Slippery Rock crumbles

Notre Dame wins quarterfinal, 21-17

Slippery Rock’s season ended Saturday after a 21-17 loss at No. 11 Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. The Rock finished the season at 11-3. Notre Dame improved to 13-0 and advances to the semifinals against Ferris State, which beat Ouachita Baptist, 37-14.

Marvelle Ross scored the game-winning points for the Falcons on a 52-yard touchdown reception from Chris Brimm with 22 seconds left in the first half. Slippery Rock had scored with 2:06 left in the half to cut the deficit to 14-10, but Ross’ score extended the Notre Dame lead to 21-10.

The Slippery Rock defense had a shutout in the second half but the offense found the end zone just once. Wes Hills had a 19-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but while Slippery Rock had chances in the fourth, including getting the ball back with under three minutes to play, it failed to get rolling. A final drive stalled out in Notre Dame territory with 30 seconds left.

The Rock’s 11-3 record is the third-best in program history, trailing 12-2 records from 2015 and 1998.

FCS

Colgate 23, James Madison 20: Chris Puzzi kicked a 38-yard field goal as time ran out to give Colgate a victory against James Madison at Andy Kerr Stadium, sending the No. 8-seeded Raiders to the quarterfinals. The kick came after a Dukes failed fake punt on fourth-and-5. Trailing, 13-6, at haltimef, Colgate (101) scored on Grant Breneman’s 32-yard run and his 14yard pass to Owen Rockett. Rockett had 104 yards on five catches. The two-time national champion Dukes (9-4) tied the score at 20-20 on Ben DiNucci’s 7-yard run in the fourth quarter, but DiNucci, of Pine-Richland was intercepted five times.

Division III

Mount Union 38, Muhlenberg 10: No. 1-ranked Mount Union beat No. 22 Muhlenberg in the Division III quarterfinals at Alliance, Ohio. Mount Union had three picks, a forced fumble and five sacks as the Purple Raiders held Muhlenberg (11-2) to 152 yards. Mount Union back Josh Petruccelli had a careerbest 219 yards on 35 carries with three scores. The Purple Raiders (13-0) won a 28th consecutive game, making the semifinals for the 24th year in a row. They await No. 13 Johns Hopkins, which advanced with a 37-14 victory against Rensselaer.