After Methodist kicked a field goal to open the second overtime, Marcus Morrast closed it on the next play. Christopher Newport photo by Jesse Hutcheson

It’s the time of year when we start to get a bit of clarity on how several conferences are shaping up.

Among the things on my radar: St. John’s again beats ranked rival St. Thomas; Salisbury seems ever more unlikely to reclaim the top spot in the Empire 8; Johns Hopkins is on a bit of a fast track after clobbering Muhlenberg; St. Norbert toppled a key threat; and Concordia-Moorhead could prove troublesomely playoff-driven against the MIAC’s usual suspects.

The big upset: But to start, I can’t not mention that, a week after North Central overthrew its Top 10 WIAC opponent, the conference gets a great deal redemption from unranked UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers played their best game at the right time in 34-27 win. Being undefeated, it’s hard to make a case that UW-SP wouldn’t be Top 25 material (or at least getting a good number of votes). People talk about Whitewater. They talk about Platteville and Oshkosh. But Stevens Point really hasn’t been the talk of the nation since 2008 when the team beat national defending champion Whitewater by a single point. There’s little doubt that the WIAC has at least four teams that people need to be paying attention to.

Love video (and overtimes) in D-III: Big credit to the CNU video broadcast for keeping me glued to the Captains’ game against Methodist, which was pushed into double overtime for a 51-48 CNU win. As they went back and forth with scoring and key defensive stops, it’s hard to imagine watching two teams that seemed more evenly matched. But in the end, it was the grit of Captains quarterback Marcus Morrast that proved decisive. In the second overtime, he forced defenders to just slide right off him as he ran 25 yards for the score. Morrast was the epitome of dual threat:  A 310-yard, four touchdown performance through the air and a 191-yard, two touchdown performance on the ground. (CNU SID: If you’re reading this, nominate him for Team of the Week!) It was clear Morrast was tired in the fourth quarter; he was seen crouching between plays, apparently to catch his breath. But the senior pushed forward to the benefit of those in blue around him. Max Reber, Methodist’s signal-caller, had a similarly impressive day that fell just short on the scoreboard. He completed more than 70 percent of his 49 pass attempts for 480 yards and six touchdowns. He set school records in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns.

Anticipation for next week: Not much separation has been made yet in the UMAC, with three teams riding undefeated conference streaks and two others with just one loss. St. Scholastica has the most games under its belt (and thus the most wins at 4-0), but Northwestern has been winning just as convincingly. These two meet next week in the only clash featuring the top of the heap. Still, as far as titles go, it should be one of the year’s most telling for the conference. Note: The only common opponent so far is Crown, which the Saints beat 48-14 and the Eagles beat 40-14.

Straight to the points: A couple of Saturday’s ridiculous scores (and the records that accompanied them) stood out:

• Heidelberg 69, Ohio Northern 52: The Student Princes poured it on in the fourth to seal the win. Quarterback Michael Mees threw for five scores, setting a team career record, and ran for one more. Heart and soul right there. Cartel Brooks also broke a record on the team for career rushing yards, reaching the 4,082 mark.
• Western New England 80, Maine Maritime 16: It’s the first 3-0 start for the Golden Bears in the Division III era, and running back Kevin Cook’s touchdown gave him a school record in the category.
• East Texas Baptist 68, Millsaps 15: ETBU amassed 715 yards, with Josh Warbington contributing 391 through the air with four scores. Millsaps looked good on paper with 415 yards, but too often the Majors failed to convert on third down and in the red zone.

Conference nonclashes: Yet while we’re seeing so many pieces start to take shape nationally, there is so much eagerness to see the conferences that haven’t started conference play: ASC, CCIW, ECFC, IIAC, MIAA, MWC, NACC, ODAC, SCAC, SCIAC and WIAC. This represents about two-fifths of the total number of Division III football-playing conferences. That means there are still many unknowns.