SWC75
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Here is the field for the NCAA Division II playoffs, with the team name, the state they are in, (if it’s not already part of the name), the won-loss record, the points for and against, who they lost to, their ranking, their all time post season record, (including NAIA and other NCAA divisions and small college bowl games, and championships won. Division II runs a 24 team playoff with the top 8 teams getting byes the first week.
BLOOMSBURG of Pennsylvania, (10-1, 431-297). Lost to Shippensburg 42-49 on 10/27, (and now get a rematch). Rank: #10. All-time: 7-7. No titles.
Vs.
SHIPPENSBURG of Pennsylvania, (10-1, 537-267). Lost to Indiana (Pennsylvania) 10-41 on 11/10. Rank: #15. All-time: 2-4. No titles.
SHEPARD of West Virginia (8-2, 317-156). Lost to Shippensburg 28-38 on 9/1 and West Liberty 16-17 on 10/13. Rank: #25. All-time: 7-10. No titles.
Vs.
INDIANA (Pennsylvania) (10-1, 410-123). Lost to California (Pennsylvania) 24-26 on 9/22. Rank: #11. All-time: 16-15. No titles.
MIDWESTERN STATE of Texas (9-1, 411-248). Lost to Tarleton State 17-20 on 9/8 (and then won 9 in a row). Rank: #8. All-time: 2-5. No titles.
Vs.
INDIANAPOLIS of Indiana (9-2, 423-193). Lost to Ashland 14-37 on 8/30 and Western Illinois 17-27 on 9/8, (and then won 9 in a row). Rank: #18. All-time: 0-1. No titles.
WEST TEXAS A&M (they were once a major college team as West Texas State- they once had Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris in the same backfield). (9-2, 456-219). Lost to Colorado State-Pueblo 34-44 on 8/30 and Midwestern State 48-52 on 11/3. Rank: #16. All-time: 6-5. No titles.
Vs.
CHADRON STATE of Nebraska (9-2, 376-247). Lost to Montana State 6-23 on 8/30 and Colorado State-Pueblo 38-45 on 10/6. Rank: #20. All-time: 4-10. No titles.
MILES of Alabama (8-2, 370-163). Lost to North Alabama 30-31 on 9/2. Lost to Tuskegee 17-27 on 11/3) Rank: #23. All-time: 0-0. No titles.
Vs.
WEST ALABAMA (8-3, 398-196) Lost to Samford 6-34 on 9/8, Midwestern State 27-42 on 10/4 and Abilene Christian 16-22 on 11/3.Unranked. All-time 4-6. NAIA D1 1971 (1).
FORT VALLEY STATE of Georgia, (8-3, 319-276), Lost to Valdosta State 14-62 on 9/8, Tuskegee 18-49 on 9/29 and 24-55 on 11/10, (they played them twice because it was a conference championship. Unranked. All-time: 1-8. No titles.
Vs.
LENOIR-RHYNE of North Carolina, (8-2, 367-164), Lost to Concord 21-24 on 9/1 and Carson-Newman 23-47 on 9/15. Unranked. All-time: 6-3. Titles: NAIA 1960 (1).
HARDING (9-1, 368-155) Lost to Northwest Missouri 10-38 on 10/13. Rank: #12. All-Time: 0-3. No titles.
Vs.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (9-2, 475-142) Lost to Central Missouri 21-31 on 9/8 and Missouri Western 20-21 on 11/10 Rank: #13. All-time: 34-13. Titles: NCAA DII: 1998, 1999, 2009 (3).
MINNESOTA-DULUTH (10-1, 503-224). Lost to St. Cloud State, 49-51 on 9/29. Rank: #7. All-time: 11-4. Titles: NCAA DII 2008, 2010 (2).
Vs.
MISSOURI WESTERN (10-1, 470-218). Lost to Missouri Southern 30-31 on 10/13. Rank:#9. All-time:: 4-3. No titles.
Byes:
ASHLAND of Ohio (11-0, 462-150). No losses. Rank: #4. All-time: 1-4. No titles.
NEW HAVEN of Connecticut (10-0, 407-137). No losses. Rank: #3. All-time: 8-5. No titles.
VALDOSTA STATE of Georgia (8-2, 415-207). Lost to Saginaw Valley State 24-28 and on 9/8 and West Alabama 28-39 on 9/22. Rank: #17. All-time: 15-9. Titles: NCAA DII 2004, 2007 (2).
CARSON-NEWMAN of Tennessee (8-2, 410-248). Lost to Newberry 22-47 on 9/22 and Wingate 24-33 on 9/27. Rank: #22. All-time: 38-19-1. Titles: NAIA DI 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989 (5).
WINSTON-SALEM of North Carolina (11-0, 463-158). No losses. Rank: #2. All-time 3-8. No titles.
