Linfield falls shy in semifinal

It had been a long time since Wisconsin-Whitewater had to rally for a victory – almost a year.

But with their backs against the wall, the Warhawks rallied for a 27-17 victory over Linfield on Saturday at Whitewater, Wis., in an NCAA Division III football semifinal that clinched their fifth consecutive appearance in the championship game, set for Salem, Va., on Saturday.

Whitewater (14-0) will again face Mount Union for the title after the Purple Raiders beat Wesley 24-7 in the other semifinal.

Whitewater senior quarterback Jeff Donovan completed 17 of 26 passes for 276 yards.

His biggest play was a 68-yard throw to Jordan Wells late in the fourth quarter. It set up a 1-yard TD run by Antwan Anderson that gave the Warhawks a 19-17 lead with 7:28 to play.

The No. 2 Warhawks held a 10-7 lead with less than a minute to play in the second quarter.

Instead of kicking a field goal from the Linfield 2-yard line, Whitewater went for it. Donovan was sacked and the Wildcats got the ball at their 8.

Linfield (13-1) took advantage by marching 78 yards on the first drive of the second half, scoring on Aaron Boehme’s 4-yard run to take a 14-10 lead. It was the first time the Warhawks trailed since last year’s title game.

Linfield extended its lead with a 35-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter.

Whitewater scored on its next possession on a 26-yard field goal from Jeff Schebler.

Linfield went 25 yards on its next possession before punting, giving Whitewater the ball at its 23. Donovan completed an 8-yard pass to Aaron Rusch to open the drive, and then found Wells to set up Anderson’s go-ahead score.

Northwest Missouri State 30, Grand Valley State 23: LaRon Council rushed for 172 yards and two TDs and the Bearcats (14-1) captured the NCAA Division II national championship with a victory over the Lakers (13-2) at Florence, Ala.

The Bearcats won their third national title after a string of four consecutive losses in the championship. The other titles came in 1998 and 1999.

Council scored on runs of 14 and 17 yards to help Northwest Missouri take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Navy 17, Army 3: Navy has made sports’ most patriotic rivalry a lopsided one.

The Mids (9-4) beat the Black Knights (5-7) in Philadelphia for their eighth straight win in the series. The loss eliminated Army’s shot at playing in its first bowl game since 1996.

The Mids already have a postseason date against Missouri in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31.

Ricky Dobbs ran for a score to set an NCAA single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 24, and threw for a TD to help Navy improve to 54-49-7 overall against Army for its biggest lead in a series that began in 1890.

Prairie View 30, Alabama A&M 24: The Panthers (9-1) won their first championship in 45 years, rallying with two fourth-quarter TDs to beat the Bulldogs (7-5) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship at Birmingham, Ala.

K.J. Black threw two of his three TD passes in the final quarter for Prairie View, which gained notoriety in the 1990s by losing 80 consecutive games.