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St. Joe's, WMU On To DIAA Semis

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St. Joe's, WMU On To DIAA Semis

Eric Delli Bovi photo.

Two accomplished DIAA teams that know each other well are facing off Sunday in one of the fall semifinals.

Western Michigan, which just barely lost out to Bowling Green in the MAC conference final, defeated SCRC champs Tennessee 38-22 to move on. Fullback William Stanley was strong throughout for WMU, playing excellent defense and slotting in everywhere as a potent attacker. He helped organize the backline as well.

Hooker Manny Bravo and No. 8 Joey Backe were the go-to Broncos on defense, and with props Ivan Delgado and Mark Green making strong carries and locks Justice Delli Bovi and Sean McNamara running intelligent lines, WMU started to control the gain line. That all set up space for the backs, and outside center Kyle Williams scored two tries and set up two more after breaking through.

Wing Daniel Byrne,reserve Daniel Howard, Delgado, and Backe all scored tries for WMU.

At the same time, Saint Joseph's defeated NC State 29-15. This was a very close game until late. St. Joe's led by less than a try, 21-15, when in the final minutes Jonathan Ahern clotted a penalty goal, and then added a try to seal the deal.

"NC State is a quality team for sure," said St. Joe's Head Coach Dan Yarusso. 

James Kinzer made some key lineout steals for the Hawks, while prop Nick Ballas was key as the smaller SJU forwards had to corral a powerful NC State forward group. They did that, andfound enough space to win.

Western Michigan plays St. Joe's Sunday at 1PM Eastern for a spot in the national fall final in two weeks.

Gameday Rosters
St. Joseph's   NC State   Tennessee   Western Michigan
Truong, Phil 1 McClendon, Kelly   Couch, Creighton 1 delgado, ivan
Sullivan, Andrew 2 Smith, Bradley   Giangiulio, Gregory 2 Bravo, Manuel
Ballas, Nicholas 3 Robbins, Jonathan   Thomas, Kevin 3 Green, Mark
Paulosky, Mike 4 Mancktelow, Peter   Janowick, Greg 4 Delli Bovi, Justice
Viggiano, Joseph 5 Corkery, Brandon   Ring, Will 5 McNamara, William
Kinzer, James 6 Good, Alexander   griffin, avery 6 Akins, Sean
Leonetti, Phillip 7 Abrahamse, Michael   Andrew, Lloyd 7 gay, nathan
Kelly, Gaelen 8 Gwaltney, Caleb   Beacom, Patrick 8 Backe, Joseph
McIlrath, Tanner 9 Murphy, Darren   Davies, Luke 9 Chevalier, Nicholas
Niumataiwalu, Noah 10 Stockton, Thomason   Dorflinger-Slee, Conrad 10 Drozd, John
Riotto, Matthew 11 Carlton, Mende   McClain, Marcus 11 Leslie, Griffin
Woods, William 12 Amaty, Gregory   Pelini, Thomas 12 Collier, Justin
McGowan, Liam 13 Ogunmola, Olumayowa   Shetler, Joshua 13 Williams, Kyle
Hoffman, Michael 14 mcpherson, luke   Dukes, Andrew 14 Byrne, Daniel
Ahern, Jonathan 15 Lowe, Jack   Schwartz, Benjamin 15 Stanley, Willem
Heffernan, Brendan 16 Williams, Augustus   Wallace, Philip 16 Ealy, Reginald
lamb, timothy 17 Elyaman, Mohamed   Ensign, Tyler 17 Howard, Daniel
Burdsall, Andrew 18 Simmons, Donavan   White, Austin 18 Holck, Paul
Wolff, Timothy 19 Abele, Joseph   Moseley, Dwson 19 Phillips, Leo
Martini, Daniel 20 cash, Clayton   Heard, Braxton 20 Avelar, Ricardo
McDermott, Sean 21 Thompson, Steven   Porter, Chase 21 Kazmar, Cade
Stine, Kyle 22 Dalton, Jordan   Eicher, Jacob 22 Smith, Patrick
Paquin, Nicholas 23 Vaughan, Kameron   Moolman, Christian 23 Conway, Ethan