UW-Platteville was held in check on Saturday, especially in the red zone in the first three quarters. UW-Platteville file photo

UW-La Crosse denied UW-Platteville a crack at a top seed in the playoffs, perhaps knocking the Pioneers out of the playoffs entirely. Delaware Valley and Brockport remained in strong contention for a No. 1 seed thanks to their defenses and Linfield needed its defense the most in Week 9 of the 2017 Division III football season.

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UW-Platteville rallied with 17 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn't dig itself out of a 21-point deficit and UW-La Crosse held on to defeat the No. 9 Pioneers 27-20. Drew David, starting for the second consecutive week after an injury to No. 1 quarterback Tarek Yaeggi, threw for 266 yards and ran for 71 in the win, throwing two touchdowns to Nick Holcomb. Cade Earl and Jack Eddy combined to go 35-for-50 for 350 yards as part of a 500-yard day for UW-Plattevile, but the Pioneers had a possession end on a fumble at the 3, another on a fumble at the 18 and a third on an interception in the end zone on a pass from the 11.

The loss means UW-Platteville, which could have been in the conversation for a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, instead may well be sitting home. There are only five at-large bids to the 2017 Division III football playoffs. Every one-loss team looking for an at-large bid got a bit of a break from the loss. Two undefeated teams in the East continued to battle for a potential No. 1 seed as well. 

That includes Brockport, whose defense showed up in force once again, as the Golden Eagles limited Buffalo State to 124 yards of total offense and blanked the Bengals on their homecoming, 33-0. Joe Germinerio hit Jerry Thompson for a 7-yard touchdown strike, Germinerio scored on a 14- yard run, and then Daquan Hubbard reeled in a 77-yard catch and run with a minute remaining in the first half as the Golden Eagles put up a flurry of points in the second quarter. Germinerio finished 18-of-26 for 226 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 43 yards and a score.

No. 8 Delaware Valley improved to 8-0, riding running back Devauntay Ellis and its defense in a 35-0 win vs. Lebanon Valley. Ellis ran for 137 yards and three scores, and the Aggies' defense did not allow a first down before halftime. Lebanon Valley had just 10 yards of total offense at the half and only 130 for the game. Christian Snowden had three and a half tackles for loss for the Aggies.

Sixth-ranked Linfield struggled on offense for the second consecutive week, and it wasn't because of the weather. Pacific Lutheran held the Wildcats to 185 yards of total offense, including overtime, before PLU fell 16-10. Linfield ground out 119 yards on 37 carries and Chidubem Nnoli scored a touchdown in overtime for the win. Linfield blocked a Pacific Lutheran field goal attempt in the first half of overtime and missed a kick in its half of the extra session. However, a roughing the kicker penalty gave Linfield new life and Nnoli picked his way to the end zone from 5 yards out on the next play.

Mitch Gerhartz ground out 43 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and Dom Todarello caught a touchdown pass and returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown as No. 3 UW-Oshkosh scored with 3:09 left to defeat UW-River Falls 31-28. The Titans led 24-14 at the half, but Michael Diggins scored on a touchdown run early in the third and midway through the fourth to help the Falcons take the lead. Oshkosh answered, however, as Brett Kasper hit big pass plays and Gerhartz finished the drive by plowing in on fourth-and-goal from less than a yard out.

Jake Kennedy hit Bryce Bailey with a 24-yard touchdown pass with 6:54 remaining in the game and No. 13 Wittenberg defeated Wabash 21-14. Isaac Avant fumbled near midfield to end one possession and the Little Giants failed to convert a fourth down on the next possession, allowing Wittenberg to run out the clock. Wittenberg improved to 8-0, 7-0 in the NCAC.

No. 19 Wartburg clinched the automatic bid from the IIAC, shutting out Dubuque 23-0. Wartburg has at least a two-game lead on everyone in the conference and has already beaten anyone it could end up in a tie with. Dylan Binion had 25 carries for 187 yards and Jordan Johnson had three field goals in the win.

No. 18 Berry won 35-18 at Birmingham-Southern to become the second Division III team to clinch an automatic bid, wrapping up the SAA's AQ with a 35-18 win. Berry has one game remaining and the win, combined with Trinity (Texas) losing to Hendrix 38-35, means Berry can finish no worse than a tie for first with Centre, a team it has already beaten. It's the first playoff bid for the Vikings, who are in their fifth season of Division III football.

Elmhurst led 15-13 at the half, but it was all Illinois Wesleyan after halftime as the No. 12 Titans outscored the Bluejays 34-0 the rest of the way to win 47-15. Jack Healey caught three touchdown passes from Brandon Bauer and Morgan Alexander had 19 carries for 120 yards and a score. No. 24 Johns Hopkins twice answered game-tying touchdowns by Muhlenberg in the second half, got a game-winning 1-yard scoring run by junior Tyler Messinger with 4:39 to play and a game-ending stand by their defense to grab a 31-24 road win.

No. 5 Hardin-Simmons broke a 7-all tie on the first possession of the second half and defeated Southwestern 21-7. Frederick Hover had 126 yards rushing on 28 attempts and 126 yards passing on 24 attempts in the loss. Landry Turner threw two TDs for the Cowboys (7-1, 6-1 ASC). Wesley recovered from a slow start and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to get past Montclair State 26-7. After the Red Hawks scored on a touchdown pass to go up 7-3 at the half, Wesley scored on four consecutive possessions in the second half.

McMurry managed just 70 yards of offense against the Mary Hardin-Baylor defense as the top-ranked Cru cruised to a 62-0 win. Kyle Jones (7-for-8) threw the passes for UMHB, except when Carl Robinson (10-for-10) or Tevin Muse (2-for-4) did. No. 2 Mount Union scored the first 30 points and the rest was academic in a 51-14 win vs. Otterbein. D'Angelo Fulford threw five TDs in just 15 attempts. Ten players scored points and No. 4 St. Thomas blocked three kicks as the Tommies rolled past Bethel 58-13. North Central scored touchdowns on its first four drives and forced punts the first five times the defense took the field to take a large early advantage and never looked back in a 60-21 win at Carroll.