West bracket looking crowded 

By Mike Safford Jr. (posted Nov. 10)

With the craziness of this week's Presidential election, I can honestly hope that something of that nature will not happen within the ranks of the Division III. Some teams will get in, some won't. Unfortunately, many of those teams will be from the West. The question remains — how will that affect the Pacific Region?

"There are a lot of undefeated teams in the West, along with Pool B teams with zero or one loss," said Redlands head coach Mike Maynard, a member of the West Region selection committee.

AFCA No. 3 Central (9-0 Iowa Conference champ), No. 5 Wisconsin-Stout (9-0 Wisconsin Conference champ), No. 12 Bethel (9-0 Minnesota Conference champ), and No. 19 St. Norbert (9-0 Midwest Conference champ) have each clinched a Pool A (automatic qualifier) berth into the playoffs. No. 9 Linfield (8-0, Northwest Conference leader) looks to have sewn up a spot with an unblemished record. But that is where the fun begins…

"I don't think many people on the committee know who Linfield is," said Maynard. "And even though Pacific Lutheran won the title last season, most don't know who they are — remember, they were a No. 7 seed last season."

Where does that leave No. 7 Pacific Lutheran (7-1), No. 15 Wartburg (8-1), and No. 17 Saint John's (8-1)? The Lutes might have an easier time getting into the Big Dance because of their Pool B consideration (eight teams), whereas the Knights and Johnnies must fight in the Pool C war (three teams).

With PLU and Linfield in the mix, the national selection committee might not have to send one or both teams packing. With the close proximity of the schools, a PLU-Linfield first-round match-up — a rematch of the Wildcats 38-28 victory Sept. 30, is likely. The two teams have won a combined seven national titles, and have met in the playoffs five different times since 1980.

"Linfield and PLU have played a tough schedule," Maynard said. "Both dominated Southern Oregon, one of the better NAIA teams. The raters (on a national scene), however, may not know how important a win like that is."

Two problems may arise — St. Norbert and the Pool C teams. Last season, the Green Knights were shipped out of the West region to make room for PLU and Willamette… will that happen again? Also, will both Wartburg (whose only loss was to undefeated Central) and Saint John's (whose only loss was to undefeated Bethel) earn Pool C berths?

What about Maynard's own Bulldogs? Redlands is undefeated in SCIAC play and is 6-2 overall with only Saturday's game with Occidental left. "We don't have a realistic chance this year, especially in this region, with two losses."

More on Redlands
The Bulldogs clinched its second consecutive SCIAC championship with a wild 40-34 victory against upstart Whittier (3-1, 3-5). After Poets quarterback Mark Meija was intercepted with 35 seconds left inside Redlands territory, the Bulldogs went to trickery for the win. Quarterback Clay Groefsma threw a lateral screen pass to Dusty Venaber, who tossed a long ball to a wide-open Chad Hustead for the winning touchdown. Brandon Ford rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns, going over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Mejia threw four touchdown passes in defeat for Whittier, three of them to Kenny Bohman.

Lewis & Clark ends another streak
Trent Thompson threw for 206 yards and rushed for 46 more as Lewis and Clark upset Willamette 33-30 to end a 13-game Northwest Conference losing streak. The defending NWC Champion Bearcats (0-4, 3-6) had a chance to tie, but Jesse Ward's 31-yard field goal sailed wide right as time expired. It was the second consecutive road victory for the Pioneers (1-3, 3-5). With the win, Lewis and Clark reclaims the Wagon Wheel, a turn-of-the-century Conestoga wheel that has been given to the winner of the annual contest since 1949. Willamette had kept the Wagon Wheel since winning the 1993 game in Portland.

Peace Pipe back to CMS
Ryan Gocong became the Stags' first 1,000-yard rusher since 1987 as Claremont-Mudd (0-4, 3-5) defeated neighbor Pomona-Pitzer 20-16 to claim the Peace Pipe. Gocong rushed for 231 yards on 41 carries as the Stags took the Piece Pipe for the first time in five seasons. The Sagehens (4-4) have lost four in a row.

Late field goal lifts Linfield
Scott Cannon kicked a 31-yard field goal with 4:40 left in the final stanza, lifting the visiting Wildcats (4-0, 8-0) to a 24-21 victory over Whitworth (2-2, 5-3) to keep themselves in the playoff hunt. Linfield jumped out to a 21-7 lead before the Pirates came back behind the arm of Scott Biglin. Biglin, who threw for 207 yards, found Ty McGregor from 40 yards out in the third quarter, and Josh Salina from 33 yards out to tie the score early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were paced by the legs of Marty Williams. Williams, filling in for the injured Carl Haberberger, ran for 110 yards on 29 carries.

Around the Region
Chris Czernek went 18-fpr-34 for 343 yards and four touchdowns, leading Cal Lutheran (1-3, 3-5) to a 45-24 victory against Occidental. The loss eliminates the Tigers (2-2, 5-3) from any chance at the SCIAC crown…Washington University held Colorado College to minus-one yards rushing in a 34-0 blanking of the Tigers (3-6)… Puget Sound guaranteed itself its first winning season since 1987 with a 7-3 victory over Eastern Oregon (2-7). The Loggers (2-2, 5-3) made a first half touchdown stand up, as NWC Defensive Player of the Week Will Lathrop took charge. Lathrop recorded 17 tackles, four for loss, and two sacks in the UPS victory… Luke Winslow threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns as NAIA No. 22 Azusa Pacific stopped Chapman (2-6) 38-6… Pacific Lutheran recorded its first shutout since 1992 as the Lutes (3-1, 7-1) defeated NAIA No. 15 Southern Oregon 33-0. Shipley Ennis had 167 yards of total offense for PLU, as the Lutes held the Raiders potent rushing attack to minus-9 yards… Menlo (5-4) ran its winning streak to three games with a 56-21 victory against LaVerne (2-2, 2-6).

• Occidental at Redlands — Outright SCIAC championship on the line
• LaVerne at Whittier — Can the Poets put last week's heartbreaker behind them?
• Cal Lutheran at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps — Battle between Kingsmen no-huddle passing attack and Stags running game
• Willamette at Linfield — will Wildcats be able to make it nine-for-nine this season?
• Pacific Lutheran at Puget Sound — No. 1 offense in NWC vs. No. 1 defense in NWC…Loggers haven't taken Totem Pole in 13 years
• Lewis and Clark at Whitworth — Battle for pride in Spokane
• Chapman at Menlo — Aerial assault by Zamir Amin continues…
• Eastern Oregon at Southern Oregon — EOU can knock the Raiders out of the NAIA playoffs

ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS: Log on to d3football.com on Saturday night for predictions for the 28-team national playoffs. Pat Coleman will have a question and answer session on Sunday morning from 8-10 a.m., prior to the release of the pairings at 11 a.m.

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