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Maybe Mason Zurek was hard to find in the snow at Wabash. Scratch that; he's wearing red. |
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| Antoine Taylor ran well for St. John's in relief of Sam Sura. Photo by Scott Pierson, d3photography.com |
Wabash turned a tight game into the Mason Zurek show, Thomas More rolled in a battle of unbeatens and St. Thomas got its offense going, eventually, to set up a rematch with archrival St. John's in the top left bracket.
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On a snow-blanketed field in Crawfordsville, Ind., Wabash came out after halftime and rode Mason Zurek. And the running back carried his team for 312 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-14 win vs. Albion.
Albion led surprisingly 7-6 at the half, and extended its lead to 14-6 early in the third quarter before Wabash found its offense. Zurek scored all four of his touchdowns in the second half, including a 70-yarder to cap the scoring with 4:44 left. He had 210 of his 312 rushing yards after halftime. Dominic Bona and the prolific Albion offense struggled against one of the top statistical defenses in Division III. Dominic Bona was 12-for-22 passing and was picked off three times and sacked three more times while throwing for just 117 yards in the loss.
Thomas More cruised past fellow unbeaten Washington & Lee 51-21 to advance to the second round. The Saints rolled out to a 42-7 lead behind four touchdown passes from Jensen Gebhardt and coasted from there.
Charlie Nelson, the quarterback for the triple option Generals (10-1), ran for 138 yards on 19 plays, but the rest of the run game garnered 198 yards on 38 carries in the loss. CT Tarrant returned for the Saints (11-0) and ran for 145 yards and a touchdown on the ground on 26 carries.
In the top half of the bracket, St. Thomas and St. John's each rolled past their first-round opponent to set up a second-round matchup, the first postseason matchup between the Tommies and the Johnnies. The Tommies (11-0) started off slowly, as Jordan Roberts was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the 6. But St. Thomas broke through on its fourth drive, and its fifth, and its sixth, then again on drives No. 8-12 to roll past La Verne 57-14. The Leopards (8-2), making their first playoff appearance in two decades, got 155 yards on 34 carries from running back Travis Sparks-Jackson.
St. John's made sure the rematch with Dubuque was no different than the first go-round, as Nick Martin went 17-for-26 passing for 257 yards and four touchdowns and Sam Sura and Antoine Taylor combined for 137 yards on 28 carries in a 51-7 win. Maurece Herrion, who ran for four touchdowns vs. Wartburg, ran just four times for 16 yards against the Johnnies.