District college football roundup: IUP moves on to NCAA Division II quarterfinals

Mak Sexton threw for 142 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 15 IUP to a 19-13 victory over No. 12 Ashland in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday.

Adam Houser added 125 rushing yards for IUP (10-1), which will face Shepherd in the quarterfinals next Saturday. Austin Brenner threw for 183 yards and a touchdown to pace Ashland (10-2).

IUP took the lead for good when a 1-yard touchdown pass from Sexton to Duane Brown on the first play of the second quarter made it 12-7. IUP padded its lead in the third quarter when Raunya Mitchell blocked a punt and Connor Kelly returned it 25 yards for a score.

Shepherd 37, Slippery Rock 27 — In the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, Ronnie Brown rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown as No. 11 Shepherd (12-1) defeated No. 20 Slippery Rock (10-3). Tyson Bagenet threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns for Shepherd, which amassed 594 yards on offense. Noah Grover threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns for Slippery Rock while teammate Cohen Russell caught 10 passes for 123 yards and a TD.

Division III

North Central 28, Carnegie Mellon 7 — Luke Lehnen threw for 121 yards and a touchdown and ran for 127 yards and a 72-yard TD as top-ranked North Central (12-0) beat No. 15 Carnegie Mellon (11-1) in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Ethan Greenfield led North Central with 135 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Ben Mills hit Kris Hughes with a 47-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to give Carnegie Mellon the early lead before the Cardinals’ defense took over, limiting the Tartans to 146 yards and six first downs overall. CMU’s nation’s best winning streak ended at 18.

Fivision I FCS

Delaware 56, St. Francis (Pa.) 17 — Nolan Henderson threw for four touchdowns, three to Chandler Harvin, and Delaware beat St. Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Henderson was 16-of-23 passing for 266 yards, throwing TD passes of 30, 7 and 58 yards to Harvin, a Sam Houston transfer, who had a season-high 128 yards on four catches. Henderson also had a rushing TD. Kyron Cumby rushed for 111 yards on 10 carries.

St. Francis quarterback and Northeast Conference Offensive Player of Year Cole Doyle was only 7-of-20 passing for 82 yards and didn’t play in the second half after an apparent leg injury. Justin Sliwoski took over and led the Red Flash to their first touchdown on a 12-yard pass to Dawson Snyder in the third quarter after Kerry Galloway returned an interception 54 yards from the end zone. Sliwoski connected with Makai Jackson for a 45-yard score late in the fourth quarter and finished with 103 yards passing.

The Red Flash (9-3), who went undefeated in the NEC, had a nine-game winning streak snapped. The Blue Hens (8-4) will play at top-seeded South Dakota State next Saturday.