Washington & Jefferson claimed its 21st Presidents' Athletic Conference championship and 19th in the past 23 years with a 54-0 victory against host Bethany yesterday afternoon.

W&J (9-1, 6-0), winner of nine consecutive games, can expect to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs when bids are extended today. W&J could meet Carnegie Mellon (10-0) in the first round of the playoffs.

W&J, which defeated Bethany (4-6, 2-4) for the 24th consecutive time, was led by Ryan Mendel's 158 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 3, 4, 15 and 10 yards. Bobby Swallow completed 8 of 10 passes for 176 yards and threw scoring passes of 27 yards to Peter Briggs and 62 yards to Luke Espe.

Bethany's T.J. Parker had 12 catches for 50 yards to set a school season record with 71 receptions.

Other games

Robert Morris 41, Sacred Heart 21: Erik Cwalinski completed 20 of 28 passes for 270 yards and touchdowns of 50 yards to Alvin Hill and 7 yards to Michael Rogers as the visiting Colonials (7-4, 5-2) defeated Sacred Heart (2-9, 1-6) in the Northeast Conference. Robert Morris scored on James Kazil's 94-yard return of a fumble and Matt Brunck's 16-yard interception return. Robert Morris led at halftime, 31-0, and 41-0 early in the fourth quarter.

West Chester 21, Slippery Rock 20: A.J. Saunders rushed for 135 yards on 16 carries and Nate Crookshank passed for 131 yards and touchdowns of 9 yards to Terry Grossetti and 8 yards to Luke Wetzel for host Slippery Rock (7-4).

Seton Hill 13, Taylor 3: Garyn Ehrilich threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Clayton Shaver and Ray Wilkins kicked field goals of 30 and 24 yards as the host Griffins (2-9) defeated Taylor (1-9).

Shippensburg 35, Clarion 10: The host Red Raiders (5-6, 3-3) rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit to defeat the Golden Eagles (1-10, 0-6) in the PSAC West. Clarion quarterback Tyler Huether, who completed 8 of 26 passes for 91 yards, ran 7 yards for a touchdown.

St. Francis (Ind.) 21, Geneva 20: The host Golden Tornadoes (4-5) threw a scare into St. Francis (10-0), the top-ranked team in NAIA which won its 51st consecutive game in the regular season. For Geneva, Justin Sciarro completed 26 of 51 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Duriancik had 11 catches for 119 yards and a 12-yard touchdown.

Waynesburg 21, Westminster 9: Waynesburg's Ryan Abels rushed for 222 yards and scored on runs of 4 and 50 yards, extended his school career rushing record to 3,985 yards.

Youngstown State 19, Western Kentucky 3: Monquantae Gibson rushed for a career-high 236 yards on 43 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Youngstown State (9-2). The win, coupled with Southern Illinois' victory against Northern Iowa, gives the Penguins the Gateway Conference's automatic bid into the Division I-AA playoffs.