Since it's my job to cover Division II football on scout.com and I'm now a member of a Division II school's sports information department...I wanted to pimp up this weekend's Semi-Final matchups.
#6 California (PA) (12-0) vs #8 Valdosta State (11-1)
11 AM EST, ESPNU
@ Adamson Stadium on campus of California (PA)
California PA comes out of the Northeast region which has notoriously been the region that gets beat down in the playoffs. It's always a VERY weak region.
Valdosta State comes from Georgia and the toughest region in the country. They went through a gauntlet that consisted of undefeated North Alabama, beating them on UNA's home field, which is also the site of the Division II National Championship game.
No real star players in this game, but the biggest factor in this game will be the weather. Cal (PA) was the chosen host, and right now there is 8 inches of snow on top of Cal's field, not boding well for the southern Georgia boys.
Cal's team this season defies the usual Northeast region teams that have some out lately. Their defense is VERY fast and they can hit, hard.
Valdosta's offense is always good, relying a lot on the pass. They have the talent and scheme to put up lots of points.
In the end, I think Valdosta's talent overcomes the weather and Cal (PA)'s defense to claim a 21-14 victory.
#5 Northwest Missouri State (11-1) vs #1 Grand Valley State (12-0)
9 PM EST, ESPN2 (HD)
@ Bearcat Stadium on the campus of NW Missouri State
THE matchup in all of Division II football. For you guys who don't follow, this game is like when the Colts/Pats meet up in the AFC Championship game. The Superbowl really doesn't matter because we all know the winner of the game is probably going to take it all.
NWMS and GVSU have faced each other each of the last 2 seasons...both in the Division II National Championship game, and both contests have come down to the bitter end. GVSU came out as 21-17 winners in 2005 when they stopped a last-second play on the 3-yard line as time expired. In 2006, Grand Valley again came out victorious, winning 17-14 with the help of 2 interceptions and 1 recovered fumble from corner back Bill Brechin.
This year...arguments all over the place.
The NCAA committee decided that Grand Valley, owners of a current 40-game winning streak and defending back-to-back national champions had to TRAVEL to NW Missouri State and their 1-loss team. This decision was made due to the help of NW Missouri State's Athletic Director being one of the committee members the made the decision.
See here: http://grandvalleystate.scout.com/2/707986.html for the whole story.
Anyway...NFL-caliber talent all over the field here.
In the trenches, there is Brandon Barnes and Joe Wohlscheid on GVSU's offensive line. Barnes regularly puts the bench up 35 times. Joe Wohlscheid is a Northwestern University transfer who comes in at about 6'5" 325 pounds.
On defense, Grand Valley boasts a corps of senior linebackers...preseason defensive player of the year Anthony Adams (#4) is a ballhawk. #20 Kirk Carruth is a linebacker with hitting power and safety speed and frequently is dropping back in coverage. #9 Matt Beaty is a ballhawk who is EXCELLENT against the run. #33 Dan Skuta, a junior, is a hybrid D-Line/Linebacker who has lined up at DT, DE, and OLB this year. He has great speed for his size.
In the defensive backfield, Grand Valley boasts the best Non D-1A cornerback in the country, #24 Brandon Carr. He has 4.4 speed and teams have just plain not thrown him the ball. He projects to be about a 4th-5th round NFL Draft pick.
On the other side is #29 Bill Brechin, the hero of last year's National Title game against NWMS. Not a fast guy or all that strong, but he knows where to be for passes and uses his smarts. Brechin and Carr are both seniors.
#10 Jake McGuckin is at safety and he's a future All-American with huge size and big hitting power. #3/#5 (he lost his #5 jersey a couple weeks ago haha) Samad Cain is the other corner. He was originally a Minnesota commitment and came home 2 years ago. He's a great player but if he gets frustrated, the personal fouls rack up. He's a guy who sometimes loses his head and goes nuts on the field. In a game earlier this year, he racked up 3 personal foul penalties in 2 plays and 4 in 5 plays.