MINNESOTA-MANKATO (11-0, 416-171). No losses. Rank: #5. All-time 2-5. No titles.
HENDERSON STATE of Arkansas (10-0, 533-188). No losses. Rank: #6. All-time: 3-3. No titles.
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO (11-0, 425-208) No losses. Rank: #1. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
FIRST ROUND
After barely nipping Bloomsburg 49-42 on a TD pass with 5 seconds to go during the regular season, the Shippensburg Red Raider used a 45 point second half to blow away Bloomsburg, 58-20. Quarterback Zach Zulli passed for 469 yards and three scores while running for another. He set all-time NCAA Division II records by accounting for 56 touchdowns in a season and 336 points. He passed for 53 touchdowns, including 9 in one game.
Indiana beat Shepard 27-17, losing a 14-7 halftime lead but coming back with 10 points in a row of their own to clinch it. It was not a game for passing as the teams combined to misfire on 30 of 38 passes and gain only 218 yards. The Crimson Hawks won the ground battle, 203-154. They were the only team to rush for more than 110 against Shepherd this season. De’Antwan Williams rushed for 152 yards on 30 carries and scored a touchdown.
Indianapolis handled Midwestern State of Texas, 31-14. The game was only 7-0 at the half and two touchdowns by Keidrick Jackson actually gave Midwestern a 7-14 lead. But Indy couldn’t be stopped after that. “They just started pounding us and it wore us out” said Bob Maskill, the Midwestern coach. Matt Ripp ran for 144 yards and two scores for the winners.
West Texas A&M beat Chadron State 38-30 behind 235 yards rushing by tailback Khiry Robinson. The Buffs rushed for 311 yards and passed for 269 more but had to hold on to win. Dustin Vaughn passed for 269 yards and rushed for 72. Chadron had 331 yards passing.
West Alabama crushed Miles 41-7, rolling up 578 yards. Gary Johnston rushed for 154 yards and passed for 90 more. West Alabama leads the nation in pass defense and was 4th in total defense. “Offensively we have hit our stride over the last few weeks and have been extremely efficient…We are a 60 minute team that’s going to pound you as the game wears on”, said Coach Will Hall.
Lenoir Rhyne was a small college power back in the 50’s when people were starting to notice small college teams. They played for the NAIA title in 1959, 1960 and 1962 and won it the middle year. They are starting to make a name for themselves in this century with a 21-6 win over Fort Valley State. Isaiah Whitaker ran for 117 yards and two scores while Michael Green scored on a 100 yard interception return.
Perennial power Northwest Missouri had little trouble disposing of Harding, 35-0.
Harding rushed for 304 yards but never dented the end zone. NWM was without it’s top two running backs but third string back Billy Creason became the first player to run for 100+ yards on Harding all season with 113 on 18 carries. The more balanced Bearcats got 212 yards passing and led 21-0 at the half.
In an amazing game, Missouri Western beat Minnesota Duluth, the 2008 and 2010 champs, 57-55 in three overtimes by surviving a two point conversion attempt. Chase Vogler, who had passed for 195 yards and run for 184 more for Duluth, tripped after taking the snap and went down in a very frustrated heap. The (MW) Griffons took a 14-3 first quarter lead, fell behind 14-20, took the lead back at 21-20, fell behind 21-28, tied it, fell behind again at 28-35 and tied it again at 35 to send it in to OT. It was that type of game. Travis Partridge passed for three scores and ran for four more for the winners.
SECOND ROUND
Winston-Salem beat Shippensberg, 37-14, building up a 28-6 second quarter lead and coasting after that. Anthony Carrouthers threw for 332 yards and three touchdown passes, two to Jameze Massey of 69 and 33 yards. The Rams out-gained the Red Raiders 525-280 and forced 6 turnovers. Shippensburg forced three of their own, one a 63 yard pick six by Brian Sourber that accounted for half of Shippensburg’s scoring. Having beaten the Champions of the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania conference, the Rams will now take on the champions of the Western Division: Indiana of Pennsylvania.
Indiana held on to beat new Haven, 17-14 in a defensive duel where all the scoring came in the first half. De’Antwan Williams returned the opening kick-off 86 yard but was tackled at the 7 yard line. But Harvie Tuck scored two plays later to begin the game and added a field goal later in the first quarter to take a 10-0 lead. But two touchdown passes from Ryan Osieki to Jason Thompson, one of 68 yards, put New Haven ahead, 14-10. But a 9 play 65 yard drive culminated in a touchdown pass from Mike Box to Tyler Dummermuth with 24 second left in the half to put the Crimson Hawks ahead for good. The Chargers made one final drive late in the fourth period, moving from their own 6 to the IUP 31 where a Hail Mary pass into the end zone was batted away on the game’s final play. Indiana had a 352-252 edge in total offense and recovered 3 fumbles, the only turnovers of the game. Williams rushed for 125 yards in addition to his big kick return. Indiana is the #1 ranked defensive team in the Division, giving up only 243 yards per game.
