District college football roundup: Slippery Rock, Carnegie Mellon get 1st-round wins

Noah Grover threw for 188 yards and a touchdown as No. 20 Slippery Rock (10-2) defeated Assumption (8-3), 17-14, in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament. Cohen Russell caught seven passes for 98 yards and a touchdown for Slippery Rock, which will face No. 11 Shepherd (11-1) next Saturday in the second round.

Division III

Carnegie Mellon 45, DePauw 14 — Tre Vasiliadis ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 19 Carnegie Mellon (11-0) over DePauw (9-2) in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Ben Mills threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns for the Tartans, who led 28-7 at halftime. DePauw quarterback Wally Renie threw for 178 yards and a touchdown to Robby Ballentine, who had nine receptions for 99 yards. Carnegie Mellon will face undefeated North Central (Ill.) in the second round next Saturday.

Washington & Jefferson 35, Hobart 18 — Washington & Jefferson (9-2) scored 28 points in the second quarter and Tanner Volpatti was named MVP after recording 11 tackles and an interception in the ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl. Zach Cernuto ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns for the Presidents. Jacob Pugh threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns while John Peduzzi had four catches for 102 yards, including touchdown grabs of 38 and 7 yards. Raysha Boswell had eight catches for 66 yards for Hobart (7-4).

Division I FCS

St. Francis (Pa.) 52, Merrimack 23 — Cole Doyle passed for 411 yards and five touchdowns and St. Francis (Pa.) claimed the Northeast Conference championship. St. Francis (9-2, 7-0) won its ninth straight game to finish undefeated in conference play. It is the first Red Flash team to go undefeated in league play — and ninth in NEC history. St. Francis is FCS Playoffs bound.

Dawson Snyder and Makai Jackson each had 100-plus yards receiving and QuaSean Holmes reached the century mark on the ground for St. Francis. Snyder had seven grabs for 163 yards and two touchdowns and Jackson added 116 yards. Holmes carried it seven times for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Gavin McCusker was 7 of 17 for 109 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for Merrimack (8-3, 6-1).