The St. Lawrence University Football team won the Liberty League title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The first round opponent for the Saints is none other than the No. 1 team in the country – University of Mount Union. The Saints will face the undefeated Purple Raiders in a 12 pm game Saturday, November 21 at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio.
The Raiders are a fixture in the NCAA Tournament with 18 consecutive appearances and a record 11 National Championships. St. Lawrence is making its fifth appearance in the tournament and first since 2010. Mount Union is 86-15 in NCAA Playoffs while St. Lawrence is 2-4 in the past tournament games.
St. Lawrence earned the automatic bid in 2010 with a 5-5 overall record but a Liberty League leading 5-1 record. The Saints were sent to play Mount Union then as well and the Raiders posted a 49-0 win to advance on and eventually fall to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the Stagg Bowl by a 31-21 score.
The Saints were limited to 36 yards rushing and 64 yards passing for a game total of 100 yards. Mount Union missed a fourth down play on its first drive but scored on its next five consecutive possessions to take a 35-0 lead into the halftime intermission. The Raiders scored once in the third quarter and once more in the fourth for the final margin of victory.
Last Week:
The Saints needed a win in the final game of the regular season to secure the Liberty League title and the automatic bid. The Saints scored twice in the first half to take a 14-0 lead into the halftime intermission but then needed to hold on for the 21-14 win over Merchant Marine as the Mariners mounted a comeback with a pair of fourth quarter TDs.
Mike Lefflbine had a rough start with two interceptions in his first four passes but settled down for a 22-for-29 day for 283 yards and three TDs. His 22 completions put him over the top for the school record for completions in a season breaking the old mark of 188 set in 2007 by Brad Heil. His 283 yards sent him past another Heil record as Lefflbine now has 2,267 passing yards breaking the season mark of 2,157 also set in 2007.
The victory gave the Saints their third consecutive Hoffman Cup title in the 13th annual Hoffman Cup game in the series between Merchant Marine and St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence MVP for the Hoffman Cup game was linebacker Skyler Williamson who finished with a career-high 18 tackles including 10 solo stops and two for loss.
NCAA Playoff Opponents
St. Lawrence is one of just two teams from New York State in the field of 32 teams as SUNY Cortland earned a bid and will host Salisbury in a first round game. The only 2015 opponent of the Saints in the field is Norwich. The Cadets lost the first three games of the season including a 42-28 loss to the Saints but nearly ran the table in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECAC) with a 6-1 record to earn the automatic bid.
O for Ohio
The Saints have played Ohio teams twice since 1978 and lost both games. St. Lawrence dropped a 71-7 decision to Baldwin Wallace in the 1978 playoffs and fell by a 49-0 score to Mount Union in 2010.
NY State of Mind
Mount Union has had considerable success against teams from New York State. The Raiders have not lost to a NY school since 1973. Hobart beat Mount Union in 1972 and 1973 when Mount Union struggled through 1-8 and 3-6 records. Ironically, according to the record vs. Opponents section of the Mount Union record book St. Lawrence does not appear.
NCAA Playoff History
The Saints made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1976 and defeated Albright 26-7 before falling to Towson State in a thrilling 38-36 final. Towson went on to finish second that year. In 1978, the Saints were back but not for long as Baldwin-Wallace won a 71-7 first-round game. St. Lawrence did not return to the playoffs until 2010 when the Saints made their first trip to Alliance, OH.
Rebounding Well
The Saints have lost eight games since the last game of the 2012 season and have rebounded to win the next game each time for a perfect 8-0 record following a loss. In six of the seven losses over that stretch, the Saints won the next two games after the loss. The Saints rebounded from the late-season loss at Hobart two weeks ago with a win over Merchant Marine and cane make the streak of two wins after a loss move to seven of the last eight with a win over Mount Union.
Early and Often
After being outscored 14-0 in the first quarter of the season-opener at Morrisville the Saints offense has been dominating in the first quarter of games in the last nine games. St. Lawrence has a 108-21 scoring advantage in the first 15 minutes of each of the last nine games and a 207-45 advantage in the first half of those nine games. The games are much closer in the second half with the Saints outscoring opponents 48-31 in the third quarter and are losing the battle in the fourth quarter as opponents lead 80-35 in the final 15 minutes of games since game one.
Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
The Saints are used to playing with a lead. In fact, St. Lawrence has either been tied or ahead for 384 of the last 395 minutes dating back to the first half of the Union game. Leondre Simmon provided the turning point in that game with a pair of TDs in six seconds and that marked the start of the current streak. Union led, 10-7 before Simmon caught a 3-yard TD pass to give the Saints a lead and on the first play of the ensuing Union drive, intercepted a pass and returning it 39 yards for a TD. Hobart held a lead for 6:09 Saturday and stopped a streak of 287 minutes that the Saints had a lead or was tied. The Saints did not trail from start to finish against Merchant Marine.
A Nose for the End Zone
Leondre Simmon continues to be the guy to look for when the Saints are looking to score. The senior who has double duties as a defensive back and wide receiver may not be leading the team in receptions but his ratio of TD catches to Receptions is very good. In the Springfield game, Simmon caught two passes and both went for TDs and one of his two receptions in the WPI game also went for a TD, his first reception against both Hobart and Merchant Marine also went for TDs. In the last seven games, he has a total of 12 receptions with seven ending in the end zone for TDs – nearly 60% of his catches over the stretch are TD catches.
Turnover Streak Continues
The first-quarter interception by Isreal Squires against Merchant Marine extended a streak of 33 consecutive games with at least one turnover caused by St. Lawrence dating back to October 20, against Springfield.
Picked Off Passes Prowess
The Saints defense has had at least one interception in nine of the 10 games this season. The defense recorded at least one in every game of 2014 and three of the last four games in the 2013 season. In all, St. Lawrence defensive backs and linebackers have recorded interceptions in 22 of the last 24 games.
Rewriting the Record Book
Mike Lefflbine has put together a record-breaking season so far eclipsing nearly all of the career passing records at St. Lawrence including two more in the win over Merchant Marine passing the records for completions in a season and passing yards in a season. There are single season records that are in striking distance for the senior signal caller. Lefflbine needs 68 pass attempts and 93 yards of total offense to further establish himself as the best quarterback in school history.
Only a Couple Connections to 2010:
Besides Head Coach
Mark Raymond and Offensive Coordinator
Dan Puckhaber, the only connections between that game and the 2015 version are former Saints players running back
Ramon Mignotte and receiver
John Morton who were on the team in 2010. Mignotte had 14 yards on five carries for the Saints while Morton made the trip but did not play. Mignotte and Morton are assistant coaches for the 2015 team. Mignotte is working with the linebackers while Morton works with the Saints tight ends.