Colorado State- Pueblo was a #1 ranked team that had never won a post-season game. They passed their first test, topping Indianapolis 28-7. “We put the onus on us to win playoff games, so there's a little bit of relief that we achieved that goal," CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen said. "Now we have to go out and win some more." The “Thunderwolves” who play in the “Thunderbowl”, didn’t have much thunder until the second half when a couple of turnovers enabled them to break a 7-7 tie. Line backer Beldy Neska recovered a fumble and then grabbed a tipped pass to set up two quick scores. Later safety Nick Henderson picked up another pass to set up another touchdown that ended the game’s scoring. Pueblo had the ball fro 40 of the game’s 60 minutes and outgained Indy 402-214 but couldn’t punch anything in until the turnovers came. I felt like we were in control the whole time. Sometimes you get that feeling like things are slipping away a little bit and I didn't want our guys to feel like that," Wristen said. Cameron McDondle had 110 rushing yards and 3TDs for the winners.
When I started following football, West Texas A&M was West Texas State and a major college team, putting players like Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris into the NFL. Ashland was what would now be called a Division III school in the same conference as Wittenberg and Mount Union. But times change and the Buffalos and the Eagles are both Division II teams now and A&M traveled to Ohio to brave the wind and cold and snow and beat Ashland 33-28. Dustin Vaughn threw for 398 yards and 4 scores while Torrence Allan caught 13 passes for 185 yards and three of the touchdowns. Ehtan Westbrooks ended consecutive Ashland drives late in the game with sacks, the last on 4th down from the A&M 26. The Buffs had 10 tackles for a loss in the game.
West Alabama took a 21-12 lead over two-time champions Valdosta State but got rolled in the second half. State out-grained the Tigers 242-61 and out-scored them 37-0 on the way to a 49-21 victory. The Tigers took a quick 14-0 lead after a long kickoff return and a fumble set them up but ran out gas in the second half and got pounded. Their coach, Will Hall, said "They made some mistakes to help us early and we took advantage of that. They took it to us in the second half and we couldn't match their energy. They won the battle in the trenches and their running backs ran hard." VSU scored on it’s first two possessions of the second half to take the lead and never looked back. Austin Scott and Cedric O’Neal each ran for three scores for the winners, who avenged a 28-3 regular season loss to the same team.
Carson-Newman won a 38-35 thriller over Lenoir-Rhyne to advance to the quarterfinals. Both teams were ground machines. The losing Bears rushed for 425 yards and gained 468 over-all. Carson Newman rushed for 397 of it’s 504 yards. The Eagles led 24-7 at halftime but the Bears scored four unanswered touchdowns to go ahead 35-24. But Carson Newman came back with the last two scores of the game to win it. Both teams had three 100 yard rushers. Jarrod Spears had 138 yards, Isaiah Whitaker 100 and Austin Beaty 10-2 for Lenoir-Rhyne while Carson-Newman countered with Brandon Baker, (145), Tyron Douglas (130) and Brandon Haywood, (108), whose 21 yard run with 3 minutes to go was the winner.
Minnesota State of Mankato, (or Mankato State of Minnesota as they sued to be called), won another thriller over perennial power Northwest Missouri by the same score in overtime, 38-35. Three interceptions sparked the Mavericks to a 21-0 halftime lead . The bearcats got going with a blocked punt early in the third quarter that set up their first score. They got to within 21-14. The Mavericks extended their lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on a juggling 14 yard reception by Keyvan Rudd. The Bearcats responded with a 75 yard scoring drive. Trevor Adams found Tyler Shaw from 17 yards out. Another blocked punt game them the ball on the MSU 4 yard line and Jordan Simmons tied it on the next play. The Mavericks withstood two other turnovers before the game went into overtime at 28-28. Andy Pfieffer went over form the 6 to give Mankato the first lead but Simmons caught a 25 yard pass from Adams to tie it again. But Justin Otto picked off an Adams pass in the end zone to set up a 27 yard game winner from the foot of Sam Brockshus. Pfeiffer ran for 125 yards and two scores for the winners.
Missouri Western rolled over Henderson State, 45-21, breaking up a close 17-14 game with two scores late in the first half by 6-3 Reggie Jordan, who caught passes of 6 and 1 yards to make it 31-14 at the half. A 63 yard run by Rafael Spencer early in the second half made it 38-14 and the game was decided. The Reddie’s Kevin Rogers was 37 for 65 for 412 yards but was picked off 4 times. He threw for 41 touchdowns this season. Jordan has only 24 catches this year but 11 have been for TDs.
