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| Steve Kodossou already owns
the record for most receiving yards in a playoff game and nearly
broke it again in just one half of action. Wesley athletics file photo |
Steve Kodossou had four catches for 238 yards, all of them touchdowns and Nash Nance was picked off five times in the first half alone as Wesley rolled past Hampden-Sydney in the first round.
Quarterback Joe Callahan threw four of his five touchdown passes in the opening quarter with three of them going to Koudossou. The Wolverines held H-SC to 223 yards of total offense.
MIT advanced in overtime, while Hobart scored in the closing seconds to knock off Ithaca and Johns Hopkins eased past Rowan to set up the second round in the top right-hand bracket, more commonly known as the Wesley bracket.
Trailing by three points with less than a minute to play, MIT got a game tying 38-yard field goal as time expired in regulation from sophomore Tucker Cheyne, then a spectacular TD catch by junior Seve Esparrago in overtime to pull out a thrilling, 27-20, win at Husson.
Quarterback Patrick Conlan threw three interceptions but had 20 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner for Hobart, which did not lead until the closing seconds of its 22-15 win.
Ithaca led 12-0 at the half before Hobart battled back to tie it 15-15 early in the fourth quarter on a Conlan touchdown run and Conlan's two-point conversion. Conlan led the Statesmen on two 72-yard scoring drives in the fourth quarter, overcoming what he called in the postgame news conference, "possibly the worst first half of my career."
Rowan got a 10-yard touchdown pass from Bill McCarty to Warren Oliver with 51 seconds on the clock. Johns Hopkins blocked the extra point, however, and Brandon Cherry recovered the onside kick to wrap up a 24-16 win. Photos from this game.
Second-round host sites are not announced officially until Sunday, but Wesley will host MIT and Hobart should host Johns Hopkins, based on how the NCAA laid out teams in the bracket.