Area college football roundup: Susquehanna kicks St. John’s out of Division III playoffs, will play Bethel in quarterfinals

Dominic Bourgeois kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to lift Susquehanna to a 41-38 victory over host St. John’s on Saturday in the third round of the Division III playoffs.

The loss was the first of the season for the Johnnies (11-1), the top overall seed. Susquehanna (11-1) will play host to Bethel next Saturday in the D-III quarterfinals in Selinsgrove, Pa.

The field goal capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive, which started at the Susquehanna 25-yard line with 3 minutes, 31 seconds remaining after the Johnnies had tied the score at 38-38 on Aaron Syverson’s 19-yard TD pass to Marselio Mendez.

Syverson completed 37 of 46 passes for 466 yards and five TDs. His 10-yard TD pass to Dylan Wheeler put St. John’s up 24-17 early in the second half, but the River Hawks responded with touchdowns on three of their next four possessions for a 38-24 lead.

Syverson’s 16-yard TD pass to Joey Gendreau pulled St. John’s within 38-31 with 6½ minutes left.

Rahshan La Mons rushed 29 times for 176 yards and three TDs for the River Hawks.

Bethel 24, Wartburg 14: Matt Jung returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Cooper Drews passed for 221 yards and two scores and the Royals (11-2) outlasted the Knights (10-2) in Waverly, Iowa.

Down 17-14 late in the third quarter, Wartburg got the ball back near midfield after stopping Bethel on fourth-and-3. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jung returned his interception to give the Royals a 24-14 lead.

It was one of three interceptions on the day for Bethel, which also had nine tackles for loss. Wartburg also missed three field goals.

Drews threw a 7-yard TD pass to Aaron Ellingson in the first quarter and a 14-yarder to Joey Kidder with 24 seconds left in the second, helping the Royals open a 17-7 lead.

North Dakota State 51, Abilene Christian 31: Cam Miller passed for 274 yards and three TDs and host Bison (11-2) erased an early 14-point deficit against the Wildcats (9-5) in a second-round victory. The Bison pulled into a 17-17 halftime tie, before outscoring the Wildcats 21-7 in the third quarter. NDSU will play Mercer next week.

South Dakota 42, Tarleton State 31: Travis Theis rushed for 130 yards and three TDs, Carter Bell caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Aidan Bouman and the host Coyotes (10-2) rallied with a 21-3 fourth quarter against the Texans(10-4). Bouman was 18-for-22 for 213 yards and two TDs for the Coyotes, who play California Davis in the third round.

South Dakota State 35, Montana 18: The two-time defending FCS champion Jackrabbits (11-2) advanced to the quarterfinals with the victory over the Grizzlies (9-5) in Brookings, S.D. Mark Gronowski passed for 151 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for two more scores as the Jackrabbits built a 35-3 lead. South Dakota State plays Incarnate Word next week.