NCAA COLLGGE FOOTBALL DIVISION III

They both had home field for Friday’s NCAA college football Division III semifinals, and both Mt. Union (Ohio) and Wisconsin-Whitewater were seeking to meet up in the championship game and win a seventh title.

But the visitors, North Central (Illinois) and Mary Harden-Baylor had other ideas in these match-ups of undefeated teams. And down went the Purple Raiders, 28-13, to North Central in the opener, and followed up with the Crusaders falling, 24-7, to Texas’ Mary Harden-Baylor.

And thus, it will be instead North Central and both Mary Harden-Baylor bringing in unblemished records of 14-0 each, and the Purple Raiders and Crusaders left their respective gridirons and to pack their gear after 13-1 campaigns.

It will be a second-straight trip to the final for North Central after winning it all in 2019, with the 2020 tilt cancelled because of the coonavirus pandemic.

Mary Harden-Baylor, which along with North Central has hoisted two championship trophies, unleashed its passing game behind quarterback Kyle King and wide receiver Brandon Jordan.

King and Jordan combined through the air for a pair of touchdowns, with King totaling 248 aerial yards and Jordan reeling in 11 for 164 yards. Plus its defense did a number on the Wisconsin-Whitewater explosive offense, holding it to 271 total yards, and it scored in each quarter.

Harden-Baylor made it the finals by getting past the 5-round quarterfinals, first over Trinity (Tx.),13-3; against  Birmingham South (Ala.), 42-7; versus Linfield (Tx.), 44-24; disposing of Wheaton (Ill), 63-31; and ousting the Crusaders, 24-7, by leading throughout in what was destined to be its toughest test.

Hours before the opening kickoff in Wisconsin-Whitewater, the heavy snow had slowed down and the stadium crew emptied the white stuff from the field and from the stands. Then the gates were opened for the spectators and the field for the teams.

The Cardinals from North Central also hit the road behind a stout defense that held high-scoring Mt. Union to a pair of touchdowns. It was 7-7 after one quarter and North Central scored twice to take a 21-7 lead after halftime that it upped to 28-7 before the home crowd was able to cheer a final Purple Raiders’ touchdown on a cold day that had a little snow and had the fans all budded up.

But the visitors stunned the home side and warmed up their traveling fans by running the ball 51 times for 293 yards, with Ethan Greenfield accounting for 160 of them on 31 carries.

North Central made it though its bracket by topping Carnegie-Mellon, 58-33; Lancaster, 26-13;  Wisconsin-Lacrosse, 31-21; Renseser, 24-10; and then what figured to be its toughest test, 28-13, over the Purple Raiders.