| Kean had a big day on special
teams in topping Wesley. Kean athletics photo |
Kean blocked a pair of punts and got a key turnover in its own territory in the final minute to upset No. 3 Wesley 31-28. The Cougars' two-minute drill went 60 yards in 1:18 with T.J. Denehy catching the 11-yard game-winner from Tom D'Ambrisi with 1:18 remaining.
The loss means the teams who played UW-Whitewater late in last year's playoffs have already lost, with Wesley following North Central's Week 1 defeat at Redlands.
Montclair State got its season started on the right foot, recovering from an early Salve Regina pick-six to score the final 18 points and defeat the Seahawks 18-7. Chris D'Andrea scored on touchdown runs of 44 and 75 yards for the 11th-ranked Red Hawks.
UW-Eau Claire blitzed out to a 31-0 lead and cruised to a 47-19 win at No. 25 St. John's. The Blugolds used a balanced attack, rushing for 227 yards and passing for 242 in the win.
Top-ranked UW-Whitewater had little trouble with Franklin, beating the Grizzlies 45-0 in a rematch of a 2010 playoff meeting, and No. 2 Mount Union rolled past UW-Oshkosh 41-17 as Neal Seaman and Matt Piloto combined to go 25-for-39 passing.
Fourth-ranked St. Thomas got 121 rushing yards and four touchdowns from Colin Tobin as the Tommies won 45-22 at UW-River Falls, scoring 31 unanswered points after falling down 3-0. No. 7 Linfield did its damage on the ground, with Josh Hill running 24 times for 164 yards in a 24-14 win against No. 16 Cal Lutheran. No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor gained 511 yards on offense, including 291 in the air, but needed a 2-yard Darius Wilson touchdown run to fend off UW-La Crosse at home, 27-20. No. 8 Wheaton opened its season without its expected starting quarterback, but the Thunder rolled to a 54-34 win against Albion behind 22-for-29 passing from Garrett Meador.
Ninth-ranked Hardin-Simmons nearly coughed up all of its 17-0 lead, but held on to win 30-24 at Willamette. No. 23 UW-Stevens Point, which beat Willamette last week, turned around and dropped a stinker at home, losing to UW-Platteville 26-3. Lee Vlasak ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Pioneers. This is the WIAC-mandated non-conference meeting between the two teams.
No. 10 Thomas More broke the game open with 20 points in the third quarter, turning a close game into a 44-13 rout of Hanover. It was the Saints' season opener and saw Robert Kues pass for 241 yards and run for a team-high 45. No. 15 North Central tried to put last week's road trip behind it and crushed NAIA member Bethel (Tenn.) in the process, winning 70-26.
Wabash opened its season with 490 yards of total offense as the No. 18 Little Giants got past Wooster 19-7. No. 17 Alfred opened with a 48-17 win against RPI.
And No. 24 Coe dropped to 0-2 with a 16-10 overtime loss to NAIA Olivet Nazarene. The Kohawks rolled up 434 yards of total offense but were held to 10 points in part by four Brad Boyle interceptions, giving him seven already this season after he threw just seven the previous two years combined.