No. 25 Coe upset No. 4 St. John's in Collegeville 34-27, withstanding a late rally to advance to the second round of the NCAA playoffs. The Johnnies trailed 34-20 but forced a Kohawks turnover inside their own five. Joe Boyle connected with Kellen Blaser for a touchdown to draw St. John's within one score but Coe recovered the onside kick and held on for the victory.
No. 6 Central trailed No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor by 14 entering the fourth quarter but the Dutch scored three touchdowns to draw within two at 42-40 with 28 seconds left. Central's two-point conversion fell incomplete and the Crusaders recovered the onside kick to preserve the win. First round Scoreboard, updated with game stories.
The finish of the day was in Bloomington, Ill. where No. 14 Illinois Wesleyan outlasted No. 15 Wabash 41-35 in double-overtime. The Little Giants took a 28-20 lead in the fourth quarter on a Derrick Yoder seven-yard touchdown run, but the Titans answered back with a 15-play scoring drive to tie the game. Illinois Wesleyan and Wabash traded touchdowns in the first overtime and then, after Wabash was intercepted, Titans quarterback Kraig Ladd hit Jack Scalcucci for a 30-yard touchdown and the victory.
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Johns Hopkins pulled off the first upset of the tournament, scoring the final 16 points to knock off No. 18 Hampden-Sydney 23-7. Corey Sedlar was held to 16-for-37 passing and the Tigers ran for just 29 yards on 13 carries. Andrew Kase ran for 109 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries.
Unlike St. John's, the other top three seeds advanced. No. 1 Mount Union crushed Washington & Jefferson 55-0, No. 2 UW-Whitewater rolled over Lakeland 70-7 and No. 3 Wesley defeated North Carolina Wesleyan 55-23.
Trine is trying to do the same, up big on Case Western Reserve in the fourth quarter. Coe struck first at St. John's and led 20-14 at the half. Wittenberg crushed Mount St. Joseph 42-7.
Also on Saturday, a handful of teams in the East will be playing in ECAC postseason bowl games, plus Geneva and Greenville will play in the NCCAA's Victory Bowl, ending their season.


