W&J photo courtesy of Haley Diaz / Grove City photo courtesy of Grove City Sports Information / Carnegie Mellon photo courtesy of Matt Durisko Photography

TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - After building a 10-0 halftime lead, Carnegie Mellon University used 14 fourth-quarter points to hold off a comeback effort from visiting Centre College and the Tartans came away with a 24-15 victory over the Colonels in the second round of the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. The match-up was played at Carnegie Mellon's Rich Lackner Field at Gesling Stadium.

The Tartans improve to 10-1 this season and advance to the third round of the Championships. Carnegie Mellon, one of three teams to share the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) football title this season, will be on the road next Saturday, Dec. 7th,  at the University of Mount Union, who won the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship this season. Kickoff in Alliance, Ohio, is scheduled for noon.

The PAC's other two champions were also in action in Saturday's second round, but fell short in their contests. Grove City College nearly rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to potentially force overtime, but a field goal in the closing seconds hit off the upright and the Wolverines dropped a 17-14 decision at Johns Hopkins University.

In Virginia, Washington & Jefferson College raced out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, but Randolph-Macon College responded with 24 second-quarter points and the Yellow Jackets would come away with a 38-22 victory over the Presidents.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 24, Centre 15
Records: Carnegie Mellon (10-1), Centre (8-3)
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Richard M. Lackner Field at Gesling Stadium)

Carnegie Mellon opened the scoring when a muffed snap by Centre led to a 32-yard field for the Tartan offense, who punched it in four plays later on a 20-yard back-corner strike from graduate student quarterback Ben Mills (The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands) to sophomore wide receiver Brendan McCullough (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) for a 7-0 score with 4:03 left in the first quarter. The lead grew to 10-0 in the second quarter when a Centre fumble gave the Tartans another short field, which led to a 28-yard field goal by junior kicker Justin Caputo (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) and close the scoring in the first half.

Centre's opening drive in the second half resulted in a six-yard scoring pass to trim the Carnegie Mellon lead to 10-7, but the Tartans extended their advantage back to 10 points early in the fourth quarter. A 19-yard punt return set the home team up on the Colonels' 40 and Carnegie Mellon found the end zone again seven plays later on a seven-yard strike from Mills to McCullough to extend the lead to 17-7 with 13:33 left in the game.

Centre would close the gap again, marching 87 yards on eight plays on their ensuing drive to find the end zone with a 27-yard TD pass. An errant PAT attempt was rushed in for two points and the Colonels were within two at 17-15 with 8:44 left in the game.

The teams would exchange punts and Centre looked like they had one final chance to take the lead when they started a drive on their own 22 with 3:12 to play. That drive ended two plays later when graduate student linebacker Logan Young (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) picked off his second pass of the game. Working with a short field again, Carnegie Mellon put the game away and clinched their spot in the third round when junior QB Joey McGinnis IV (High Point, N.C./Stem Early College At NC A&T) rushed in from a yard out with 49 seconds to play to complete the scoring for the game at 24-15.

Carnegie Mellon used four Centre turnovers to negate the Colonels' 380-222 advantage in total yards in the game. All of Centre's offensive work had to come through the air, as the Tartans set a school-record by holding the Colonels to -33 rushing yards. The Carnegie Mellon defense was led by junior safety Jacob Franze (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral), who tallied a game-high 11 tackles and a fumble recovery, while Young finished the day with seven tackles, including 1.0 tackles for a loss of 16 yards, and two interceptions.

Offensively, Mills threw for 153 yards and two TDs, which tied the school's single-season touchdown pass mark of 26.  McCullough led the Tartan receiving corps with tying a career-best with 109 yards on a career-high 10 receptions with two scores.

This was the Tartans ninth appearance in the NCAA postseason (1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1990, 2006, 2021, 2022) and they now have a 5-7 record in the NCAA playoffs.