QUARTER-FINALS
Historically black colleges, who had the best small college teams of all time during the segregation era, have not done well in the NCAA playoffs over the years. The only champion was Florida A&M in the first ever 1AA playoff in 1978, (although Central State of Ohio won NAIA titles in 1990, 1992 and 1995). The Rams are making a serious run at a Division II title. First they beat Shippensburg State, the nation’s #1 DII offensive team that had won the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Conference and then they beat the Western Division Champs, Indiana University, who had the nations best DII defense. That defense was hard to make yardage against, as the Rams only gained 338 yards (they averaged 472 during the season). 165 of those yards came on three first half plays, a 62 run with a screen pass by Jameze Massey, a 48 yard catch by Jahuann Butler and a 45 yard tipped pass touchdown on the last pay of the first half that gave the Rams a 14-7 leads at intermission. In the second half the Crimson Hawks forced two turnovers, two punts and took over after a failed fourth down conversion. Kameron Smith who had thrown for 39 touchdowns this season but hadn’t played in three weeks due to an injury, came in to provide a spark for the Rams and after two misfires in which they gained a total of 7 yards, he engineered the winning drive, tossing a one year TD to Rickey Rozier with 3:51 left to give the Rams a 21-17 lead. The Crimson Hawks then drove to the WSS 5 yard line but a fourth down pass fell incomplete as All-American linebacker Carlos Fields hit quarterback Mike Box as he was releasing the pass.
West Texas A&M avenged a 34-44 regular season loss to #1 Colorado State Pueblo with a convincing 34-13 in the “Thunderdome”. Quarterback Dustin Vaughn was 24 of 38 for 324 yards and 3 scores. Khiry Robinson ran for 181 yards and caught a touchdown pass. The Buffalos held the Thunderwolves to 32 yards rushing after giving up 265 in the first meeting. They also recorded 7 sacks, totally dominating the line of scrimmage. They out-gained CSU+P 517-225. They led at halftime 24-3.
Two time DII king Valdosta State whipped 5 time NAIA champ Carson Newman 48-26, rolling up 525 yards of total offense. They bolted out to a quick 14-0 lead only to see CNU score 20 in a row to take a 20-14 halftime lead, including a goal line stand at their own 1 yard line as the half ended. They then added a field goal to being the second half for a 23-14 lead. The rest was all Valdosta. They score din four plays, the last a 37 yard pass from Cayden Cochran to Seantavious Jones. The Eagles responded with a file goal for a 26-21 lead. But the Blazers closed out the game with four unanswered touchdowns. Chris Anderson caught a 20 yard TD pass. Cedric O’Neal scored on a three yard run. Cochran threw to Quin Roberson for the third score and then O’Neal closed the scoring with a 16 yard run. O’Neal had 194 yards and three scores while Cochran passed for 246 and three scores and ran for 34 and a score.
Mankato State, (sorry, Minnesota State-Mankato) won another close one, putting on a 10 play 80 yard late fourth quarter drive to beat Missouri Western, 17-10. Connor Thomas gained 46 of the 80 yards and scored the winner on a 12 yard cut-back run. The freshman rushed for 159 yards on 19 attempts, his first 100 yard rushing game. The Mavericks held Western’s star, Michael Hill to 502 yards and Earl brooks iced it with an interception of the final play.
The semi-final match-ups:
WINSTON-SALEM of North Carolina (13-0, 521-189). No losses. Rank: #2. All-time 5-8. No titles.
Vs.
WEST TEXAS A&M (they were once a major college team as West Texas State- they once had Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris in the same backfield). (12-2, 561-280). Lost to Colorado State-Pueblo 34-44 on 8/30 and Midwestern State 48-52 on 11/3. Rank: #16. All-time: 8-5. No titles.
The Buffs sure had a big win vs. the #1 team but the Rams have been impressive, too. WTA&M has given up a fair amount of points this year. They once lost a playoff game to Abilene Christian, 68-93- in football! But their defense looked just fine vs. the Thunderwolves.
VALDOSTA STATE of Georgia (10-2, 512-254). Lost to Saginaw Valley State 24-28 and on 9/8 and West Alabama 28-39 on 9/22. Rank: #17. All-time: 17-9. Titles: NCAA DII 2004, 2007 (2).
Vs.
MINNESOTA-MANKATO (13-0, 471-216). No losses. Rank: #5. All-time 4-5. No titles.
Winston-Salem and Mankato are the last of the five undefeated teams that had never won anything still alive. I didn’t think the Mavericks would beat Northwestern Missouri, a perennial power in this division in the second round but they did. Valdosta has the better history and they have been playing like they are going to win a third title. It’s impressing that they have closed out their two playoff games with 37-0 and 27-0 runs after the games appeared to be competitive. My sense is that they will win this but maybe Mankato can do it again.
