District college football roundup: CMU wins share of PAC title, earns NCAA bid

Carnegie Mellon is sending longtime football coach Rich Lackner out with a trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Tre Vasiliadas ran 38 times for 191 yards and a touchdown to become the fourth CMU player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season as the Tartans defeated Case Western, 24-6, in the 35th annual Academic Bowl on Saturday.

CMU tied with Westminster for the Presidents Athletic Conference title but took the league’s automatic NCAA bid thanks to a 34-10 head-to-head win over the Titans on Oct. 9. For Carnegie Mellon, it’s the first PAC title since 1989 and first NCAA trip since 2006. It’s the 13th conference championship for Lackner, who is retiring after 36 years at the helm.

Matthew Evert caught four passes for 40 yards, including a 20-yard TD strike from Ben Mills, for CMU (8-2, 8-1), which intercepted five passes. Antonio Orsini had 15 carries for 111 yards, including a 57-yard scoring run for Case Western (6-4, 5-4).

Division II

Cal (Pa.) 29, Bloomsburg 6 — No. 15 Cal (Pa.) forced four turnovers as it defeated Bloomsburg (3-8). Dominic Solomon had an interception and recovered a fumble for the Vulcans (9-1). Noah Mitchell threw for 142 yards and one touchdown for Cal (Pa.) while Alex Gooden paced Bloomsburg’s offense with 95 rushing yards.

Edinboro 42, Millersville 21 – Dontae Sanders, a freshman from Clairton, ran 12 times for 68 yards and caught two passes for 23 yards and two touchdowns to lead Edinboro (4-6, 3-4) to a PSAC victory over Millersville (2-9, 1-6). Anfreenee Williams had six carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns for Edinboro.

Gannon 13, East Stroudsburg 10 — Melvin Blanks ran for 176 yards as Gannon (4-6) defeated East Stroudsburg (5-5). Kory Curtis threw for 190 yards and a touchdown to Kory Curtis, who caught four passes for 111 yards for the Golden Knights. Gunner Anglovich rushed for 121 yards for East Stroudsburg.

IUP 31, West Chester 24 — Dayjure Stewart scored on a 2-yard run with 14 seconds left in the game as IUP (7-3) scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to defeat West Chester (6-5). Harry Woodberry threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns, including a 74-yard scoring pass to Irvin Charles early in the fourth quarter to start the comeback. Ja’Den McKenzie rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns for West Chester.

Kutztown 38, Slippery Rock 32 – Jeremiah Nelson ran 23 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns and Jerome Kapp caught an 84-yard scoring pass from Eric Nickel as No. 16 Kutztown (10-1, 7-0) defeated No. 10 Slippery Rock (9-2, 6-1) in the PSAC title game. Nickel ran nine times for 74 yards and two scores as Kutztown took a 38-20 lead. In the last four minutes, Slippery Rock got touchdowns from Tim Smith, who ran 16 times for 125 yards, and Henry Litwin, who caught 11 passes for 112 yards, but the comeback bid came up short. Kutztown earns the PSAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs. Slippery Rock is hoping for an at-large bid.

Seton Hill 59, Lock Haven 7 – Logan Wiland ran 26 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns and Taro Gaither caught five passes for 93 yards and two scores as Seton Hill (5-6, 3-5) routed Lock Haven (1-10, 0-8). John Makell IV caught a 63-yard scoring pass from Jake McCormick, and the Griffins scored three return touchdowns – Hezekiah Hawkins and Jaylen McDuffie on bloacked punts and Teegan Hahn on a fumble.

Shepherd 55, Clarion 0 — Tyson Bagent threw for 447 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 8 Shepherd (10-1) to victory over Clarion (0-10). Ryan Beach caught nine passes for 140 yards and a touchdown for Shepherd, which outgained Clarion, 623 yards to 119 yards.

Shippensburg 17, Mercyhurst 13 – Jake DeLuccia scored his second rushing touchdown of the game with 4:30 left to lift Shippenburg (9-2, 5-2) to a PSAC win. Joe Carter was 15 for 31 for 263 yards and a touchdown and Makai Burris caught four passes for 129 yards for Mercyhurst (4-7, 3-4). It was the final game for Mercyhurst Marty Schaetzle, who announced his retirement after 20 years at the helm.

Division III

Allegheny 42, Oberlin 38 — In NCAC play, Jack Johnson hit Ian Durci with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left in the game as Allegheny (3-7, 2-7) overcame an 18-point third-quarter deficit to defeat Oberlin (1-9, 1-8). Smith threw for 277 yards and five touchdowns. Chris Allen Jr. tossed for 303 yards and five touchdowns for Oberlin, which led at halftime, 21-3.

Grove City 56, Thiel 0 — Clayton Parrish ran for 160 yards and the game’s first five touchdowns to lead Grove City (7-3) to the PAC shutout at Thiel (0-10) in the 37th annual Mercy County Cup contest. Zach Trusky added 107 rushing yard and a touchdown for Grove City, which ran for 356 yards overall. Grove City’s defense held Thiel to only 45 yards of offense and three first downs.

Saint Vincent 52, Bethany 7 — Brady Walker threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns as Saint Vincent (5-5) amassed 517 yards of offense in its PAC win over Bethany (1-9). Phil Harding caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and Julian Howard rushed for 117 yards and two TDs. Adam Shaw had two interceptions, including one for a 40-yard touchdown, for Saint Vincent’s defense, which held Bethany to minus-20 rushing yards and 165 yards overall.

Washington & Jefferson 55, Waynesburg 0 – Justin Huss scored on a 48-yard touchdown reception and a 45-yard punt return to lead Washington & Jefferson (8-2, 7-2) to a PAC win over Waynesburg (2-8, 2-70> Justin Heacock was 8 for 9 for 152 yards and two TDs and Colton Jones went 14 for 17 for 148 yards and a score. EJ Thompson ran six times for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

Westminster 31, Geneva 6 – Cole Konieczka went 22 for 35 for 304 yards and Tylon Eilam caught 10 passes for 142 yards as Westminster (8-2, 8-1) clinched a share of the PAC title with a win over Geneva (4-6, 4-5). Defensive lineman Brayden Thimons, a Highlands grad, caught a 3-yard touchdown pass after a bad snap on a field goal attempt. Tyler Lippiat ran 20 times for 115 yards for Geneva.

Division I FCS

St. Francis (Pa.) 22, Merrimack 6 – Justin Sliwoski connected with Kahtero Summers for a 60-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, Alex Schmoke added five field goals as St. Francis (Pa.) defeated Merrimack. Summers finished with five receptions for 107 yards and Marques DeShields had 97 yards rushing for St. Francis (5-5, 4-2 Northeast Conference). Westin Elliott hit Anthony Norcia with a 34-yard touchdown pass for the only score for Merrimack (5-5, 2-4).