Contributed by Carnegie Mellon Sports Information

Game Information
Johns Hopkins 17, Grove City 14
Records: Johns Hopkins (10-1), Grove City (9-2)
Location: Baltimore, Md. (Homewood Field)

Johns Hopkins opened the game with a 12-play, 73-yard drive that was capped with a one-yard QB sneak at the 8:38 mark of the first quarter. The Blue Jays led 7-0 at halftime, then pushed the lead to 10-0 with 5:50 left in the third quarter with a 35-yard field goal. Then a six-yard touchdown catch off a deflection with 7:59 left closed the JHU scoring.

Trailing 17-0 with 5:29 remaining, Grove City broke through when senior wide receiver Scott Fraser (Butler, Pa./Knoch) hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Logan Pfeuffer (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township). 

The Grove City defense then forced a punt after three plays. Senior safety Shay Aitken (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) broke through and blocked the punt, which bounced back to the end zone. Sophomore safety Jase Herrick (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) jumped on the loose ball, cutting the margin to 17-14 with 3:42 left in the game.

The Wolverines regained possession with 2:22 left as Aitken intercepted a third-down pass at the Grove City 29. Grove City then moved 61 yards on 14 plays to the Johns Hopkins 10. After three incompletions, the Wolverines' game-tying field goal attempt with nine seconds left hit the left upright, preserving the Blue Jays' lead. 

Fraser tied Grove City's and the PAC's single-game record by catching 19 passes. He finished with 231 receiving yards, the second-highest single-game total of his career. Pfeuffer completed 24 of 49 attempts for 273 yards.  

Junior linebacker Caleb Brubaker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) and sophomore cornerback Dominic DiNinno (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) both had eight tackles. Senior nose tackle Kobe Bonanno (New Bethlehem, Pa./Redbank Valley), recorded seven stops and a half sack, while senior defensive end Bryce Spolnik (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) recorded 1.5 sacks.

This marked Grove City's second straight NCAA playoff appearance. The Wolverines defeated Susquehanna in last year's first round, 21-20, before dropping a 25-24 decision at national champion Cortland State in the second round. 

Contributed by Grove City Sports Information

Game Information
Randolph-Macon 38, W&J 22
Records: Randolph-Macon (10-1), W&J (9-2)
Location: Ashland, Va. (Day Field)

With a quick three-and-out to start the game courtesy of the defense, the W&J offense set up in prime position at the Presidents' 42-yard line. The offense started off hot with a five-play drive to snag the first score on a seven-yard rushing touchdown by senior QB Jacob Pugh (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) up the middle. Following two traded drives of minimal success from each offense, the Presidents' defense mustered a crucial turnover. On a quarterback option, senior defensive lineman Avery Keith (Hartville, Ohio/Lake) recovered a fumbled ball to set up the Presidents' second score of the game.
 
Following the fumble, Pugh trotted the offense down the field through the air with passes to senior RB Raymond Holmes (Verona, Pa./Serra Catholic) and junior wideout Jacob Macosko (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) to set up another designed quarterback rushing touchdown for five yards by Pugh to make it 14-0 Presidents after one quarter.
 
The second quarter was controlled by the Yellow Jackets, who went on a methodical 77-yard drive for their first score to move within seven at the start of the second quarter, 14-7. After holding the W&J offense from scoring, R-MC tacked on another score with a 61-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Then back-to-back W&J turnovers, including a fumble and interception deep in Presidents' territory, allowed the Yellow Jackets to post a touchdown and field goal before the close of the half and grant the Yellow Jackets a 24-14 lead at the half.

Randolph-Macon built on to their lead with a touchdown in the third and early in the fourth quarter. The Presidents' offense mustered the final scoring drive of the game on a nine-yard reception in the back of the end zone by Macosko. A completed pass to senior tight end Zach Cernuto (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) on a two-point conversion brought the R-MC lead to 38-22 before the close of the bout.

The two-time PAC Offensive Player of the Year, Pugh led the Presidents' offense with 271 yards through the air and 15 yards on the ground. Pugh combined for three total touchdowns, including two rushing touchdowns and one passing strike. Macosko led the team through the air with 11 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown reception.
 
W&J's all-time tackle leader Justin Johns (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) added 12 total tackles to his career total with 0.5 tackle for loss, while Keith followed closely behind with 11 total tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.

This marked the first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2018 for W&J after winning their 27^th PAC Championship this season.

Contributed by W&J Sports Information