District College Football Recap for Saturday, November 20th with update on Robert Morris playoff

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, November 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM

The 20 team field for the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs was announced this morning. Robert Morris(8-2), the Northeast Conference champion, will travel to North Dakota State(7-4) on Saturday. The Bison finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The winner travels to the 4th overall seed Montana State(9-2) in the second round Saturday, December 4th.

It's the first trip for the Colonials to the FCS playoffs. The championship game is January 7th in Frisco, Texas.

Now onto the recaps:

The dream of a NCAA title ended in the first round of the playoffs for Cal U., while W & J went out on a high note to end the season.

Here are recaps of a light schedule involving the district teams from this week:

NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Quarterfinals
Bloomsburg 28 – California 26

The 7th ranked Cal Vulcans saw their hopes of a national championship come to an end at Adamson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. A late rally gave Cal the chance to tie the game as Josh Portis hit Chedrick Cherry for a 28 yard touchdown with 57 seconds left, but Portis could not connect on a two-point attempt and the Vulcans failed to recover the onside kick.

The game opened with a defensive battle as neither team could score in the first quarter, Cal got as deep as the Bloomsburg 34 but was forced to punt. The Huskies took over late in the quarter and were able to drive into Cal territory, the drive remained alive on a roughing the passer call that put the ball at the 15 yard line. Two plays later, Franklyn Quiteh, the nation's leading rusher in Division II scored to give Bloomsburg a 7-0 lead with just 16 second gone in the second.

Cal answered the 80 yard drive with a 63 yard drive of their own, Portis hooking up with Cherry for a 27 yard score, knotting the game at seven. The Vulcans had a golden opportunity to take the lead on a Shawn Anderson interception but again were forced to punt. Cal got the ball back with 1:18 remaining in the half and Portis engineered a drive to the Huskies 6 yard line, but two incomplete passes and a sack forced Cal to call a timeout with three seconds left to allow Marc Domonkos to kick a 30 yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Cal hung onto that 10-7 lead midway thru the third quarter, Domonkos kicked a 46 yarder, which was set up by a Tommie Campbell interception. Bloomsburg answered the field goal with a touchdown, Pat Carey connecting with Ryan Dickerson on a 33 yard pass to give the Huskies a 14-13 lead. After a short kickoff, Portis led the Vulcans on a touchdown drive, this time finding Terrance Moore for a 29 yard score and a 20-14 lead. Cal got the ball back one play later, Carey threw his third pick of the day as Campbell grabbed his second interception, giving the Vulcans the ball to end the quarter.

Cal saw the drive come to an end with a punt, pinning Bloomsburg at their own 12 yard line with 13:41 remaining. Bloomsburg came back with some trickery as tight end Ben Weaber took a lateral and completed a 57 yard pass to Kyle Weaver for 57 yards and the go-ahead score. The Vulcans hurt themselves with two penalties, pinning them deep into their own territory, the Huskies got the ball back with a short field at the 38 and one play in, Quiteh went the distance for a 28-20 lead with 5:32 left.

Cal started from their own 7, Portis engineered a 14 play drive, leading to his second scoring hookup with Cherry. Following the failed two-pointer and onside kick, Bloomsburg needed two knees to run out the clock and end the season for Cal.

With the win, Bloomsburg, who entered the playoffs as the 6th seed in the region, but the 20th ranked team in the country, will get a rematch with second seeded and 11th ranked Merycyhurst next Saturday and again in Erie. The Lakers defeated 56-39 last Saturday in the PSAC State Title game. The Huskies, the PSAC East champions are 10-2 on the season. Bloomsburg, who has defeated Cal in four of the last six meetings, was led by Quiteh's 141 yards on 22 carries.

Cal ends the season at 10-2, the Vulcans were held to 54 yards rushing. Portis ends his career with an even 300 yards on 26-48, he was sacked four times. Cherry had eight catches for 130 yards and the pair of scores.

ECAC Southwest Bowl
Washington & Jefferson 54 – Franklin & Marshall 41

The Presidents used a 26 point second quarter to end the season on a winning note at Cameron Stadium. Tim McNerney scored three times and Gino Rometo threw five touchdown passes in the win.

The day started well for W & J as Joe Combine recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff at the FM 26. The drive was kept alive by a pass interference call on a 4th and 11 play, McNerney scored from one yard out putting W & J up 1:37 into the game. On the second drive for the Presidents, Rometo hooked up with Jordan Roycroft for 59 yards, setting up a Rometo touchdown pass to Max Creighan of 25 yards and a 14-0 lead. Quarterback John Harrison led his team down the field, connecting with Jarrell Diggs for a 33 yard scoring strike. W & J returned the favor by fumbling the ensuing kickoff. John Kaschak scored on a two yard run to knot the game at 14 at the end of one.

