Brandon Harper leads the Widener defense against Linfield.

The Widener Pride has advanced to the “Elite Eight” of the NCAA Division III Playoffs and they will host Linfield on Saturday at Leslie C. Quick Stadium at noon. The Pride, the Middle Atlantic Conference champions, is 12-0 overall (for the third time in school history) and ranked 10th in the nation by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) while Linfield, who will be visiting Chester from McMinnville, Oregon, comes in ranked 10th by D3Football.com.

The Wildcats have a 10-1 record and are Northwest Conference champions. This is their sixth-straight playoff appearance; they’ve lost in the quarterfinal round in each of the last two seasons – last year to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Wildcats hold the distinction of being the last team that wasn’t Whitewater or Mount Union to win the national title when they beat Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2004. Linfield comes into this game off of a 31-28 upset of Mary Hardin-Baylor last week in a second-round game. They beat Chapman 55-24 in the first round.

The Pride advanced to the quarterfinal for the 11th time in school history by beating Christopher Newport 37-27 last week and edging Muhlenberg 36-35 in the first round.

The Pride offense led by quarterback Seth Klein has averaged nearly 40 points per game. Wide receiver Anthony Davis is the key weapon for first year head coach Mike Kelly, Davis has 74 catches for 1223 yards and 10 touchdowns. The defense is first in the nation against the run allowing just 61.3 yards a game. Outside linebacker Brandon Harper, who was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year, has 80 tackles including 10 for loss.

The Wildcats average 47.9 points a game and their quarterback Sam Riddle has accounted 40 touchdowns (12 on the ground and 28 through the air); his 240 points responsible for ranks fifth in the nation. Linfield is third in the nation in sacks with 44. They’re led by defensive end Alex Hoff, who had 11, and was named NWC Defensive Player of the Year.

The Wildcats are also playing for their fallen teammate Parker Moore, who was stabbed to death at an off-campus convenience store hours after Linfield’s final regular season game.
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The Linfield Wildcats won’t be the only Wildcats in a college football playoff game in the Philadelphia-area on Saturday. The Villanova Wildcats host Liberty in the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is set for 4:30 PM at Villanova Stadium. John Robertson, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the top player in FCS, leads the Wildcats (10-2). He’s run for 978 yards and nine touchdowns and passed for 2629 yards and 34 scores. The Flames (9-4) beat James Madison in the first round of the playoffs and earned their spot in the playoffs with a 15-14 upset of then No. 1 and unbeaten Coastal Carolina.

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Football Stories will have coverage of both games.

E-mail Rock Hoffman at Rock@footballstories.com