W&J grabs win in first round of NCAA Division III playoffs
WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) – Joey Nichols ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and Washington & Jefferson’s defense yielded just 26 passing yards as the Presidents beat Christopher Newport 24-10 in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday. Washington & Jefferson (9-2) is making its 15th playoff appearance in 19 years and will play at Trinity in the second round next Saturday. Trinity beat Mary Hardin-Baylor 48-38 in another first-round game Saturday.
Christopher Newport (6-5) made its second playoff appearance despite starting a football program just two years ago, but couldn’t sustain any offense, running just 45 plays to 84 for Washington & Jefferson.
R.J. Zitzelsberger opened the scoring for W&J with a 1-yard run capping the game’s first drive of eight plays for 65 yards.
Christopher Newport answered with a 21-yard field goal by Jason Broskie, but trailed 14-3 after the first quarter when the Presidents’ Brian Dawson hit Mike Virgin with a 4-yard touchdown pass. Dawson would finish the day 22-of-30 for 204 yards and two interceptions.
Christopher Newton made it 14-10 at the half on Branden Jones’ 16-yard run, but wouldn’t score again.
Luke Ravenstahl added a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Nichols’ 4-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring.
IUP 93, Frostburg St. 76
FROSTBURG, Md. – Keenan Holmes scored 24 points and added eight rebounds to lead Indiana, Pa., to a win over Frostburg State in the championship game of the Bobcat Tip-Off Tournament .
Holmes was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
IUP (2-0) held a slight lead over the Bobcats midway through the first half before pulling away. Holmes sparked a 20-5 run over the next six minutes with eight points as the Indians took a 52-42 lead at the half.
Indiana continued to lead in the second half, but Frostburg (1-1) pulled to within 11 on a pair of free throws by Myro Small with 7:47 left in the game.
Albany 24, Duquesne 0
ALBANY, N.Y. – Gary Jones rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns as Albany shut out Duquesne.
The Great Danes (8-4) scored on three consecutive possessions in the first quarter for a 17-0 lead. Ryan Roeder directed Albany on a seven-play drive that ended in Jones’ 19-yard dash through the middle to the end zone.
Albany scored 10 more points by taking advantage of two consecutive short punts. Jon George and Jones ran five straight times before place-kicker Stan Zylinski booted a 30-yard field goal.
The Great Danes had to travel just 29 yards for their next touchdown as George drove over left guard on a one-yard scoring run with 19 seconds left in the period.
Albany put the game away with a late fourth period drive when Jones went around right end on a one-yard touchdown run to cap his team’s upset victory.
Duquesne (11-1) had two scoring chances late in the second quarter. The first chance ended in a missed a 24-yard field goal by Earl Bellisario and the second drive stalled out at the Albany 13 when Niel Loebig’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
The Dukes, who were bidding for the program’s first undefeated season since 1941, were shut out for the first time since 1997 and held to 146 total yards, including 44 on the ground.
Loebig completed 12 of 37 passes for 102 yards, and was picked off twice by Albany’s Ryan MacLean.