Division 3 Football Quarterfinals: Playoff Matchup Preview

I am Justin Berendzen (@jrberendzen on Twitter) with my matchup preview of the quarterfinal playoff games in division 3. 

Muhlenberg College at University of Mount Union 

Mount Union was a little shaky last week against John Hopkins and Muhlenberg beat Hopkins in the regular season so that makes this a very interesting matchup. The Purple Raiders offense has senior running back Josh Petruccelli who has 769 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns and senior receiver Wayne Ruby who holds 1,272 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021. For the Mules defensively they have senior defensive back John Washington who has 41 tackles, 5 PBUs and 3 interceptions. Muhlenberg’s offense possesses 2 very good wide receivers senior Michael Feaster who has 1,136 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns and senior wide receiver Mitch Daniel who has 949 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Defensively for Purple Raiders they have senior defensive back Malik Britt who has 46 tackles, 6 interceptions and 5 PBUs.

Central (IA) College at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 

2 undefeated teams come in and someone is leaving with a loss. Whitewater offensively has senior running back Alex Peete who holds 1,222 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns and senior receiver Ryan Wisniewski who has 967 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Defensively for Central College they have Brayden Egli senior defensive back who has 69 tackles, 5 PBUs and 5 interceptions. Central’s offense possesses 2 wide receivers who are good in 5th year wide receiver Tanner Schminke who has 1,421 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns and junior wide receiver Jeff Herbers who holds 1,052 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. The Whitewater defense has senior defensive back Mark McGrath who has 46 tackles and 5 PBUs. Keep an eye on Blaine Hawkins he is just one touchdown away from setting the NCAA record in every division!

Linfield University at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 

Linfield got a major upset last week and are a team to watchout for but Mary Hardin-Baylor is a tough team too so makes for an intriguing game with both teams undefeated as well. The Mary Hardin-Baylor offense has junior running back Aphonso Thomas who holds 924 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Linfield’s defense has junior defensive back Ben Baxter who has 47 tackles, 7 PBUs and 3 interceptions and freshman Caiden Biege-Wetherbee who has 39 tackles and 6 PBUs. Offensively Linfield has freshman wide receiver Joel Valadez who holds 716 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Defensively for the Crusaders includes senior defensive back Jefferson Fritz who has 51 tackles, and 7 PBUs and senior defensive back Keith Gipson who has 41 tackles, 7 PBUs and 5 interceptions.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at North Central (ILL) College 

RPI is going to have a tough time in this one I think but it is possible that they win. North Central’s offense contains junior running back Ethan Greenfield who has 1,339 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns and senior receiver Andrew Kamienski who has 1,096 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. For the RPI defense they possess senior linebacker Joe Deptula who has 68 tackles, 8 TFLs and 2 PBUs and senior defensive back CJ Lyons who has 47 tackles and 6 PBUs. Offensively for RPI they have grad wide receiver Vinnie McDonald who has 628 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns. Defensively for North Central they have junior defensive back Sam Taviani who has 49 tackles, 7 PBUs and 6 TFLs.