NCAA Bracket
Johns Hopkins defeated Springfield while Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg both fell in the second round of the NCAA Division III Football Tournament on Saturday afternoon. This marked the first time in Centennial history that three teams qualified for the national tournament.
In Baltimore, Md., host Johns Hopkins downed Springfield 34-14 to move into the third round of the playoffs, where it will face Salisbury, which topped Endicott, 35-28, in another second round game on Saturday. The site of that game will be announced later on Saturday or on Sunday. Hopkins is now 16-13 all-time in the NCAA Playoffs, including 4-1 under head coach Dan Wodicka. The Blue Jays are in the round of 16 for the 10th time in 14 NCAA appearances.
Quarterback Bay Harvey was 14-of-24 for 177 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for a team-high 93 yards and two scores. Geoff Schroeder added 83 yards rushing on 18 carries as the Blue Jays' nearly split their 357 yards of total offense evenly with 180 yards on the ground and 177 through the air. Browning Trainer paced the Blue Jays defensively as he had career-highs of 12 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss. The Blue Jay defense held Springfield to just 193 yards rushing, just 150 below it season average and 47 yards fewer than it had rushed for in any game this season. The Pride amassed 100 yards on two plays (56, 44), but just 93 yards on 38 other rushing attempts.
In Lancaster, Pa., 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall hosted its first-ever NCAA Tournament game in program history on Saturday afternoon, falling 28-24 to Eastern in a matchup of two programs that were both making their first appearance on the national stage. F&M appeared to be in prime position for another one of its fourth quarter comebacks as the Diplomats had the ball down to Eastern 10 before the Eagles came up with an interception during the final seconds to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Gary Lewis accounted for two of the Diplomats' touchdowns as he broke his own school record with his 18th touchdown reception of the season to finish with 40 receiving touchdowns for his career. Ty Tremba threw for 228 yards to become the first quarterback in school history to eclipse 9,000 for his career as he finishes with a school record 9,186 passing yards and 85 passing touchdowns. His 10,055 career total offensive yards and 95 touchdowns responsible for are also school records.
In Alliance, Ohio, Muhlenberg's season ended with a 49-7 loss to Mount Union in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 13-time national champion Purple Raiders (11-0) are ranked first in the NCAA Power Index and second in the two Division III polls.
Mount Union scored touchdowns on its first seven drives, building a 35-0 lead by halftime and winning its first game of the NCAA Tournament for the 33rd consecutive season. Muhlenberg (9-3) scored its lone touchdown late in the third quarter after senior Dante Mahaffey returned a kickoff 33 yards to near midfield. Mahaffey kept the drive alive with a 13-yard scramble on fourth-and-4, then hit senior John Runfolo with a 25-yard completion to the 1-yard line before carrying it in on the next play.
Mahaffey finished with 92 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in addition to his long kickoff return. Senior Matthew Manning rushed for 42 yards in his final game to end up with more than 1200 for his career. Junior Christopher Short returned four kickoffs for 110 yards, including a 50-yard return - the longest allowed by Mount Union this season.
A pair of senior safeties, George Europe and Marcus McClaine, led the defense with eight tackles apiece.
