From staff reports

Mississippi College’s best season in nearly 20 years came to a screeching halt on Saturday.

Wide receiver Ellis Krout caught three touchdown passes and Wesley College scored 27 points in the second quarter en route to a 43-9 blowout of the Choctaws in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Wesley (12-0) piled up 518 yards of total offense. Quarterback Shane McSweeney passed for 357 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Gene Knight was the prime target with 11 receptions for 203 yards.

The Wolverines advanced to host Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals next Saturday in Dover, Del.

Mississippi College trailed 7-3 after Brannon Walls’ 27-yard field goal late in the first quarter, but Wesley soon started rolling. The Wolverines scored touchdowns on all four of their second-quarter possessions to blow the game open. Two of the touchdowns came on passes of 14 and 8 yards to Krout, who caught five balls for 55 yards in the game.

Wesley added another score, on a 7-yard pass from McSweeney to Sean McAndrew, on the opening drive of the second half to make it 40-3. In all, Wesley scored on its first seven possessions.

After reaching the 10-yard line on the drive that resulted in Walls’ field goal, Mississippi College did not cross midfield and only had one first down the rest of the first half. Its lone touchdown came on a 1-yard run by former Hinds AHS star Austin Divinity with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter.

Divinity led the Choctaws with 65 rushing yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Adam Shaffer was just 16-for-37 passing for 175 yards.