St. John's won with a big dose of the ground game on Saturday, with Henry Trost running for 93 yards and two scores and quarterback Chris Backes going for 103 and a touchdown himself. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

St. John's rallied with a literal last-second touchdown in the snow, RPI walked off with a field goal for the LL title, Cortland knocked Ithaca down to two losses and JCU rallied to end Baldwin Wallace's hopes in Saturday's Division III football action. 

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Teams looking for at-large bids got a bit of a boost early in the day on Saturday when Cortland dealt Ithaca a 28-27 defeat in the Cortaca Jug game, and simultaneously, RPI kicked a last-second field goal to beat Union, win the Dutchman Shoes, and take the Liberty League's automatic bid. Then John Carroll rallied from a 21-3 halftime deficit to knock off Baldwin Wallace 29-28 and essentially eliminate the Yellow Jackets from at-large consideration.

But there was still the matter of the MIAC title game, between St. John's and Bethel, a game which the Royals led 21-8 at halftime and 28-15 as the third quarter ended. A Bethel win would take an at-large bid away from someone, as St. John's would be an easy pick as an at-large. But St. John's used a methodical drive late in the third and early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 28-22. The Royals made an ill-advised decision to go for it on fourth-and-6 at their own 42 and failed, but the defense stopped Chris Backes on a sweep on fourth-and-1 at the 6 to preserve the lead.

Pinned back inside their 10, Bethel's Jaran Roste did get a big completion to Joey Kidder in the snow to get some beathing room, but had to punt, and St. John's went four-and-out. But Bethel did as well, after Ethan Stark broke up a pass with 1:59 left and Backes, the senior who started the season as the No. 2 quarterback, hit Jimmy Buck for a big gain, scrambled for 25 yards down to the 10, and eventually ended up fourth-and-goal as seen below:

Fourth and goal from the 4, and here's how the Johnnies tied it up. https://t.co/LuKQg8MJxR #d3fb pic.twitter.com/CX1REfpDDp

— D3football.com (@d3football) November 13, 2021

The completion to tight end Alex Larson, and Conor Pavelko's extra point, gave the Johnnies the 29-28 win. 

Playing in his first collegiate football game following an All-American career with the RPI men's soccer team, fifth-year senior Trevor Bisson made a 36-yard field goal as time expired to give the No. 21 Engineers a 19-17 come-from-behind win over No. 23 Union. With the victory, RPI (9-1; 4-1 Liberty League) regains the Dutchman Shoes Trophy, earns the Liberty League title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Playoffs and ties the school record for regular season win.

Two trophies and a trip to the playoffs were the spoils for RPI. RPI athletics photo by Kevin Beattie

The Dutchmen (8-2; 3-2) miss out on an opportunity to share the league championship and a potential NCAA postseason bid. Bisson, who kicked throughout high school in Louisiana, joined the Engineers on Monday after it was announced Rensselaer did not get selected to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. The second field goal attempt of his career was set up following a successful onside kick, which came after RPI's go-ahead two-point conversion attempt with 29 seconds remaining failed.

Cortland rallied from a two-touchdown deficit as Brees Sagala hit Derek Cruz twice for touchdowns in the final 20 minutes of the game to give the Red Dragons a 28-27 lead on Ithaca in the battle for the Cortaca Jug. Then Travis Alvarez did what Alvarez and the Cortland special teams have done all year. After the holder corraled a high snap, Alvarez blocked Nicholas Bahamonde's 35-yard field goal attempt with 1:51 left, and Cortland was able to run out the clock and improve to 10-0. Ithaca fell to 8-2. The block was the 11th of Alvarez's career.

John Carroll rallied from a 21-3 halftime deficit, and from 28-10 down with 10 minutes to play, scoring 19 unanswered for the 29-28 win. Jake Floriea threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Evan Mcvay with 4:02 to play, cutting the deficit to 28-22, and the Blue Streaks kicked deep. Baldwin Wallace (8-2, 7-2 OAC) saw its drive sputter near midfield and pinned JCU (7-3, 7-2) back on its own 18. That's when Floriea went back to work, going 4-for-7 on the drive for 57 yards, including a 25-yarder to Joe Torok with 45 seconds left. Grant Gonya's extra point made it 29-28.

Carnegie Mellon claimed its share of the Presidents' Athletic Conference title, the share which comes with the automatic bid to the playoffs, defeating Case Western Reserve 24-6. The win put the Tartans into the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and ensures that longtime coach Rich Lackner will end his coaching career in the NCAA postseason. Sophomore Tre Vasiliadis ran for 191 yards on 38 carries and a touchdown on a day in which Case outgained Carnegie Mellon, but the Tartans intercepted Case five times en route to six takeaways on the day.

Springfield racked up 21 first downs and 28 points in the first half, then forced three turnovers in the second half as the Pride downed Catholic 28-14 to win the NEWMAC and return to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the seventh time. Springfield had 353 yards of total offense, including 314 on the ground, as the Pride had six players with at least 25 yards rushing, led by Tim Callahan's 74 yards.

Lake Forest jumped out to an early lead and did not let go as the Foresters defeated the University of Chicago in a hard-fought battle 28-6 to run the table at 10-0 and win the Midwest Conference title and automatic bid. The Foresters scored on their first possession of the game and led all four quarters in the win. Tre Stewart threw a touchdown pass to A.J. Jackson in the fourth quarter to make it 14-0, then made a nice run for a 69-yard touchdown to seal the deal with 2:08 left.

No. 10 Delaware Valley shut out Widener 27-0, giving the Aggies a perfect regular season and their seniors a perfect career record against conference foes. Tahmir Barksdale had a 55-yard touchdown reception and an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown, and the Aggies defense held Widener to 74 yards and four turnovers.