|
| The Little Brass Bell returns to North Central after a two-year hiatus. Photo by Matt McClure, d3photography.com |
Mary Hardin-Baylor cruised, UW-Whitewater protected the ball, Utica provided another upset win and North Central took the bell back in Saturday's Division III football Top 25 action.
The third-ranked Crusaders broke open a tie game with 45 second-half points and rolled over No. 15 East Texas Baptist 59-22, while No. 2 UW-Whitewater won the turnover battle in a 32-22 win vs. UW-La Crosse and Utica improved to 3-0 against teams that were ranked at the time (just 2-2 against everyone else) with a 23-6 win vs. No. 13 St. John Fisher.
For UMHB, the damage was done mostly through the air, as Blake Jackson completed 23 of 42 passes for 359 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to Bryce Wilkerson. Markeith Miller added two touchdowns on the ground and defensive tackle Haston Adams rumbled for a 50-yard touchdown, his second fumble return of the season, in the win. Dru Smith was 29-for-46 passing for ETBU, but for just 202 yards and no TDs.
Drew Patterson had 215 yards from scrimmage, including two rushing touchdowns, and the UW-Whitewater defense had four takeaways as the No. 2 Warhawks handed UW-La Crosse its first loss of the season, 32-22. UW-Whitewater linebacker Pul Foster had six tackles, one and a half sacks and returned his second-quarter interception 29 yards for a TD. Tarek Yaeggi, the transfer from Division I Buffalo playing quarterback for UW-La Crosse, threw for 401 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked three times, threw two picks and may have injured his shoulder at the end of the game. Joel Oxton had a game-high 11 catches for 154 yards. UWL took a 22-21 lead with 1:55 left in the third quarter on a Yaeggi touchdown run, but the two-point conversion failed and the Eagles fumbled on their only subsequent trip to the red zone.
It's the third consecutive week UW-Whitewater has trailed in the fourth quarter before winning.
No. 6 North Central jumped out to a 24-3 lead and held on to defeat No. 11 Wheaton 35-25 and regain the Little Brass Bell. Broc Rutter threw three touchdown passes for the Cardinals, while Pat Cravens recovered a fumble and returned a punt for a touchdown. Wheaton had won the past two games in the rivalry and three of the past four.
Matt Naton returned from a hand injury but was ineffective, completing 16 of 39 passes and throwing two interceptions as No. 13 St. John Fisher fell to Utica 23-6. Ryan Burnett helped the Pioneers control the clock, rolling up 204 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries. Utica held the ball for 41:05 in the win.
Gavin Glenn threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as Coe rallied from a 12-0 deficit to knock off No. 21 Dubuque 23-12 and remain unbeaten. But once again, the real workhorse was running back Trevor Heitland, who had 51 carries for 216 yards for the Kohawks.
Connor Dunn hit a 33-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the game to give Denison a 24-21 win vs. No. 15 Wittenberg. Denison is undefeated at 6-0. Canaan Gebele, the quarterback for the Big Red, was 33-for-47 passing for 375 yards and ran for 81 yards as well in the victory. Denison is 6-0 for the first time since 1985.
Berry held Hendrix in check, holding the Warriors to two first-half touchdowns in a 24-14 win vs. the No. 22 team in the country. The Vikings took the lead in the fourth quarter after a field goal by Mitchell Blanchard and a 22-yard rushing score from quarterback Slade Dale.
UW-Oshkosh got the only touchdown in a defensive battle after conference rival UW-Stevens Point fumbled at its own 29. Five plays later, Devon Linzenmeyer was in the end zone to give the No. 5 Titans a 13-3 lead with 11:23 to go in the first half. And that was the rest of the scoring. UW-Stevens Point missed a 35-yard field goal, threw a pick in the end zone and the teams combined for 13 second-half punts.
Stevenson scored 38 consecutive points and took over sole possession of first place in the MAC in the process as the No. 18 Mustangs defeated Widener 45-21. Widener (4-2, 4-1) held a 14-7 lead 1:25 into the second when Chris Randle capped a 55-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run but Stevenson countered with a 12-play, 65-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes that was capped by a 2-yard run by sophomore Jainard Crawley-Lambert to tie the game 14-14. Stevenson extended that lead to 45-14 in the fourth quarter.
Alfred remained unbeaten and moved into first place in the Empire 8 standings with a 41-28 win over visiting Cortland. Maleke Fuentes ran for 156 yards on just 15 carries and wide receiver Brendan Buisch caught seven passes for 108 yards and a touchdown for the No. 23 Saxons.
Rowan registered the first 17 points of the contest and didn't need any more in a 17-7 win at Southern Virginia. The teams combined for just 64 yards passing. Running back Gawain Bragg led the No. 24 Profs with 139 yards and two scores on just 19 carries.