the sideline on a 34 yard romp”, with 3:42 left in the half to tie it, although the conversion attempt failed. The Wolves were intercepted in the end zone on their opening drive of the second half but came back to take the lead on a 10 yard run by Brandon Lucas. The Statesman had one last gasp, driving to the Wolves’ 9 early in the fourth, where they surrendered the ball on downs. WG then drove to the State five but had to settle for a field goal. And that was it. State still led in yards, 393-344, based on what they did in the first half. (They average 500 yards a game) Hinsley ran for 126 yards and 2 scores.
The match-ups for the quarter-finals:
MINNESOTA-DULUTH 13-0 (556-256), ranked #2, post season record: 14-7 (2 titles)
At
MINNESOTA STATE (Mankato) 12-0 (509-150), ranked #1, post season record 6-7 (0 titles)
OHIO DOMINCAN 10-1 (435-217), lost to Ferris State 19-34, ranked #9, post season record: 3-2 (0 titles)
At
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 11-1 (502-171) lost to Fort Lewis 22-23, ranked #8, post season record: 2-3 (0 titles)
BLOOMSBURG (Pa) 11-1 (413-168), lost to Slippery Rock 26-28, ranked #14, post season record: 10-11 (0 titles)
At
CONCORD (W.Va) 12-0 (537-260) ranked #10, post season record: 1-9, (0 titles)
WEST GEORGIA 11-2 (431-242), lost to Valdosta State 6-40 and North Alabama 28-31, ranked #25, post season record: 5-5 (1 title)
At
VALDOSTA STATE (Ga) 10-2 (407-224), lost to Delta State 32-49 and to North Alabama 29-31, ranked #21, post season record: 21-9 (3 titles)
Comments: The NCAA brackets the teams regionally to reduce travel expenses and increase crowds so #1 is playing #2 in the quarterfinals. Duluth won the 2-008 and 2010 national championships. Mankato has never won one. Strangely, although they are both in the same conference, (the Northern Sun), Mankato and Duluth have not played this year. It’s a 16 team conference and they are in opposite divisions. They don’t have a title game so, essentially, this is it.
They have a slew of common opponents:
Concordia lost to Duluth 20-13, Mankato 38-6 Advantage: Mankato
Augustana lost to Duluth 23-22, Mankato 34-28 Advantage: Mankato
SW Minnesota lost to Duluth 38-7, Mankato 56-14 Advantage: Mankato
Winona lost to Duluth 28-21, Mankato 44-24 Advantage: Mankato
Moorehead lost to Duluth 63-28, Mankato 69-13 Advantage: Mankato
St. Cloud lost to Duluth 44-21, Mankato 31-0 Advantage: Mankato
Bemidji lost to Duluth 38-10, Mankato 34-16 Advantage: Duluth
So I guess I’ll go with Mankato. We’ll see how much common opponent scores matter.
Ohio Dominican vs. Colorado State Pueblo is the battle of the newbies. Pueblo was “Southern Colorado until 2003 and started their football program in 1963. Ohio Dominican didn’t begin play uni8tl 2004. Neither has ever won anything but this could be the start of something big. Concord finally won a post season game and will try to win another against Bloomsburg, a veteran contender who has never gotten to a national title game. West Georgia is going back to the scene of their worst defeat. They won a D3 title a long time ago, (1982), but Valdosta has 3 titles and will tough to beat.