The kicking game for Grand Valley is terrible. #90 Todd Carter is a great kickoff man, putting a lot of his kicks into the endzone, but on field goals he is only 5-10 and he has missed a PAT in 8 straight games. Last game, the punter, #48 Justin Trumble, took over PAT duties and went 6 for 6. Trumble is also one of the best punters in Division II football.
On the offensive side of the ball, Grand Valley has a 1st year starting QB in Brad Iciek, who took over for current Baltimore Raven Cullen Finnerty. Finnerty won the game against NWMS single-handedly last season when the rest of the offense couldn't do anything. Iciek, while not a running QB, has a great arm with some great accuracy on short passes and is also the nation's passing efficiency leader in Division II. He lacks zip on his deep ball and frequently hangs it up there...however...
...To come down with it, he has #1 Brandon Horn, a former #1 WR at Northwestern University, and #85 Antione Trent, both seniors who are possession receivers. They also split time returning kicks and punts. At tight end, Grand Valley has a GREAT mix...#8 Jon Mathews is a receiving tight end who has become a huge part of the passing game and is actually a deep threat, using his size to get up and win the jump balls. #6 Scott Blasko is GV's other tight end, used mostly for blocking...he's a 26-year old Air Force veteran that can drag 5 guys on his back.
#11 Blake Smolen is GV's Darren McFadden. He plays RB and WR, he's probably the best WR on the team, and he has some amazing cuts. He'll get fed the ball a LOT considering the weather, and he has some quick moves. #21 Freshman James Berezik started the season as the spark plug for Grand Valley, averaging almost 8 yards per carry. However, he has fumbled the ball 6 times in the last 2 games and has lost the bulk of his carries. When he is in, and not fumbling the ball, he is a good bet to get a huge chunk of yards, and can put it in the endzone from anywhere on the field. Grand Valley this year as a team has rushed for 3,034 yards and 33 TD's while passing for 2,728 yards and 30 TD's (with 6 INT's).
For NW Missouri State, they have THE best player in Division II football. Running Back Xavier Omon is the only running back in college football history to have 4 seasons of 1,500+ rushing yards. He is a LOAD at about 5'11" 218 pounds and he has 4.50 speed. He's rated the 20th best RB in the country (that means ALL of college football) and could push himself into a 4th round draft pick with good performances in pro days. Right now he projects as a 5th/6th round pick. So far this year he has 1,982 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns.
NW Missouri's passing game relies solely on Tight End Mike Peterson. a projected 3rd/4th round draft pick. He has ripped Grand Valley apart in the 2 games they have faced, and this year he has 33 catches for 556 yards and 4 TD's. He's huge, and runs over everyone.
Weather is another story for this game. Saturday night's forecast in Maryville, Missouri, is for about 20 degrees and freezing rain/sleet. If that's the case, both teams will have to go to the ground, and it's a wash for who would benefit. X (Omon's nickname) runs downhill, so he would be fine with a sloppy field, but Grand Valley's 3-headed monster at running back relies mostly on quick cuts and making players miss. However, they have the advantage of having a fresh RB in the game on every play.
This is the first time Grand Valley has had to go on the road in the playoffs in 2+ years, and they are going to a VERY hostile field full of students who are sick of having GVSU end their team's season. On the flip-side, the Lakers are playing with a chip on their shoulder because of the NCAA basically saying they lost their #1 ranking during the playoffs.
Grand Valley is playing to get to Florence, Alabama, and playing for their 5th national title in 6 years, and their 6th appearance in the last 7 years, along with their 3rd straight championship. NW Missouri is playing for their 3rd straight appearance in the national title game.
I really REALLY would like everyone here to at least check out the GVSU vs NWMS game at 9 PM on Saturday night on ESPN2. I'm sick of people all over the country who think Division II football is nothing but glorified pee-wee football, and I want everyone to see Division II football at it's highest caliber with NFL talent on the field. Besides, Gary Thorne is announcing and he's a BAMF.