 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Wednesday, September 22, 1999 By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Bigger already has proven to be better for NCAA Division III football. An expanded playoff format this postseason has added spice to the regular season, providing more entertaining and competitive matchups.
The playoffs have been enlarged from 16 to 24 teams and champions of conferences with seven or more teams will receive automatic berths. At-large bids will be extended to independents, non-champions and teams from conferences with fewer than seven members.
Under the new system, teams from the larger conferences have upgraded their non-league schedules because one or two losses no longer will wreck playoff aspirations. Teams from the smaller conferences now have an opportunity to face top competition that could enhance their ranking and reputation.
That's why Allegheny and Washington and Jefferson played this season and are scheduled to meet for the next two years.
The W&J-Allegheny rivalry is a matchup of the district's premier Division III teams this decade.
The only other district team with a glimmer of a chance to reach the Division III playoffs this season is Carnegie Mellon (3-0), which must earn an at-large bid because it competes in the five-team University Athletic Association. The Tartans haven't been to the playoffs since 1990.
Like CMU, W&J needs an at-large invitation because it plays in the five-team Presidents' Athletic Conference. W&J is 3-0 and in excellent playoff shape because it has defeated three formidable non-league foes -- Emory and Henry, Allegheny and Randolph-Macon.
The Presidents also have a non-league game next month against Buffalo State, a perennial playoff participant.
Although Allegheny is 1-2, the Gators are still in the playoff picture because they are 1-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference after a 30-13 victory over Denison. The league champion gets an automatic bid.
Allegheny is well-prepared for league play after opening the season against Malone, then-ranked No. 4 in NAIA, and W&J.
"These are the type of games that help you become the best football team you can be," W&J Coach John Banaszak said. "The only way to find out how good you are is to challenge yourself."
California cruising
California's Wesley Cates, a sophomore from Westerville, Ohio, has gained 228, 223 and 188 yards -- the second-, third- and eighth-best rushing games in school history -- in the first three games this season. The 6-foot, 185-pound tailback is the only player in school history to twice rush for 200 yards in a game. He has scored three touchdowns in each game and leads the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in rushing (213 yards per game) and scoring (18 points per game).
The numbers game
Grove City's R.J. Bowers, who has rushed for 100 or more yards in 19 consecutive games, could set an NCAA Division III record if he surpasses the century mark Saturday against Bethany. ... California averages the most points per game in the district (39.7) and Thiel allows the fewest (6.3).
A Rock(y) start
Slippery Rock quarterback Randy McKavish, the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year the past two seasons, has passed for only 426 yards and hasn't thrown for a touchdown in three games. He has throw three interceptions.
Saturday's big game
East Stroudsburg (2-1) at Slippery Rock (2-1), 2 p.m. -- A PSAC crossover game between Slippery Rock of the West Division and East Stroudsburg of the East. SRU, ranked No. 4 in Division II, has won two in a row since an opening, 44-14 loss at I-AA Youngstown State. East Stroudsburg is coming off a 38-34 victory over Glenville State in which Stewart Ford tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns.
|
||||||||||||
