NAPERVILLE, ILL. – While Susquehanna has been to the NCAA Division III national semifinals once before in 1991, this 2024 team had a longer trek to the final four by way of three one-possession playoff victories at the expense of Hobart, Saint John's and Bethel. To make it to their first national championship game ever they'll have to deny North Central its fifth straight championship game appearance when they head to the Naperville, Ill. campus for a Saturday matinee. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. Central Time / 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Preceding the River Hawks-Cardinals matchup is the semifinals duel between Mount Union and Johns Hopkins, set for a 12 noon kickoff Eastern Time from Purple Raider country in Alliance, Ohio and broadcast on ESPN+. The winners of both games will head to Houston, Tex. in two weeks for the NCAA Division III National Championship game on Sunday, Jan. 5 from Shell Energy Stadium. All four remaining teams won their respective conference - Susquehanna the Landmark Conference, North Central the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), Mount Union the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), and Johns Hopkins the Centennial Conference, the River Hawks' former conference home from 2010-22, winning one Centennial title in 2022 that began their stretch of three consecutive NCAA playoff appearances. 

The River Hawks put the college football world on notice throughout their tournament run. After a 42-35 win over Hobart gave the program their first NCAA playoff win in 33 years, the momentum carried with them out northwest when they defeated Saint John's on the final play with a 37-yard field goal from Dominic Bourgeois in a 41-38 win. Heading back to Selinsgrove for their eighth home game of the season against Bethel, Susquehanna prevailed in a 24-21 nail-biter, with quarterback Josh Ehrlich scoring the game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left. Those final seconds marked the only time the River Hawks had the lead all game.

Susquehanna enters Saturday with a 12-1 record, the most wins in a season in program history, while CCIW-champion North Central is 13-0 after beating Springfield in its quarterfinals matchup 27-3, securing its 22nd victory in 26 home postseason games and winning 36 consecutive games at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium since 2019. The NCAA Division III Power Index Rankings (NPI) ranks North Central fifth and the River Hawks 16th. North Central was ranked No. 1 nationally in the most recent NCAA Division III Top 25 Polls by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Susquehanna was ranked No. 6 in both polls. The Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 in the last 32 AFCA regular-season polls and 41 of the last 44 D3football.com regular-season polls. The River Hawks began the year ranked 12th in the D3football.com Preseason Poll, never dropping in either rankings. This is the first meeting ever between both teams.

The versatile Ehrlich has been the guts of Susquehanna's offensive delivery all season that has earned them the third-highest total yardage in Div. III with 511.4 yards per game and the tenth-highest scoring offense with 45.5 points per game. He became the first Susquehanna quarterback ever to amass 3,000 passing yards (3,079) and 30 passing touchdowns (33) in one season. Ehrlich was named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy presented by Stearns Bank thanks to his ability to pass and carry the ball, scoring 46 total touchdowns that includes 12 rushing touchdowns and even one touchdown reception, coming in the Landmark game at Wilkes on Oct. 26 when he caught a halfback option from running back Rahshan La Mons. His 3,726 total yards this year between the pass and run are a school record and is tied for the school mark with 218 completions. Against Bethel he fired a touchdown pass to receiver Chris Bookter and fought his way into the endzone on a one-yard run on fourth and goal off an option play to win the game. He completed 14-of-27 balls for 215 yards, while running the ball 15 times for 46 yards.

Primary scoring weapons in the rookie La Mons and senior receiver Kyle Howes were not only available for most big scoring plays, but were also fun to watch. La Mons hit the school record books almost immediately with his ability to make big plays, including two of the longest plays in school history when in his career debut took an 86-yard screen pass for a touchdown against Bridgewater, then breaking off a record 96-yard touchdown run against Juniata. On returns he took back three punts for touchdowns, including two against Keystone that covered 73 and 72 yards, respectively, with the one remaining happening two weeks later at Wilkes. Howes, also a dangerous return threat, helped leave specials teams no other option than to kick or punt it short or out of bounds. He returned one kickoff for a touchdown against Juniata, while fancying up his resume with a spectacular year receiving with 74 catches, putting him four away from the school record. He has 1,235 receiving yards with 16 touchdowns, along with two rushing touchdowns for a grand total of 19 total TDs.

Against the Bethel Royals Howes became just the second Susquehanna receiver to reach 200 career receptions after catching four passes for 105 yards, including two big receptions late in the game that led to scoring opportunities. After stifling defense limited La Mons in the first half, he rebounded in the second finishing with 125 yards rushing on 31 carries. The rookie back has 18 rushing touchdowns on the season, one shy of the school record, and holds the school season rushing record with 1,578 yards. Fellow running back Matt Surtz has quietly been a workhorse in Susquehanna's running game to take the pressure off of La Mons, as he scored the team's first touchdown against Bethel on a one-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. He is third on the team this year with 569 rushing yards on 67 carries, scoring four touchdowns.

The defense has kept the River Hawks close in many games this season, which has been never more truthful than the last two games where Saint John's and Bethel took the first points of the game. Susquehanna held the Johnnies after they produced the first ten points of the game, while keeping the Royals at an arm's length, never trailing by more than seven points the whole game. Lineman Jake Schultes leads the team with 8.5 sacks, tied for second all-time, along with 43 tackles and 9.5 for loss, while linebacker Garrett Carter leads the way with 81 total tackles with 35 solo and nine for loss, along with a pair of sacks. Defensive tackle Brian Layton has penetrated lines well enough to lead the defense with ten tackles for loss and 51 total, along with 5.5 sacks. He contributed 1.5 of those sacks in the win over Bethel, including a highlight-reel blindside sack on quarterback Cooper Drews. Schultes also got to Drews for one sack on the day.

Primarily a kickoff specialist, Bourgeois was tasked with placekicking duties halfway through the season. He is a perfect 5-for-5 on the year, making all three of his attempts in the playoffs that featured two against Saint John's, the first a career-long of 43 yards and the second the game-winner from 37 yards away. Bourgeois was called on again midway through the fourth quarter against Bethel, nailing a 35-yarder to cut the deficit to 21-17. Kicker/punter Christian Colasurdo made 3-of-6 field goals this season for a grand total of 8-of-11, while punting 29 balls for 1,112 yards, an average of 38.3 yards per punt, with four going over 50 yards and 12 inside the 20, with his longest going 64 yards.