Jeffery Barnett had two touchdown catches to help lead the Trine offense vs. Hope. Trine athletics photo

Trine improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2010, Franklin & Marshall had a big win in a trophy game in their new stadium, while Union again showed it was ready to contend again for a conference title in Saturday's early Division III football contests.

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Trine rolled out to a 27-0 lead in the first 17 minutes of the game and the Thunder aced their first real test of the season, defeating Hope 50-14. Trine entered the day with six wins, none of them against a team at .500 or better. The Thunder outgained the vaunted Hope rushing offense 282-86, as Lamar Carswell had 115 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Hope fell to 5-2, picking up its first loss in MIAA play.

Who better to open up a new stadium against than perhaps your oldest rival? The Franklin & Marshall-Dickinson series started in 1889, and F&M won big in the 109th meeting, by the score of 56-0. Quarterback Tanner Erisman had two touchdown runs in the first quarter, while Taalib Gerald had three TDs in the second. The Diplomats retained the Conestoga Wagon Trophy with the victory.

Chaiten Tomlin tied a 19-year old Division III record with nine touchdown passes in Mount St. Joseph's 71-27 win at Anderson. Tomlin, who spread his TDs among six receivers, threw his final TD a few minutes into the fourth quarter for the final score of the game. Grayson Roberts had six catches on the afternoon, four of them for scores. The record was originally set by Ohio Northern quarterback Joe Zarlinga vs. Capital on Nov. 14, 1998.

Washington & Lee scored on offense and on defense in a 28-point second quarter and added a defensive two-point conversion in the third as the Generals marched past Hampden-Sydney 36-6. Josh Breece had 19 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown and Collin Sherman added 14 for 118 and two scores in the road win. The win, combined with Guilford's win vs. Shenandoah, leaves four teams at the top of the ODAC standings with one conference loss apiece. De'Eric Bell had 227 rushing yards for the Quakers.

Hobart rallied with 20 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as Union improved to 7-1, 3-0 in the Liberty League, with a 28-23 win. Shane Sweeney completed 33 of 59 passing for 293 yards for Hobart, but Union held him to one TD pass, with 4:37 to go in the game. Hobart added another TD with 25 seconds to go, but could not convert on the onside kick. It's the Dutchmen's first win vs. the Statesmen since 2009.

A week after Stevenson's conference title hopes took a big hit with a loss to Lebanon Valley, the Mustangs rebounded to beat Albright, 26-23. Stevenson quarterback Dan Williams connected on two long touchdown passes, the last one a 61-yard play to Preston Addo, to rally the Mustangs past the Lions in the fourth quarter. Stevenson's win leaves both teams two games back of idle MAC front runner Delaware Valley with three games to play.

Joey Valdivia had 19 carries for 224 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half as Lake Forest blew past Grinnell 70-6. Three Foresters quarterbacks combined for 25-of-32 passing and five touchdowns in the win. Lake Forest's strength of schedule is in the bottom 10 in Division III, but will climb slightly next week with a home game vs. Monmouth.

Quarterback Zack Edwards accounted for a pair of touchdowns as Plymouth State used a special teams score and a late pick-six return to post a 40-14 MASCAC win vs. Massachusetts Maritime. Plymouth State stands 7-1, 5-1 in MASCAC play, virtually tied with Framingham State (who it beat) and Western Connecticut (who it lost to). Western Connecticut kept pace with a 27-20 win at Bridgewater State.

Ithaca scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away to a 35-10 win vs. St. John Fisher. Freshman Wahid Nabi was 21-of-24 passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns for the Bombers (4-3). St. John Fisher fell to 1-6. The Liberty League won another crossover game with the Empire 8 as well, as RPI picked off Alfred quarterback Bryce Morrison six times in a 30-15 win. 

Eureka picked off MacMurray quarterback Nathan Randall three times and Chazz Middlebrook, the leading rusher in NCAA Division III in 2016, was sidelined for the second consecutive game with an injury as Eureka defeated MacMurray 37-20. LeAnthony Reasnover was the day's workhorse back, as he had 274 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries for Eureka.

Time ran out on Averett vs. North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday night. The Cougars had third-and-goal from the 3, trailing 21-15 with 27.9 seconds left. After a loss of 1, the Cougars were whistled for a false start on fourth down and the 10-second runoff ended the game.

Chapman rolled up 500 yards of total offense and Ricky Bautista had another great night, going 20-for-27 passing as the Panthers won 38-21 at La Verne. Chapman remained unbeaten in the SCIAC and improved to 4-2 overall.