Albion College (Mich.) NCAA III First Round Website
NCAA Division III Championship Program
UW-La Crosse Notes

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team is set to face Albion College (Mich.) in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships on Saturday, November 20. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. (Central) at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in Albion, Michigan.  

UWL, 8-2 on the season, earned one of five at-large bids in the 32-team field to this year's national championships while Albion (Mich.), 9-1 on the year, earned an automatic bid after capturing the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular-season title with 5-1 record.  UWL placed second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 6-1 record. 

UWL and Albion (Mich.) will meet for the first time in school history. 

Making its 12th appearance (1983, 1991-93, 1995-96, 1999, 2002-04, 2006) in school history in the NCAA III Championships, UWL is 16-9 all-time in the NCAA Division III Playoffs, winning the national title in 1992 and 1995. The Eagles, ranked 11th on D3football.com, earned a 44-20 home victory over UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. UWL recorded its first eight-win season since finishing 8-2 in 2017. The Eagles' six conference wins in 2021 are the most since going 6-1 in 2006.  

Matt Janus, in his second season as UWL's head coach, is 8-2 at the helm of the Eagles after the 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat. UWL is averaging 35.4 points and 428.7 yards of offense per game, including 202.9 rushing and 225.8 passing. 

Jakob Parks is 148-of-236 for 1,821 yards with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.  Joey Stutzman leads the Eagles in rushing attempts (220), yards (1,173) and touchdowns (11) while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Jake Simuncak leads in receptions (68) and yards (839) while ranking second in touchdown catches (8). Cameron Sorenson leads in touchdown catches (10) while ranking second in receptions (37) and yards (508). Simuncak averages 149.5 all-purpose yards per game while leading the team in punt (13.7 average) and kickoff (24.8) returns. 

Elijah Alt leads UWL with 70 tackles, including 45 unassisted. He also has a team-high six interceptions. Ryan Daines is second in tackles (67) while leading in tackles for loss (14.0) and quarterback sacks (5.0). Jack Anderson and Jack Kelly are tied for second in quarterback sacks (4.0) with Kelly also ranking second in tackles for loss (7.0).  UWL has 12 interceptions this season.

Ryan Beirne is nine-of-13 in field goal attempts this year while going 42-of-44 in extra-points. He also has one receiving touchdown for a team-high 75 points scored. Sean Parker averages 40.2 yards per punt with 11 inside the 20-yard line.

Albion (Mich.) finished the regular season with a 34-7 home win over Alma College (Mich.) last Saturday, scoring the first 34 points of the game. The Britons finished with 469 yards, including 192 rushing and 277 passing. Albion (Mich.) had 28 first downs in the game while going 16-of-22 (72.7%) on third-down. The team held a 36:16 to 23:44 time of possession advantage.
   
Jack Bush went 22-of-29 for 242 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Phillip Jones-Price had 90 yards rushing on 17 carries while Justin Thomas had nine catches for 99 yards. Alma (Mich.) was held to 108 yards, including nine rushing and 99 passing. The team finished with seven first downs.  Mitch Arendsen led Albion (Mich.) with five tackles. 

Albion (Mich.), 5-0 at home this season, averaging 33.4 points and 435.3 yards of offense per game, including 171.6 rushing and 263.7 passing. Bush is 136-of-207 passing for 1,887 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.  Jones-Price leads in rushing yards (675) while Jacob Clark leads in attempts (128) and touchdowns (4) while ranking second in yards (507). Thomas leads in receptions (61), yards (1,048) and touchdowns (14).

Jackson Cooney is nine-of-17 in field goal attempts with a long of 51-yards and 38-of-42 in extra-point attempts while Hunter Williams averages 37.7 yards per punt with 16 inside the 20-yard line. Jeremiah Major leads the team with 64 tackles, including 35 unassisted. He has a 7.5 tackles for loss.  Arendsen leads in tackles for loss (17.0) and quarterback sacks (10.5).  

The Britons are led by third-year head coach Dustin Beurer.

The winner of Saturday's game advances to play top-ranked North Central College (Ill.) in the NCAA III Second Round Saturday, November 27. The Cardinals advanced to the second round after Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) was forced to withdraw from the national championships due to positive test for COVID-19.

Twenty-seven teams earned automatic bids to the NCAA III Championships. First round action is Saturday, November 20 with second round set for Saturday, November 27 and quarterfinals Saturday, December 4. The national semifinals are set for Saturday, December 11 and the game will take place Friday, December 17 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on ESPNU.