Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Emory & Henry, the ODAC champion, was selected as the fourth seed in the NCAA South Region on Sunday when the championship playoff pairings were announced. It marks the sixth time an ODAC team has been selected in the 23 years Division III has played a national championship.
The Stagg Bowl, Division III's title game, will be played Dec.9 at Salem Stadium.
The Wasps will travel to Washington & Jefferson (Pa.), the South's top seed, Saturday at 12:30 for a first-round matchup. Emory & Henry finished the regular season 9-1, while W&J is 8-0.
The Wasps are making their fourth playoff appearance, their first since 1992.
Emory & Henry and Washington & Jefferson have a playoff past together, too. The Wasps downed W&J 23-16 in the 1987 quarterfinals, while the Presidents won 51-15 in the 1992 quarterfinals. Washington & Jefferson lost to Albion 38-15 in last year's Stagg Bowl.
``To get to Salem, we knew we would have to beat them sooner or later,'' Emory & Henry coach Lou Wacker said. ``We might as well make it sooner.''
Other top seeds include 1993 champ Mount Union (Ohio) in the North, Wisconsin-La Crosse in the West, and Buffalo State (N.Y.) in the East. Of the 16 teams that got in, three - Wisconsin-River Falls, Hanover (Ind.) and Wheaton (Ill.) - are making their first ever playoff appearance.
Prior to the Wasps' 6-3 loss Saturday at Maryville (Tenn.), Emory & Henry was ranked second in the South and hopeful for a playoff opener at home. The loss dropped the Wasps to the fourth seed and sent them to W&J for the third time. A source on the NCAA selection committee, however, said Emory & Henry would not have hosted a game even if it had beaten Maryville.
``I'm not thrilled about [the road game,]'' Wacker said. ``If we had lost the first game of the season and won nine in a row instead of losing our last game, we probably would have been seeded second with the same record.''
When it revised its selection process three years ago, the committee began to consider how a team played in the season's final weeks. That may explain why Wesley (Del.), the South's third-ranked team last week at 8-1, did not make the field. Wesley lost to Washington & Jefferson 25-10 Saturday and was 2-2 in its final four games.
That helped Emory & Henry's cause when it fell to Maryville. According to selection committee chairman Steve Bamford, if Wesley had won, ``It may have jumped ahead.''
Salem officials are hoping for a third consecutive sellout crowd. They were pleased when they learned of the pairings. Most of the competing schools are within 400 miles of the Roanoke Valley, with none further away than Central (Iowa).
``We're looking at teams that have been here before in Rowan, Mount Union, and Washington & Jefferson,'' said Stagg Bowl game director Carey Harveycutter. ``It's a good field. Ideally, we'd love to have Emory & Henry.''
Tickets for the Stagg Bowl are currently available at the Civic Center box office or by calling 375-3004 or (800)-288-2122. They are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the game and $5 for children of high school age or younger.
The first round games are as follows: In the North, Hanover, Ind., (10-0) visits Mount Union (10-0), and Wittenberg, Ohio, is at Wheaton, Ill. (9-0). In the West, Wisconsin-La Crosse (10-0) is at Concordia-Moorehead, Minn., (8-1-1), and Central, Iowa, (10-0) hosts Wisconsin-River Falls (8-2). In the South, the Emory & Henry-W&J winner will play the winner of Widener, Pa., (8-2) -Lycoming, Pa. (7-2). Buffalo State (9-1) hosts Rowan, N.J., (7-2-1) in the East, while Plymouth State, N.H., (9-0) hosts Union, N.Y. (8-1).
by CNB