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Rota rallied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit Saturday to eliminate defending European Division III champion Hohenfels (3-3) from this year’s playoffs with an 18-14 victory at Rota, Spain.

James Montfleury, who completed six passes for 150 yards, threw two TD passes to Jeff Shelton to rally Rota, and Tyrell Boddie ran in the deciding score.

The TD receptions, which totaled 70 yards, were Shelton’s only catches in a game. Kevin Rios, R.J. Curley and C.J. Lamb led a dominant Rota defense. Curley was credited with 16 tackles, Rios picked off his seventh pass of the season and Lamb recovered a fumble and returned it 40 yards with less than a minute to play to seal the victory.

Rota (5-1), which got a 60-yard pass reception and 70 rushing yards from Jessie Luvert, travels to Ansbach on Saturday for a semifinal game.

In Saturday’s other Division III quarterfinal playoff games:

Ansbach 39, Menwith Hill 0At Ansbach, the unbeaten Division III-South champs romped in a game in which the scorekeeping ended at 39-0 because of DODDS-Europe’s courtesy rule.

John Willis tossed touchdown passes of 35 and 72 yards and returned the second-half kickoff 78 yards for a third TD.

Willis connected with Jiamie Kimball on a 35-yard scoring pass, ran one yard for a score and hooked up with Adrion Shack on a 72-yard scoring play. Thomas Graham added a 14-yard TD run as the Cougars burst out to a 30-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Xavier Sheppard, who carried nine times for 148 yards, broke a 54-yard TD run, and Anotine Turner closed the scoring with a 10-yard run.

Baraka Waweru, with nine tackles, and Storm Freeman, with eight, led the Ansbach defense

Menwith Hill (2-4) got 12 tackles from Andrew Kaaihue.

AFNORTH 39, Bamberg 0At Brunssum, Netherlands, Sascha Miller returned to the lineup with a vengeance, carrying 21 times for 210 yards and five touchdowns for the 6-0 Lions in a game scored as 39-0 because of the courtesy rule.

“His presence on the field lifted our offense and opened up the playbook,” AFNORTH coach Greg Blankenship wrote in an e-mail about Miller, who missed the last three games with an ankle injury.

Brock Blankenship, who had been subbing for Miller, moved to quarterback, completing two of three passes for 87 yards for the III-North champs, 47 of those on a TD pass to Chris Eden.

“The defensive line — Mike West, Aaron Kash, Bo Butcher and Brandon Rusch — dominated the game and forced Bamberg into fourth-and-long every series,” coach Blankenship added.

Bamberg ended its season 2-4. AFNORTH will host Hanau in Saturday’s semifinal game.

Hanau 45, Brussels 6At Hanau, the downsized Panthers’ quest to follow last season’s European D-II championship with a D-III crown got off to a fast start.

Corey Lane returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, ran for a second score and caught a 33-yard pass from Keven Faust for a third TD for Hanau, which led 27-0 at halftime

Faust also connected with T.J. Shulson for an 88-yard TD on a flare pass and completed all five of his passing attempts for 147 yards.

Lane led all rushers with 85 yards on four carries.

Defensively, Hanau (5-1) got 10 tackles and an interception from Gio Vidal.

Ryan Proietto scored on an 80-yard pass interception for Brussels (3-3). John Kilroy blocked a PAT try and made eight tackles for the Brigands.

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