Tight end Kenneth Rawls had a couple of big catches and a touchdown to help John Carroll get back to the national semifinals for the first time since 2016. Berry athletics photo by Nico Klementzos

UW-River Falls, John Carroll, Johns Hopkins and North Central all advanced with wins on Saturday, Dec. 13, in the Division III football national quarterfinals. River Falls will host Johns Hopkins and North Central will host John Carroll in semifinal games next Saturday, with the game times yet to be determined.

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River Falls advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history, defeating Wheaton 46-21, as the Falcons piled up a 20-7 halftime lead without needing to put quarterback Kaleb Blaha out to run. He completed 19-of-29 passes in the first half for two touchdowns, both of them to well wide-open receivers in Blake Rohrer and Austin Rush, the latter with 37 seconds left in the half.

River Falls (12-1) took the opening kickoff and Blaha drove the Falcons down the field, completing five of six passes and finishing with the catch by Rohrer. Blaha did not run the ball on that drive, and in fact, ran sparingly in the first half, with one key 4-yard run to convert a fourth down.

After the teams traded punts, Wheaton mounted a long touchdown drive which Mark Forcucci ended with a 1-yard run to tie the game. But River Falls scored twice more to end the half, and Wheaton came away empty on a possession in which it had the ball at the River Falls 13. A holding penalty, and a delay of game pushed a field goal attempt back to 46 yards, and it was wide to the left.

Wheaton started the second half on a high, with Forcucci finding Titherington for a 44-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the third quarter. But River Falls answered, then got a fourth down stop. On the third play after the stop, Blaha hit Jake Hilton for a 71-yard touchdown to increase the Falcons' lead to 33-14.

The Thunder (11-3) got a break when they were able to force a defensive stop, and the River Falls punter was unable to pick up a low snap, or get the punt off. Wheaton recovered on the 1, and Crider powered it into the end zone on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 33-21. The onside kick failed, however, and River Falls was able to tack on another touchdown and win going away.

Blaha ran for a season-low 7 yards and carried the ball just seven times, but was 32-for-50 passing for 407 yards and four touchdowns. 

Johns Hopkins set the tone early and never let it swing back, rolling to a 40-10 quarterfinal win over Susquehanna. The Blue Jays scored on their opening possession when Cole Crotty pulled up and hit Robby Enright for a 28-yard touchdown, then settled in after Susquehanna answered with a 35-yard Dominic Bourgeois field goal. From there, defensive pressure tilted steadily toward the home side.

The Blue Jays established control of the contest early in the second quarter. At 9:02, Graham Hodge forced a Josh Ehrlich fumble that Jackson Smith recovered at the Susquehanna 11, and Hopkins needed only a few snaps to cash in, though not without resistance. Facing fourth-and-2 from the 3 yard line, the Blue Jays kept the drive alive with a fourth down conversion and finished it with a 1-yard Bay Harvey plunge. Three minutes later, Geoff Schroeder broke free from traffic and sprinted 39 yards for another score, pushing the lead to 20-3 after a missed PAT.

Any remaining doubt evaporated midway through the third quarter. At 8:27, Harvey found Enright streaking down the field for a 43-yard touchdown, extending the margin to 27-3 and firmly putting Hopkins in control. Susquehanna briefly threatened in the fourth, but a fourth-down stop snuffed out a drive that could have cut the deficit to 10. Hopkins immediately flipped the field when Crotty hauled in a 50-yard pass from Harvey to set up another Harvey touchdown run from 7 yards out at 9:13, sealing the outcome.

Hopkins again finished with almost perfect offensive balance. Schroeder ran for 126 yards and a touchdown, Enright caught four passes for 88 yards and two scores, and Crotty added 76 receiving yards to his touchdown pass. Defensively, the Blue Jays harassed Ehrlich all afternoon, recording six sacks getting two apiece from Will Seibert and Hodge. Johns Hopkins moves to 12-1 and returns to the national semifinals for the second straight season, while Susquehanna’s run ends at 11-3.

In Mount Berry, Georgia, Dylan Crasi had two interceptions and forced a fumble as John Carroll came up with seven takeaways and held off Berry 21-13 in a national quarterfinal. Crasi, who sat the first half because of a targeting call in the previous game, made his presence known when he was eligible to play starting in the third quarter, with three takeaways in the quarter.

John Carroll had two big touchdown drives in the second quarter to go into halftime leading 14-0. Nick Semptimphelter hit tight end Kenneth Rawls for a big gainer into Berry territory, and then found Tyren Montgomery for a 14-yard pass down to the 5 and Quincy Newsom ran it in from there. JCU got the ball back when Adam LaCarte intercepted Christian Lewis on a deep ball over the middle and the Blue Streaks (12-1) converted that into a touchdown.

Semptimphelter added another touchdown pass, hitting Rawls for a score to make it 21-0 before Berry was able to get on the board. Andrew Hunter, who came on in relief of Lewis at halftime, threw two touchdown passes, the second with 2:07 remaining to cut the lead to 21-13. But the Vikings (11-2) were unable to cover the onside kick and John Carroll ran out the clock.

Berry was able to get to Semptimphelter often enough to disrupt his passing but was only able to sack him twice. He was 20-for-28 passing on the day. Montgomery had nine catches for 126 yards, while Rawls had five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.

John Carroll advances to the national semifinals for the third time in program history, and will face North Central.

North Central controlled the game from the opening quarter, leaning on its run game to pull away for a 35-21 quarterfinal win against Bethel. The Cardinals opened the scoring at 2:21 of the first quarter, finishing a long drive that started at their own 20 with a 1-yard Donovan McNeal touchdown run. Bethel managed just 6 plays and 15 yards in the opening quarter, an early indicator of how hard yards would be to come.

Most of the drama in this game happened in the second quarter. After Bethel finally found rhythm and tied the game at 7-7 on a 4-yard Cooper Drews touchdown pass to Albert Rundell with 7:38 left, North Central immediately responded. On 4th and1 at the Bethel 38, the Cardinals drew the Royals offsides, and on the very next play McNeal raced 33 yards around the left edge for the go-ahead score with 3:10 left in the half. Bethel nearly answered in dramatic fashion.

Drews completed a fourth-and-6 pass to Rundell that briefly turned into a would-be touchdown on a backward pitch to center Jaegar Ash, but replay ruled Rundell’s forward progress stopped before the pitch. The half ended moments later with Drews stopped inches short on a goal line sneak, preserving a 14-7 North Central lead.

That missed opportunity loomed large coming out of the break. Bethel went three-and-out to open the third quarter, a short punt gave North Central a short field, and Jordan Williams cashed it in with a 5-yard touchdown run at 11:59. Less than six minutes later, Zeb Rashid powered in from 3 yards out to make it 28-7, and the Cardinals were firmly in control. McNeal added his third touchdown on a short run early in the fourth quarter, pushing the margin to 35-7 before Bethel scored twice late to trim the final.

North Central finished with 312 rushing yards, dictating the game at the line of scrimmage. McNeal carried 25 times for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns, Williams added 90 yards and a score on 16 carries, and Rashid was the third Cardinal to find the end zone on the ground. Defensively, Matt Janiak was in on 16 tackles, 6 solo, and recovered a fumble. Drews threw for 260 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24-of-43 passing for Bethel, with Rundell catching 10 passes for 46 yards. North Central moves to 13-0 as the last unbeaten team in Division III, advances to its sixth consecutive semifinal, and will host John Carroll next week. Bethel’s season ends at 12-1.