Unbeaten Mount Union draws 6-4 Randolph-Macon to open
Thomas More and Washington & Jefferson are playoff qualifiers.
STAFF REPORT
ALLIANCE — Unbeaten and top-ranked Mount Union will open the NCAA Division III playoffs at home Saturday against Randolph-Macon College.
The Purple Raiders (10-0), in the playoffs for the 20th time, and Randolph-Macon (6-4), champion of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, will kick off at noon.
Mount Union has won nine national championships and has reached at least the national semifinals 13 consecutive years.
The 32-team bracket was announced Sunday.
Also qualifying was Thomas More (8-2), champion of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, which will travel to North Central (10-0); and PAC runner-up Washington & Jefferson (9-1), led by quarterback Bobby Swallow (West Branch), which travels to Christopher Newport (8-1).
Also making the field were Ohio Athletic Conference runner-up Otterbein (9-1), Case Western Reserve (10-0) and North Coast Athletic Conference champion Wabash (9-1).
Thiel coaching change
GREENVILLE, Pa. — Jack Leipheimer, a Thiel College graduate who coached the Tomcats to their only NCAA playoff appearance in 2005, has resigned to become the school’s athletic director.
Assistant head coach Kurt Reiser will replace Leipheimer as head coach, the school announced Sunday.
Leipheimer was 36-46 in eight seasons at Thiel, including an 11-1 record in 2005 that included the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
A native of Sharon, Pa., Leipheimer has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including 25 at the collegiate level. Leipheimer was defensive coordinator at Allegheny for 12 years.
“I have been a football coach for so many years and it is very difficult to step away from the game that has given me so much, but I know the time is right to make this transition,” says Leipheimer.
Reiser, who was also offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, has been on the Thiel staff for eight seasons. He was a high school coach in Chicago before coming to Thiel.
He is a 1993 graduate of Allegheny College and holds a master’s degree from DePaul University. At Allegheny Reiser was a three-year starter at tight end and a two-time All-NCAC selection and an All-American.