The Championship game will be played on Saturday, 12/15/12 at 1PM EST in Florence, Alabama. It will be on ESPN2, Channel 25 on Time Warner Cable in the Syracuse area.
BLOOMSBURG of Pennsylvania, (10-1, 431-297). Lost to Shippensburg 42-49 on 10/27, (and now get a rematch). Rank: #10. All-time: 7-7. No titles.
Vs.
SHIPPENSBURG of Pennsylvania, (10-1, 537-267). Lost to Indiana (Pennsylvania) 10-41 on 11/10. Rank: #15. All-time: 2-4. No titles.
SHEPARD of West Virginia (8-2, 317-156). Lost to Shippensburg 28-38 on 9/1 and West Liberty 16-17 on 10/13. Rank: #25. All-time: 7-10. No titles.
Vs.
INDIANA (Pennsylvania) (10-1, 410-123). Lost to California (Pennsylvania) 24-26 on 9/22. Rank: #11. All-time: 16-15. No titles.
MIDWESTERN STATE of Texas (9-1, 411-248). Lost to Tarleton State 17-20 on 9/8 (and then won 9 in a row). Rank: #8. All-time: 2-5. No titles.
Vs.
INDIANAPOLIS of Indiana (9-2, 423-193). Lost to Ashland 14-37 on 8/30 and Western Illinois 17-27 on 9/8, (and then won 9 in a row). Rank: #18. All-time: 0-1. No titles.
WEST TEXAS A&M (they were once a major college team as West Texas State- they once had Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris in the same backfield). (9-2, 456-219). Lost to Colorado State-Pueblo 34-44 on 8/30 and Midwestern State 48-52 on 11/3. Rank: #16. All-time: 6-5. No titles.
Vs.
CHADRON STATE of Nebraska (9-2, 376-247). Lost to Montana State 6-23 on 8/30 and Colorado State-Pueblo 38-45 on 10/6. Rank: #20. All-time: 4-10. No titles.
MILES of Alabama (8-2, 370-163). Lost to North Alabama 30-31 on 9/2. Lost to Tuskegee 17-27 on 11/3) Rank: #23. All-time: 0-0. No titles.
Vs.
WEST ALABAMA (8-3, 398-196) Lost to Samford 6-34 on 9/8, Midwestern State 27-42 on 10/4 and Abilene Christian 16-22 on 11/3.Unranked. All-time 4-6. NAIA D1 1971 (1).
FORT VALLEY STATE of Georgia, (8-3, 319-276), Lost to Valdosta State 14-62 on 9/8, Tuskegee 18-49 on 9/29 and 24-55 on 11/10, (they played them twice because it was a conference championship. Unranked. All-time: 1-8. No titles.
Vs.
LENOIR-RHYNE of North Carolina, (8-2, 367-164), Lost to Concord 21-24 on 9/1 and Carson-Newman 23-47 on 9/15. Unranked. All-time: 6-3. Titles: NAIA 1960 (1).
HARDING (9-1, 368-155) Lost to Northwest Missouri 10-38 on 10/13. Rank: #12. All-Time: 0-3. No titles.
Vs.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (9-2, 475-142) Lost to Central Missouri 21-31 on 9/8 and Missouri Western 20-21 on 11/10 Rank: #13. All-time: 34-13. Titles: NCAA DII: 1998, 1999, 2009 (3).
MINNESOTA-DULUTH (10-1, 503-224). Lost to St. Cloud State, 49-51 on 9/29. Rank: #7. All-time: 11-4. Titles: NCAA DII 2008, 2010 (2).
Vs.
MISSOURI WESTERN (10-1, 470-218). Lost to Missouri Southern 30-31 on 10/13. Rank:#9. All-time:: 4-3. No titles.
Byes:
ASHLAND of Ohio (11-0, 462-150). No losses. Rank: #4. All-time: 1-4. No titles.
NEW HAVEN of Connecticut (10-0, 407-137). No losses. Rank: #3. All-time: 8-5. No titles.
VALDOSTA STATE of Georgia (8-2, 415-207). Lost to Saginaw Valley State 24-28 and on 9/8 and West Alabama 28-39 on 9/22. Rank: #17. All-time: 15-9. Titles: NCAA DII 2004, 2007 (2).
CARSON-NEWMAN of Tennessee (8-2, 410-248). Lost to Newberry 22-47 on 9/22 and Wingate 24-33 on 9/27. Rank: #22. All-time: 38-19-1. Titles: NAIA DI 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989 (5).
WINSTON-SALEM of North Carolina (11-0, 463-158). No losses. Rank: #2. All-time 3-8. No titles.
MINNESOTA-MANKATO (11-0, 416-171). No losses. Rank: #5. All-time 2-5. No titles.
HENDERSON STATE of Arkansas (10-0, 533-188). No losses. Rank: #6. All-time: 3-3. No titles.