The game did not stay tied for long, on the third play of the quarter, McNerney broke free for a 69 yard touchdown and a 21-14 Presidents lead. Following a punt, Rometo hit Adam Dominick with a 38 yard pass, setting up Rometo to Roycroft from twelve yards out, giving W & J a 14 point lead. Rometo did toss an inteception midway thru the quarter, leading to a Harrison pass to Micheal Deutch for a three yard touchdown with 3:42 remaining in the half.

Rometo was not done, completing four passes on the next drive, including a 21 yard touchdown pass to Roycroft. The extra point was blocked, leaving 69 seconds left to play. Instead of running out the clock or punting, Franklin and Marshall elected to go for it on a 4th and one at their own 48. Harrison was sacked, giving the Presidents the football and 28 seconds to score. And score they did, Rometo took just two plays, tossing to Alex Bafoffio for 35 yards and a 40-21 halftime lead.

W & J added to the lead on the opening drive of the third, McNerney on a 13 yard run putting the Presidents up by 26. FM went on a 14 play drive, just shy of seven minutes, Harrison to Jay Ridinger for a four yard touchdown. That duo worked magic again on a 17 yard touchdown on the final play of the quarter.

Leading 47-34 now, W & J ended any hope with an eight minute 84 yard march, Rometo to Roycroft for the 16 yard payoff. Harrison and Deutch hit on a 14 yard touchdown with 5:41 remaining to close out the scoring.

McNerney ran 24 times for 147 yards for the Presidents, Rometo was almost perfect, going 24 of 30 for 377 yards with just one interception. Roycroft caught 12 passes for 207 yards. W & J ends the season at 9-2.

For Franklin & Marshall, Harrison was 44 of 57 for 422 yards and five touchdowns, Diggs caught 11 passes for 116 yards, Ridinger had 10 catches for 105 yards, Kaschak also had 10 catches, Deutch ended with nine. F & M ends the season at 6-5.

Duquesne 37 – Bryant 29
The Dukes close out the season winning four of their last five games to finish 7-4 on the season and 5-3 in the Northeast Conference. Trailing 8-3 in the final minute of the first quarter, Sean Patterson put Duquesne up for good with a 56 yard touchdown run and after a turnover, Patterson hit Sean Bunevich for a 27 yard touchdown 21 seconds later, turning the five point deficit into a 17-8 lead. Michael Canfora scored on a one yard touchdown run to make it 17-15, but Eric Duale kicked his second field goal of the half, hitting from 39 and 33 yards, giving Duquesne a five point lead at the break. The Dukes pulled away on a Patterson touchdown pass to Dave Williams of 48 yards just 97 seconds into the third quarter. Bill Bair, the former Mars star, tossed a halfback pass to Patterson for 26 yards and a score on the first play of the fourth quarter to put Duquesne up 34-15. Canfora scored his second touchdown on a four yard run, Duale answered with a 20 yard field goal and Mike Croce hit Matt Tracey for a 21 yard touchdown with less than two minutes to play, the pair connected for a 12 yard score for Bryant's first touchdown. Larry McCoy led the way for Duquesne with 160 yards rushing on 27 carries. Patterson was only 9 of 25 for 197 yards, he also ran for 61 yards. Williams had four catches for 112 yards. Bryant ends the season at 7-4 as well, but 4-4 in the NEC. Jordan Brown led with 99 yards on 21 carries. Croce was 25 of 38 for 314 yards and Tracey had 7 catches for 113 yards.

Central Connecticut State 23 – Saint Francis 13
The Red Flash rallied late but not enough to avoid their eighth straight loss. Gunnar Jespersen helped stake the Blue Devils to a 23-0 lead in the third quarter, scoring on runs of 20 and 1 yard in the first quarter. CCSU also got a Joe Izzo 28 yard field goal and a Kevin Woolfolk 2 yard run in the second, plus a safety in the third. Daniel Conley put Saint Francis on the board with 8:39 remaining on a 1 yard run. Jude Yearwood also scored from a yard out, but the Red Flash got no closer. Jespersen threw for 199 yards and ran for 50. Everette Benjamin carried 16 times for 117 yards. Josue Paul had 8 catches for 105 yards, the Blue Devils end at 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the NEC, they will split the conference crown with Robert Morris, but the Colonials will represent the NEC in the Division I FCS playoff field which will be announced later this morning. It's the second straight conference title for CCSU, winning the title outright in 2009. Saint Francis was held to 32 yards rushing. John Kelly was 19 of 37 throwing for 185 yards, the Red Flash finish 1-10 overall and 1-7 in the NEC.

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