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Sophomore St. Thomas cornerback Jack Gavin battles
Gustavus receiver Cody Sukalski for a ball in the Tommies' 43-6
win. |
St. Thomas became the second team to clinch a bid in the 2010 Division III football playoffs, while Montclair State lost, seemingly clinching the East Region's fate for another year of not being able to produce a team worthy of a No. 1 seed.
No. 4 St. Thomas is the second team to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The Tommies rolled over Gustavus Adolphus 43-6, holding the Gusties to 197 total yards and 2-for-13 on third down.
Will the East still get a No. 1 seed? Montclair State lost at Cortland 10-9 to end the region's last unbeaten run, at least among those with a representative schedule. Moravian threw the Centennial Conference wide open by upsetting No. 24 Ursinus 24-17. The Bears slip into a three-way tie for first with Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins, each of whom won.
No. 20 Alfred couldn't follow up on last weekend's win against St. John Fisher as the Saxons fell to Rochester 24-14. It's Rochester's second win of the season. No. 13 Wartburg held off Luther 24-18 to set up next week's big game against No. 18 Central.
No. 11 Ohio Northern remained in prime position for a Pool C (at-large) playoff bid, rolling past Marietta 45-6. No. 21 Hampden-Sydney won its 18th consecutive regular season game, beating Guilford 49-20.
No. 5 North Central scored 37 unanswered points and held Elmhurst to minus-34 yards rushing as the Cards crushed the Bluejays 47-13. That sets up a de facto title game between North Central and No. 17 Wheaton, which edged Augustana 20-14.
The Purple Powers passed tests in close games on Saturday, as No. 1 UW-Whitewater locked down the UW-Stevens Point rushing game en route to a 27-14 win and No. 2 Mount Union got 174 rushing yards and three touchdowns by Jeremy Murray in a 28-10 win at Otterbein.