Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411150068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The road to Salem Stadium and the 1994 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl was paved Sunday with the 16 teams selected for the NCAA Division III national football championship, and for the second straight year no Virginia teams are in the mix.
The field, which features four teams in four regions, was announced at NCAA headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday by Bill Manlove, chairman of the Division III Football Committee and head football coach at Delaware Valley State.
The teams begin single-elimination play Saturday at campus sites, competing for two invitations to the Stagg Bowl, which will kick off at noon Dec.10 in Salem.
The possibility of a rematch between last year's finalists was ruled out when Rowan (N.J.), the runner-up in 1993, was excluded from the field. Defending champion Mount Union (Ohio) was among the teams selected and will open play as the fourth seed in the North Region against top-seeded Allegheny in Meadville, Pa.
On the other side of the North bracket, No.3 seed Augustana (Ill.), a four-time national champion from 1983 to 1986, will play at No.2 Albion (Mich.).
In all but the East Region, the No.1 seed hosts the No.4 seed and No.2 hosts No.3. However, the committee reserves the right to switch pairings based on geographic proximity, which is what happened in the East where top-seeded Plymouth State will host No.3 seed Merchant Marine (N.Y.). No.2 Ithaca (N.Y.) will host No.4 Buffalo State.
Merchant Marine is making its first appearance in the championship along with Trinity (Texas), the No.2 seed in the South, and La Verne (Calif), the No.3 seed in the West. Ithaca is the most successful team in the championship's history, winning 21 tournament games, including two titles (1979, 1988).
In the South, Trinity will host No.3 Washington and Jefferson, listed as the preseason national favorite by The Sporting News magazine. No.4 seed Widener (Pa.) will play at top-seeded Dickinson (Pa.).
The West Region features No.1 seed Central against No.4 Wartburg in a matchup of Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams. Undefeated Central handed Wartburg its only loss in the regular season.
Also in the West, La Verne plays at perennial power St. John's (Minn.), the No.2 seed.
Quarterfinal games will be played Nov.26 at the highest seed. In the semifinals on Dec.3, the East Region winner will host the South Region winner, while the West will host the North.
Carey Harveycutter, manager of Salem Stadium, said 3,001 tickets had been sold for the Stagg Bowl as of Sunday, 140 more than at this time last year.
Tickets, available through the Salem Civic Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations, are $8 in advance, $10 on game day and $5 for high school students and youths.
Although no Virginia school has ever played in the Stagg Bowl, both Emory & Henry and Ferrum have made appearances in the tournament. Most recently, the Wasps advanced to the quarterfinals in 1992 before losing 51-15 to Washington and Jefferson. The Panthers last played in 1990, when they lost in the first round 10-7, also to the Presidents.
Four other state schools are eligible: Bridgewater, Hampden-Sydney, Randolph-Macon and Washington and Lee. All play in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
by CNB