Playoffs! Small College Finals and Semi-Finals | Syracusefan.com

Playoffs! Small College Finals and Semi-Finals

SWC75

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NAIA FINALS

Most of the small college finals and semi -finals were played under adverse weather conditions. This was not one of them as it was played in Daytona Beach, Florida. Neither team had won a title before. ST. FRANCIS had the more impressive history, having reached the title game three times in the previous decade but lost. Baker had reached the NAIA Division II playoff title game back in 1986, (when the NAIA was split in two divisions), and lost on that occasion. Baker had been the, (slightly), more statistically impressive team this season, going 14-0 and outscoring its opponents by an average of 50-20.5. St. Francis was 12-1 and had out-scored its opponents by an average of 43-18. But St. Francis’s one loss had been to defending national champion and then #1 ranked Marian and they had one common opponent with Baker, Missouri Valley, a team Baker defeated 31-28 but who lost to St. Francis by a whopping 20-79 in the first round of the playoffs. St. Francis had defeated another statistically superior team, Reinhardt, (13-0, 53-12) by 42-24 in the semi-finals. St. Francis is from the Mid-States conference, which had won 4 of the previous five NAIA titles with multiple teams. There are differing levels of completion, even in the NAIA and St. Francis seemed to be a team that played on a higher level than Reinhardt or Baker and it showed when they met on the field.

I watched this game on ESPN3 and it was immediately noticeable, (and commented upon by the TV broadcasters) that the St. Francis players looked bigger and stronger than the Baker kids. Baker looked to me like a high school team. It didn’t matter that they’d rolled up big scores on other team: now they were playing St. Francis and they were over-matched. Baker got a field goal on their opening drive but St. Francis took over from there, rolling to a 17-3 halftime lead with almost 19 minutes of possession time. Baker again got off to a good start in the second half, scoring a touchdown to make it 10-17 but St. Francis ground out two more scores to take complete control at 31-10 on the way to winning 38-17.

Saint Francis Wins First National Championship

Saint Francis Cougars - Wikipedia

Baker University - No. 4 St. Francis Captures NAIA-FCS Title, 38-17, over No. 2 Baker

St. Francis’ final line:

SAINT FRANCIS (Ind.) 13-1 (601-257) ranked #4 / lost to Marian 21-35 / 27-15 (1)
 
NCAA DIVISION III FINALS

At last a DIII final Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater could both watch on TV! The small college playoffs used to be about seeing different teams each year as the scores in the Sunday Paper came to life. You could see what team’s uniforms looked like, how they played, hear some interviews with the coaches and maybe something about the schools and communities they represented. Then Mount Union came to dominate the division, to be joined a decade ago by Whitewater. Between them, they taken 20 of the last 22 spots in the final since 2005 and won all 11 national championships. Not this year.

Neither MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR nor Wisconsin- Oshkosh had ever won a title, although MH-B had played in the last non-MU/WW final in 2004 and lost to Linfield. The “Cru” had been in the playoffs virtually every year since but always ran into one of the super powers and were sent home. This time they conquered Mount Union in the semi-finals. Oshkosh had competed regularly with Whitewater in the Wisconsin Conference but they were a perennial also-ran. But they beat St. Thomas, the only other team to make the finals in those 11 years and then John Carroll, who had completed the incredible double of beating both Mount Union in the regular season and the n Whitewater in the quarter-finals.

There was a strange trend, possible helped by the weather, of incredibly low-scoring games in the last couple rounds of the tournament, scores that looked like they were from the 1950’s, when good teams just didn’t allow anybody to score on them so when they met, the results were often in the single digits or close to it. In the semis, Mary Hardin-Baylor met Mount Union, with both teams averaging a very modern 48 points a game. The result was a 14-12 scores. Oshkosh, (40ppg) beat John Carroll (35ppg) 10-3. And in the finals, The Crusaders beat the Titans 10-7 for their first ever title.
M. Hardin-Baylor vs Wis.-Oshkosh - DIII Football


MH-B’s final line:

MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR (Tx) 15-0 (652-209) ranked #1 / 32-14 (1)
 
NCAA DIVISION II FINALS

In a year when none of Mount Union, Wisconsin-whitewater or North Dakota State will win a championship, NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE did – it’s second in a row with its 30th consecutive win, over North Alabama 29-3. It was the Bearcat’s 6th DII title. North Alabama was going for its fourth. The game featured the two schools who have won the most DII playoff games over the years.