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO (11-0, 425-208) No losses. Rank: #1. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
FIRST ROUND
After barely nipping Bloomsburg 49-42 on a TD pass with 5 seconds to go during the regular season, the Shippensburg Red Raider used a 45 point second half to blow away Bloomsburg, 58-20. Quarterback Zach Zulli passed for 469 yards and three scores while running for another. He set all-time NCAA Division II records by accounting for 56 touchdowns in a season and 336 points. He passed for 53 touchdowns, including 9 in one game.
Indiana beat Shepard 27-17, losing a 14-7 halftime lead but coming back with 10 points in a row of their own to clinch it. It was not a game for passing as the teams combined to misfire on 30 of 38 passes and gain only 218 yards. The Crimson Hawks won the ground battle, 203-154. They were the only team to rush for more than 110 against Shepherd this season. De’Antwan Williams rushed for 152 yards on 30 carries and scored a touchdown.
Indianapolis handled Midwestern State of Texas, 31-14. The game was only 7-0 at the half and two touchdowns by Keidrick Jackson actually gave Midwestern a 7-14 lead. But Indy couldn’t be stopped after that. “They just started pounding us and it wore us out” said Bob Maskill, the Midwestern coach. Matt Ripp ran for 144 yards and two scores for the winners.
West Texas A&M beat Chadron State 38-30 behind 235 yards rushing by tailback Khiry Robinson. The Buffs rushed for 311 yards and passed for 269 more but had to hold on to win. Dustin Vaughn passed for 269 yards and rushed for 72. Chadron had 331 yards passing.
West Alabama crushed Miles 41-7, rolling up 578 yards. Gary Johnston rushed for 154 yards and passed for 90 more. West Alabama leads the nation in pass defense and was 4th in total defense. “Offensively we have hit our stride over the last few weeks and have been extremely efficient…We are a 60 minute team that’s going to pound you as the game wears on”, said Coach Will Hall.
Lenoir Rhyne was a small college power back in the 50’s when people were starting to notice small college teams. They played for the NAIA title in 1959, 1960 and 1962 and won it the middle year. They are starting to make a name for themselves in this century with a 21-6 win over Fort Valley State. Isaiah Whitaker ran for 117 yards and two scores while Michael Green scored on a 100 yard interception return.
Perennial power Northwest Missouri had little trouble disposing of Harding, 35-0.
Harding rushed for 304 yards but never dented the end zone. NWM was without it’s top two running backs but third string back Billy Creason became the first player to run for 100+ yards on Harding all season with 113 on 18 carries. The more balanced Bearcats got 212 yards passing and led 21-0 at the half.
In an amazing game, Missouri Western beat Minnesota Duluth, the 2008 and 2010 champs, 57-55 in three overtimes by surviving a two point conversion attempt. Chase Vogler, who had passed for 195 yards and run for 184 more for Duluth, tripped after taking the snap and went down in a very frustrated heap. The (MW) Griffons took a 14-3 first quarter lead, fell behind 14-20, took the lead back at 21-20, fell behind 21-28, tied it, fell behind again at 28-35 and tied it again at 35 to send it in to OT. It was that type of game. Travis Partridge passed for three scores and ran for four more for the winners.
SECOND ROUND
Winston-Salem beat Shippensberg, 37-14, building up a 28-6 second quarter lead and coasting after that. Anthony Carrouthers threw for 332 yards and three touchdown passes, two to Jameze Massey of 69 and 33 yards. The Rams out-gained the Red Raiders 525-280 and forced 6 turnovers. Shippensburg forced three of their own, one a 63 yard pick six by Brian Sourber that accounted for half of Shippensburg’s scoring. Having beaten the Champions of the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania conference, the Rams will now take on the champions of the Western Division: Indiana of Pennsylvania.
Indiana held on to beat new Haven, 17-14 in a defensive duel where all the scoring came in the first half. De’Antwan Williams returned the opening kick-off 86 yard but was tackled at the 7 yard line. But Harvie Tuck scored two plays later to begin the game and added a field goal later in the first quarter to take a 10-0 lead. But two touchdown passes from Ryan Osieki to Jason Thompson, one of 68 yards, put New Haven ahead, 14-10. But a 9 play 65 yard drive culminated in a touchdown pass from Mike Box to Tyler Dummermuth with 24 second left in the half to put the Crimson Hawks ahead for good. The Chargers made one final drive late in the fourth period, moving from their own 6 to the IUP 31 where a Hail Mary pass into the end zone was batted away on the game’s final play. Indiana had a 352-252 edge in total offense and recovered 3 fumbles, the only turnovers of the game. Williams rushed for 125 yards in addition to his big kick return. Indiana is the #1 ranked defensive team in the Division, giving up only 243 yards per game.
