NAIA No. 21 Walsh (8-3, 5-2) kept its NAIA playoff hopes alive with a decisive 41-7 win over visiting Marian University (6-5, 3-4) in the Mid-States Football Association Mideast regular season finale for both teams.  Walsh must now sit and wait for the results of other games to see if they can leap enough in the rankings in order to qualify for the post season.  Pairings will be announced at 1 pm EST tomorrow.   Today's win, coupled with the University of Saint Francis' (IN) loss at Taylor University, leaves the Cavs in a three-way tie for second place in the Mideast with the Cougars and Trojans.

Kevin Beichler (Jr., Orrville, OH/Smithville) had a big day for the Cavs off the bench rushing for 110 yards and scoring twice.  Beichler's 55-yard burst at the 2:48 mark of the first quarter gave the Cavs a 7-0 lead.  Senior Mike McGill (Barberton, OH/Coventry) then caught a nine-yard TD pass from Jim Shiplett (So., Canal Fulton, OH/Northwest) in the second period to give the Cavs a 14-0 lead.  Marian cut the lead in half (7-14) on a 36-yard TD pass from Matt Rogers to Chris Rutherford with 6:56 to play in the half.  After the teams traded interceptions, Marian was poised to cut into the lead a little more when disaster struck.  Walsh's Sterling Tatum (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Maple Heights) blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt and Mike Welce (Jr., Columbiana, OH/HS) picked-up the bouncing ball and raced 83 yards for a touchdown with 10 seconds to play in the half to give the Cavs a 21-7 halftime advantage. 

Beichler then scored on a 13-yard late in the third quarter (4:08) to increase the lead to 27-7.  Walsh would add two fourth quarter scores to ice the game.  Shiplett hit Robert Wigfall (R-Fr., Youngstown, OH/Hubbard) for a 22-yard score and Rashid Sharif (So., Cleveland, OH/Collinwood) for a seven-yard score.  Shiplett completed 11-16 passes for 181 yards and three scores.  He was a perfect 7-7 in the second half.  Wigfall caught five passes for 62 yards and Joe Morgan (Jr., Canton, OH/McKinley/Illinois) played his first game since his shoulder separation against Malone and caught two passes for 28 yards.

The Cavs rushed for 249 yards, with Toba Olarewaju (R-Fr., Youngstown, OH/Christian) matching Beichler's 110-yard effort. 

Walsh's defense limited Marian to 307 yards total offense.  Quarterback Matt Rogers rushed for 98 yards and passed for 184.