It was played in a “winter wonderland” in Kansas City and was all about grind it out football. MW Mo just did a better job of it. At the beginning, neither team could accomplish much in the adverse conditions. Northwestern slowly got its act together and just seemed to be a bit more able to deal with the cold than the Alabamians. A 7-3 halftime game turned into a 14-3 lead after three quarters and the champs dominated the 4th quarter with 15 unanswered points, including a safety.
North Alabama vs N'west Mo. St. - DII Football

The Bearcats final line:

NORTHWEST MISSOURI 15-0 (682-180) ranked #1 / 47-15 (6)
 
NCAA FCS SEMI-FINALS

That wasn’t an earthquake on the Richter Scale- it was the falling of a giant. After winning five straight national championships and 22 straight playoff games, the Bison of North Dakota State were defeated in their own Fargo Dome by JAMES MADISON. The Dukes, who had obliterated #1 ranked Sam Houston State 65-7 in their previous game, kept right on rolling against the Bison herd, rolling up a 17-0 in the first 23 minutes. But they weren’t playing Sam Houston. The Bison rose up and turned the game around, scoring 17 unanswered points of their own to tie the game by the end of the third quarter and they looked like they might keep going and win going away, as they have done so many times.

But a 45 yard pass play on third and 9 followed by a penalty that negated a 3rd and 10 sack set up a JM field goal to open the fourth quarter. After forcing a punt, the Dukes went 80 yards for the clincher, Khalid Abdullah bursting for 55 yards and John Miller catching a 25 yarder for the winner in a 27-17 James Madison victory that sent all those rabid Bison fans home muttering something they haven’t said in a long time: “Wait till next year!”

For James Madison this year might be “next year”. They looked a lot like the North Dakota State championship teams, a big brawny team that loves to pound away at their opponent until they give in and an opportunistic team that gives no quarter but takes advantage of any opportunity they can to beat you. They looked like a championship team.
James Madison vs North Dakota St. - FCS Football


I’m sure they will be heavily favored over YOUNGSTOWN STATE, whose presence in the final makes little sense. They won it by winning a game that made little sense – but was one of the greatest games you’ll ever see. Coach Bo Pellini had to suspend four key players for failing drug tests:
http://wkbn.com/2016/12/17/sources-...ayers-not-playing-in-eastern-washington-game/
…and then go out and play perennial power Eastern Washington, who had dominated their playoff opposition, on their own fire-red field and somehow win – and they did, in one of the great games you’ll ever see. They did it by just refusing to go away. it was a classic case of an underdog team staying in a game until they realized that they just had to win the last few plays and they’d win the game. And the winning play was one for the ages.

The Penguins seemed at home on the snow-covered field, perhaps even moreso because red is Youngstown’s color too, while the Eagles abandoned their normal red and white and went for an all-black look. Bad idea. Youngstown scored first to make it 7-0 but then gave up 17 unanswered points. The Penguins kicked a field goal but the Eagles answered with a touchdown to soar to a 24-10 advantage. The Penguins waddled to a touchdown and then a field goal to make it 20-24. The home team regained control at 31-20 but the Penguins swam into the lead with two more touchdowns. The Eagles thought maybe they’d finally won it with a 1 yard TD run with 4:30 left to make it 38-34.

But Youngstown had one more shot and they took advantage of it- barely. With 6 seconds left, quarterback Hunter Wells dropped back and found everyone covered. He took a chance by throwing a bullet pass to Kevin Rader, whose defender had turned his back. Rader was already tangled up with him, (there might have been an interference call if the catch hadn’t been made). But Rader did something David Tyree would admire: he reached beyond the defender’s out-stretched arms with one hand, gained control of the ball and pinned it against the defender’s shoulder. That’s a good catch and the referees signaled touchdown. A try for two failed and there was time only for a kick-off and poorly executed Stanford band-type play and the Penguins were in the finals against mighty James Madison.
Youngstown St. vs Eastern Wash. - FCS Football


FINALS MATCH-UP

The FCS championship game will be played at Noon on January 7th in Fisco, Texas and will be televised on ESPN2.

JAMES MADISON 13-1 (672-304) ranked #5 / lost to North Carolina 28-56 / 12-11 (1)
Vs.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE 12-3 (438-291) ranked #13 / lost to West Virginia 21-38, South Dakota State 10-24 and North Dakota State 3-24 / 32-10 (4)

I always wonder about “Cinderella teams” when they get to championship games. There are all kinds of reasons to think they cannot win those games but they are the same reasons they weren’t supposed to get to those games in the first place. The Dukes will be the clear favorite and deservedly so but do the Penquins have any miracles left?
 
Bump!

Unfortunately, the FCS will be on opposite the SU game and likely over by the time I get back from the Dome. But those watching on TV might want to check this out at halftime and right after the SU games ends.
 

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