Saxons to host Bridgewater State in opening round of NCAA tournament
ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University football team will open NCAA Division III championship tournament play Saturday, Nov. 19, when the unbeaten Saxons entertain Bridgewater (MA) State University at Yunevich Stadium.
The NCAA announced the 32-team field for its Division III tournament Sunday evening. AU, 10-0 and ranked 14
th in the country, is in an eight-team bracket that includes defending national title-winner Mount Union, Liberty League champ Hobart and Husson University, the team Alfred defeated in this year's season opener. The NCAA has yet to announce the time for kickoff of Saturday's first-round game.
The Saxons are making their fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA championship tournament, and first since 2010. AU earned the Empire 8 Conference's automatic NCAA bid by winning the conference crown with a perfect 8-0 league mark.
If the Saxons top Bridgewater, they would square off on Nov. 26 against the winner of the first-round matchup between Husson and host Western New England. At the bottom of Alfred's bracket is Johns Hopkins, which like AU went 10-0. The Blue Jays host Randolph Macon in the first round, with the winner of that game taking on the winner of the Mount Union at Hobart matchup.
Complete NCAA Division Championship Bracket
Bridgewater State comes in to the tournament with an 8-2 record, having won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) title with a perfect 8-0 mark. Like the Saxons, the Bears are making their fourth NCAA tournament appearance, and first since 2012.
In Bridgewater State, the Saxons will be facing a somewhat familiar foe, at least when it comes to the postseason. These two teams have met twice before, both in ECAC Bowl Championship games, and Alfred won both times. AU played host to the Bears in the 1989 ECAC North Championship and came away with a 30-27 victory; in 2011, Bridgewater hosted the Saxons in the ECAC Northeast Championship and the Saxons prevailed 41-10.
Bridgewater State, which scores at a 27.4-point per game clip while allowing 18.6 points per contest, comes into the NCAAs averaging 395 yards of offense (213 passing, 182 rushing). Senior quarterback
Danny Higgins has thrown for 2,067 yards with 17 TDs and 12 interceptions. A trio of wide receivers have 500-plus receiving yards:
Dukens Leon (54 catches, 572 yards, two TDs),
Travis Bassett (47/531/4) and
Jack Levanchy (45/503/6). Running back
Alex McLaughlin leads the Bears in rushing with 1,068 yards and seven TDs, while Malik Garrett has run for 441 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Bridgewater allows 287 yards of offense per game (105 rushing, 182 passing). The Bear defense is led by linebackers
Stephen Jacobs (69 tackles, 11 for loss and 3 ½ sacks),
A.J. Pascuzzo (63 tackles, 9 ½ for loss, two sacks) and
Charles McCarthy (54 tackles, 11 for loss, three interceptions).
Alfred enters the tournament on a historic note. The Saxons' 10 wins match the 1981 and 2010 teams for the most in a single season in program history, and Alfred's 10-0 regular season mark was equaled by only the 1981 squad. The Empire 8 has sponsored football since 2002 and this year AU became the first team in league history to go through a regular season unbeaten.
The Saxons are scoring 37.6 points per game while giving up only 19.1 per contest. AU possesses one of the top running attacks in the country (245 rush yards per game) and also averages 191 per game through the air. Senior quarterback
Tyler Johnson (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) leads the team in rushing (789 yards) and has a school-record 19 rush TDs this year, while senior tailback
Casey Bright (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) has run for 767 yards and three scores.
Johnson has also thrown for 1,906 yards with 20 TDs against just four interceptions. Senior wide receiver
Brendan Buisch (Hornell, NY/Hornell) has 47 catches for 849 yards and 13 touchdowns; Bright has 21 catches for 257 yards, while senior wideout
Rodney Etienne (Spring Valley, NY/Ramapo) (240 yards, one TD) and senior tight end
Ralph Pagliei (Lake View, NY/Orchard Park) (192 yards, two TDs) have each caught 15 passes.
The Saxons possess the top defense in the Empire 8 and one of the top rush defenses in all of Division III. AU allows 286 yards per game, including a mere 91 per game on the ground. Junior
A.J. LiCata (Lake View, NY/Frontier) leads a trio of linebackers who top the defense in tackles. He has 110 stops, including nine for loss and 3 ½ sacks. Freshman
Isaiah Moak (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) has 85 tackles (6 ½ for loss, four sacks) and junior
Shaquille Muscadin (Monsey, NY/Ramapo) has 56 (7 ½ for loss). Senior end
Charles Branwell (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) leads the team in tackles for loss (11) and sacks (seven).
Alfred's last appearance in the NCAAs came in 2010, when the Saxons, winners of the Empire 8 title, won their first two tournament games before falling in the national quarterfinals to Mount Union. The Saxons' other tournament appearances came in 1981 and 2009.