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| A.J. Williams and the Mary Hardin-Baylor offense did outscore the Cru defense, eventually. Photo by Caleb Marek for Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics |
It was, to say the least, a big darn day in Division III football, especially for ranked teams. The No. 2 team and defending champs needed to come from behind, the No. 3 team got run off its own field, the No. 4 team needed to survive a rally from a rival in the fourth quarter, the No. 8 team got spanked in the fourth quarter and the No. 10 team lost to a team which got shut out the week before. And that was just the top ten in action on Saturday among teams ranked in the D3football.com Top 25.
Mary Hardin-Baylor returned two interceptions in the first quarter alone for touchdowns and had eight takeaways on the afternoon as the Cru shook off the demons of a stretch that has seen them lose five of their last 11 countable games. UMHB defeated No. 3 UW-Whitewater 35-17. Te'Ron Brown pressured UWW quarterback Jason Ceniti with 12:44 left in the first, forcing a desperation throw that Durand Hill intercepted and returned for a touchdown to open the game with a 7-0 Cru lead. The Cru recorded another turnover three plays later when Da'Marion Morris picked off another pass. The Cru offense was forced to punt with 10:17 left and downed the kick at the UWW 3-yard line. Morris struck again three plays later, recording another interception, and returning it for the Cru's second score of the contest.
The Warhawks forced a turnover on the Cru's next possession but the defense responded again with Robert Williams forcing and recovering a UWW fumble for another turnover. Phe completed five passes in the ensuing drive, capping the series with a 30-yard touchdown throw for a 21-0 Crusader lead. Whitewater was limited to 88 yards rushing on the day, threw five picks and lost three fumbles in the defeat.
No. 2 Cortland came into Saturday with a chance to avenge its only loss from last season, but it looked like the Red Dragons were going to see history repeat itself as No. 11 Susquehanna roared out to a 24-7 lead in the second quarter. The advantage did not last, however, as Cortland put the ball in the hands of its backfield, scoring on two long drives to cut the deficit to 24-20 before halftime. And the second half saw three Ethan Gallo touchdown runs as Cortland pulled ahead to a 40-31 lead with 2:20 to play. Susquehanna mounted one final scoring drive, with Josh Ehrlich hitting Hunter Morgenroth for a 14-yard TD with 31 seconds left, but the River Hawks' onside kick attempt went out of bounds, allowing Cortland to kneel out the clock and extend its winning streak to 15 consecutive games with a 40-38 win. The win snapped a 23-game regular season winning streak for Susquehanna.
No. 22 Salisbury outscored host Johns Hopkins 31-0 in the second half to turn a tight game into a laugher as the Sea Gulls rolled to a 41-13 win at the No. 8 Blue Jays. The Sea Gulls grabbed the lead for good early in the third quarter as Gage Katzenell-Hall hit Dario Belizaire with a 63-yard touchdown pass on SU's first possession and Kollin Samaha added a 31-yard field goal late in the period to extend a 17-13 lead to 20-13. That score held until midway through the final quarter when the Sea Gulls scored three touchdowns in a seven-minute span to put the game away. A pair of Michael Cox touchdown runs and a 26-yard Ben Spiess fumble return for a score accounted for the three fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Sea Gulls, who improved to 3-0.
Brandon Cade punched it in from 1 yard out with 1:16 left in the game as Berry answered Randolph-Macon's late score with a back-breaker of its own, defeating the No. 10 Yellow Jackets 28-24. Randolph-Macon had taken a 24-21 lead with five minutes to go when Dante Casciola found Jason Moore in the end zone for a 15-yard score. Christian Lewis was 18-for-28 passing for 260 yards and two TDs in the win, which came one week after Berry was shut out by DePauw, 33-0.
The last OAC meeting of Mount Union and John Carroll saw the Blue Streaks push the Purple Raiders to the end, but they had no answer for Tyler Echeverry. He ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns, including a 21-yarder with 4:56 remaining to give the No. 4 Purple Raiders enough for the 37-31 win against the No. 25 Blue Streaks. Noah Beaudrie was 15-for-19 passing for 214 yards and one touchdown and ran for 93 yards and a score in the win. JCU took a 28-25 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 6-yard scoring pass from Nick Semptimphelter to Jack Cardaman but the Raiders answered quickly when Beaudrie scrambled for a 53-yard touchdown four plays later, giving them a lead they would never relinquish. The Raiders forced a punt with 6:57 left and the Beaudrie-Echeverry tandem struck again. On a first-down play from his 16-yard line, Beaudrie found a wide-open Nick Turner for a 60-yard completion. Two plays later Echeverry burst through the first side for the 21-yard score and a 37-28 lead.
No. 13 Wartburg scored on a fumble recovery and a short drive for a field goal in the first quarter and the Knights made it stand up as they held on to defeat Central, 10-6. After outgaining the Knights 180 yards to 157 in the first half, the Dutch offense mustered just 84 yards in the second half. Neither team scored in the second half, as each team turned to backup quarterbacks to try to put points on the board. "We did a great job defensively, we couldn't ask for anything more from the defense," Central coach Jeff McMartin said. "The defense only gave up a field goal. You're going to win a lot of football games when your defense only gives up three points." Central had a shot in the fourth quarter, after receiving a punt at midfield. Hunter Hoffman converted one fourth down on the drive and got as close as the 21 before finishing the possesion with incomplete passes on third and fourth down.
It was a mixed day for Top 25 teams taking on NCAA Division II competition, as D-III won one out of three. No. 16 Alma got the win, defeating Northern Michigan 44-27. Carter St. John threw for 315 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 50 yards as well in the win. The loss is the 15th in a row for Northern Michigan, and three of them have come to Division III schools, including two in a row. Division II Michigan Tech improved to 3-1 with a 44-7 win against No. 14 UW-Oshkosh. The Titans did not get on the board until 28 seconds remained in the ballgame. UW-La Crosse had the most impressive result of all, even in a loss, as Division III's No. 6 team lost at Division II power Grand Valley State 20-13. GVSU was ranked No. 2 in the most recent D2Football.com Top 25 poll. Jack Student caught a touchdown pass and Michael Stack kicked two field goals, the last with 4:42 left to cut Grand Valley's lead to 20-13. The Eagles (2-1) were able to force a punt and got the ball back at their own 35-yard line with 1:48 to play but the drive stalled in Grand Valley territory and UWL turned the ball over on downs.
No. 21 DePauw totaled 623 yards and scored on six straight possessions on the way to a 51-14 North Coast Athletic Conference win over visiting Wooster. Nathan McCahill completed 25-of-34 passes for a career-high 383 yards and five touchdowns in the win, which was the conference opener for both teams. Jaylon Smith, Robby Ballentine and Frankie Ricciardi each finished with 100 or more receiving yards on the day.
Luke McNabb rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another score, leading No. 23 Linfield to a dominating 45-0 non-conference victory over Redlands, while No. 20 Whitworth remained unbeaten, defeating Chapman 35-28.
Bethel put up 24 points in the second quarter and 13 in the fourth as the No. 24 Royals pulled away from UW-Eau Claire in a 51-30 win. Eau Claire scored touchdowns on consecutive drives across the third and fourth quarters to cut the Bethel lead to 38-30, but Cooper Drew threw a TD pass to Joey Kidder, their fourth scoring connection of the day, and Drews broke away for a 43-yard run in trying to run out the clock. Drews threw for five touchdowns and ran for two in the win, while Kidder had 11 catches for 126 yards and the four scores.