2011 Playoffs Second Round

As excited as I am for the second round of the NCAA Division 3 football tournament, I have to admit to feeling a bit disappointed. When the NCAA committee unveiled its wide-open, national bracket, I couldn't help but feel this was the east's big chance to measure itself against the nation.

But instead, all four east survivors will be playing against each other tomorrow. The positive side is two teams will advance, guaranteed. The negative side is, two teams will be gone.

St. John Fisher (9-2) at Delaware Valley (11-0)

Both teams come from solid conferences. Last week Delaware Valley coasted by a Norwich team which may have been the weakest entrant in the 2011 tournament field. St. John Fisher went on the road and took down previously unbeaten Johns Hopkins.

Fisher quarterback Ryan Kramer injured himself in the Hopkins game, with Ahmed Hassanien throwing a touchdown pass as a reliever in his first play from scrimmage.

The importance of the Kramer injury is huge. Even if Kramer goes, one has to expect he will be hampered to run the option as well as he has all season. That takes away a huge dimension from Fisher's offense.

Meanwhile Delaware Valley is steam rolling the opposition, scoring 50 or more points in 5 of its games this season.

I liked Fisher's chances last week, but I think Delaware Valley is too talented to overcome with an injured option quarterback leading your offense.

Kean at Salisbury

Kean is the Rodney Dangerfield of Division 3 football. No respect, I tell ya! (fixes tie)

All they do is win, and it seems all everyone else does is say Kean shouldn't have won. Quite a few pundits scratched their heads wondering how Kean slipped past Wesley and Cortland in back-to-back weeks despite being out gained each time.

Many felt they would fold at Rowan late in the season, and again at Montclair. But they just keep winning, and it looks like Kean is gaining confidence as they prove their doubters wrong. Last week Kean crushed Christopher Newport 34-10 in a game most (this idiot included) figured would go down to the wire.

Guess what? Nobody thinks Kean can beat Salisbury tomorrow.

Salisbury is outscoring opponents 47-13 this season. The option heavy run game averages 6.7 yards per carry, and Kean is hardly dominant against the run (3.6 yards per carry). The Salisbury defense has caused 32 turnovers.

But something tells me this game is going to be a good one tomorrow. I like the Kean defense. I don't think it can shut down the Salisbury run game, but it might be able to limit the big plays and force Salisbury to settle for a few field goals instead of touchdowns. Red zone efficiency for Salisbury will likely win or lose this game.

I like Tom D'Ambrisi a lot at quarterback for Kean. He had a tough game against Montclair, but bounced back against Christopher Newport. If you need to win a big game on the road, you want a talented senior at quarterback.

I'm going with Salisbury because of the home field advantage, and that's the only reason. This is going to be a close call.

Who are your picks to win Saturday?