Colorado State- Pueblo was a #1 ranked team that had never won a post-season game. They passed their first test, topping Indianapolis 28-7. “We put the onus on us to win playoff games, so there's a little bit of relief that we achieved that goal," CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen said. "Now we have to go out and win some more." The “Thunderwolves” who play in the “Thunderbowl”, didn’t have much thunder until the second half when a couple of turnovers enabled them to break a 7-7 tie. Line backer Beldy Neska recovered a fumble and then grabbed a tipped pass to set up two quick scores. Later safety Nick Henderson picked up another pass to set up another touchdown that ended the game’s scoring. Pueblo had the ball fro 40 of the game’s 60 minutes and outgained Indy 402-214 but couldn’t punch anything in until the turnovers came. I felt like we were in control the whole time. Sometimes you get that feeling like things are slipping away a little bit and I didn't want our guys to feel like that," Wristen said. Cameron McDondle had 110 rushing yards and 3TDs for the winners.
When I started following football, West Texas A&M was West Texas State and a major college team, putting players like Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris into the NFL. Ashland was what would now be called a Division III school in the same conference as Wittenberg and Mount Union. But times change and the Buffalos and the Eagles are both Division II teams now and A&M traveled to Ohio to brave the wind and cold and snow and beat Ashland 33-28. Dustin Vaughn threw for 398 yards and 4 scores while Torrence Allan caught 13 passes for 185 yards and three of the touchdowns. Ehtan Westbrooks ended consecutive Ashland drives late in the game with sacks, the last on 4th down from the A&M 26. The Buffs had 10 tackles for a loss in the game.
West Alabama took a 21-12 lead over two-time champions Valdosta State but got rolled in the second half. State out-grained the Tigers 242-61 and out-scored them 37-0 on the way to a 49-21 victory. The Tigers took a quick 14-0 lead after a long kickoff return and a fumble set them up but ran out gas in the second half and got pounded. Their coach, Will Hall, said "They made some mistakes to help us early and we took advantage of that. They took it to us in the second half and we couldn't match their energy. They won the battle in the trenches and their running backs ran hard." VSU scored on it’s first two possessions of the second half to take the lead and never looked back. Austin Scott and Cedric O’Neal each ran for three scores for the winners, who avenged a 28-3 regular season loss to the same team.
Carson-Newman won a 38-35 thriller over Lenoir-Rhyne to advance to the quarterfinals. Both teams were ground machines. The losing Bears rushed for 425 yards and gained 468 over-all. Carson Newman rushed for 397 of it’s 504 yards. The Eagles led 24-7 at halftime but the Bears scored four unanswered touchdowns to go ahead 35-24. But Carson Newman came back with the last two scores of the game to win it. Both teams had three 100 yard rushers. Jarrod Spears had 138 yards, Isaiah Whitaker 100 and Austin Beaty 10-2 for Lenoir-Rhyne while Carson-Newman countered with Brandon Baker, (145), Tyron Douglas (130) and Brandon Haywood, (108), whose 21 yard run with 3 minutes to go was the winner.
Minnesota State of Mankato, (or Mankato State of Minnesota as they sued to be called), won another thriller over perennial power Northwest Missouri by the same score in overtime, 38-35. Three interceptions sparked the Mavericks to a 21-0 halftime lead . The bearcats got going with a blocked punt early in the third quarter that set up their first score. They got to within 21-14. The Mavericks extended their lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on a juggling 14 yard reception by Keyvan Rudd. The Bearcats responded with a 75 yard scoring drive. Trevor Adams found Tyler Shaw from 17 yards out. Another blocked punt game them the ball on the MSU 4 yard line and Jordan Simmons tied it on the next play. The Mavericks withstood two other turnovers before the game went into overtime at 28-28. Andy Pfieffer went over form the 6 to give Mankato the first lead but Simmons caught a 25 yard pass from Adams to tie it again. But Justin Otto picked off an Adams pass in the end zone to set up a 27 yard game winner from the foot of Sam Brockshus. Pfeiffer ran for 125 yards and two scores for the winners.
Missouri Western rolled over Henderson State, 45-21, breaking up a close 17-14 game with two scores late in the first half by 6-3 Reggie Jordan, who caught passes of 6 and 1 yards to make it 31-14 at the half. A 63 yard run by Rafael Spencer early in the second half made it 38-14 and the game was decided. The Reddie’s Kevin Rogers was 37 for 65 for 412 yards but was picked off 4 times. He threw for 41 touchdowns this season. Jordan has only 24 catches this year but 11 have been for TDs.
QUARTER-FINALS
Historically black colleges, who had the best small college teams of all time during the segregation era, have not done well in the NCAA playoffs over the years. The only champion was Florida A&M in the first ever 1AA playoff in 1978, (although Central State of Ohio won NAIA titles in 1990, 1992 and 1995). The Rams are making a serious run at a Division II title. First they beat Shippensburg State, the nation’s #1 DII offensive team that had won the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Conference and then they beat the Western Division Champs, Indiana University, who had the nations best DII defense. That defense was hard to make yardage against, as the Rams only gained 338 yards (they averaged 472 during the season). 165 of those yards came on three first half plays, a 62 run with a screen pass by Jameze Massey, a 48 yard catch by Jahuann Butler and a 45 yard tipped pass touchdown on the last pay of the first half that gave the Rams a 14-7 leads at intermission. In the second half the Crimson Hawks forced two turnovers, two punts and took over after a failed fourth down conversion. Kameron Smith who had thrown for 39 touchdowns this season but hadn’t played in three weeks due to an injury, came in to provide a spark for the Rams and after two misfires in which they gained a total of 7 yards, he engineered the winning drive, tossing a one year TD to Rickey Rozier with 3:51 left to give the Rams a 21-17 lead. The Crimson Hawks then drove to the WSS 5 yard line but a fourth down pass fell incomplete as All-American linebacker Carlos Fields hit quarterback Mike Box as he was releasing the pass.
West Texas A&M avenged a 34-44 regular season loss to #1 Colorado State Pueblo with a convincing 34-13 in the “Thunderdome”. Quarterback Dustin Vaughn was 24 of 38 for 324 yards and 3 scores. Khiry Robinson ran for 181 yards and caught a touchdown pass. The Buffalos held the Thunderwolves to 32 yards rushing after giving up 265 in the first meeting. They also recorded 7 sacks, totally dominating the line of scrimmage. They out-gained CSU+P 517-225. They led at halftime 24-3.
Two time DII king Valdosta State whipped 5 time NAIA champ Carson Newman 48-26, rolling up 525 yards of total offense. They bolted out to a quick 14-0 lead only to see CNU score 20 in a row to take a 20-14 halftime lead, including a goal line stand at their own 1 yard line as the half ended. They then added a field goal to being the second half for a 23-14 lead. The rest was all Valdosta. They score din four plays, the last a 37 yard pass from Cayden Cochran to Seantavious Jones. The Eagles responded with a file goal for a 26-21 lead. But the Blazers closed out the game with four unanswered touchdowns. Chris Anderson caught a 20 yard TD pass. Cedric O’Neal scored on a three yard run. Cochran threw to Quin Roberson for the third score and then O’Neal closed the scoring with a 16 yard run. O’Neal had 194 yards and three scores while Cochran passed for 246 and three scores and ran for 34 and a score.
Mankato State, (sorry, Minnesota State-Mankato) won another close one, putting on a 10 play 80 yard late fourth quarter drive to beat Missouri Western, 17-10. Connor Thomas gained 46 of the 80 yards and scored the winner on a 12 yard cut-back run. The freshman rushed for 159 yards on 19 attempts, his first 100 yard rushing game. The Mavericks held Western’s star, Michael Hill to 502 yards and Earl brooks iced it with an interception of the final play.
The semi-final match-ups:
WINSTON-SALEM of North Carolina (13-0, 521-189). No losses. Rank: #2. All-time 5-8. No titles.
Vs.
WEST TEXAS A&M (they were once a major college team as West Texas State- they once had Duane Thomas and Mercury Morris in the same backfield). (12-2, 561-280). Lost to Colorado State-Pueblo 34-44 on 8/30 and Midwestern State 48-52 on 11/3. Rank: #16. All-time: 8-5. No titles.
The Buffs sure had a big win vs. the #1 team but the Rams have been impressive, too. WTA&M has given up a fair amount of points this year. They once lost a playoff game to Abilene Christian, 68-93- in football! But their defense looked just fine vs. the Thunderwolves.
VALDOSTA STATE of Georgia (10-2, 512-254). Lost to Saginaw Valley State 24-28 and on 9/8 and West Alabama 28-39 on 9/22. Rank: #17. All-time: 17-9. Titles: NCAA DII 2004, 2007 (2).
Vs.
MINNESOTA-MANKATO (13-0, 471-216). No losses. Rank: #5. All-time 4-5. No titles.
Winston-Salem and Mankato are the last of the five undefeated teams that had never won anything still alive. I didn’t think the Mavericks would beat Northwestern Missouri, a perennial power in this division in the second round but they did. Valdosta has the better history and they have been playing like they are going to win a third title. It’s impressing that they have closed out their two playoff games with 37-0 and 27-0 runs after the games appeared to be competitive. My sense is that they will win this but maybe Mankato can do it again.
The Championship game will be played on Saturday, 12/15/12 at 1PM EST in Florence, Alabama. It will be on ESPN2, Channel 25 on Time Warner Cable in the Syracuse area.
