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| Julian Nyland threw two touchdowns and had 276 yards of total offense in WPI's win. File photo by Brian Foley for WPI athletics |
WPI, Carnegie Mellon, Mass-Dartmouth and others all improved to 4-0, while Trinity (Texas) bounced back from a pair of losses to Top 10 teams and Misericordia won in quadruple overtime in Saturday's Division III football action.
Trinity (Texas) bounced back after its second loss to a current member of the top 10 and won at Centre, 20-13. The Tigers took advantage of great field position on a 35-yard punt return and a 70-yard kickoff return to set up short scoring drives, then locked down on defense in the second half. The Tigers allowed just 84 yards of offense in the second half, holding Centre to 0-for-7 on third down conversions after halftime. Trinity (2-2, 1-1 SAA) was just 10-for-32 through the air, while Centre was 15-for-33 for 96 yards, fewer than 3.0 yards per attempt.
Connor Field ran for two scores and Julian Nyland tossed a pair of touchdown passes as WPI remained undefeated by going on the road and defeating Springfield 35-21. It's just the second time WPI has started the season 4-0 in the past 36 seasons, and just the third win for WPI in 36 tries against the Pride. Field finished with 116 yards on 30 carries, while Nyland completed 16-for-30 passes for 236 yards.
Misericordia outlasted Lebanon Valley in four overtimes, as Eric Jeffries finished the marathon contest with a 1-yard run to win the game, 35-32. The Dutchmen had connected on a 30-yard field goal with less than a minute left in regulation to extend the game, and the teams traded touchdowns in the second overtime and third overtime. Lebanon Valley (1-3, 1-1 MAC) was forced to settle for a field goal in the fourth extra session and Misericordia (1-1, 1-0) came out with 24 yards on the first four plays of the final overtime, setting up Jeffries from the 1.
Carnegie Mellon forced six turnovers and converted on seven of eight red zone chances and rolled past St. Vincent 49-14 to improve to 4-0 on the season. JD Dayhuff threw for 218 yards and a career-best four touchdowns, all of them to Kris Hughes in the road victory. Mason Tolliver led the way for the Tartans defense with two takeaways, while Long Tran had two of the team's five sacks.
Stephen Gacioch amassed 409 yards of total offense and accounted for all three touchdowns, as UMass Dartmouth used a key fourth quarter goal-line stand to post a 21-14 victory over Plymouth State in a battle of MASCAC unbeatens. Gacioch completed 32-of-45 pass attempts for 305 yards and added 104 rushing yards on 22 carries for the Corsairs (4-0, 2-0), as he accounted for all but 24 yards of the host's 433 yards of total offense.
Monmouth stormed out to a 31-7 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 34-14 win vs. Midwest Conference rival St. Norbert. The Scots (1-2) scored on one-play drives of 25, 34 and 78 yards, counteracting a one-play, 66-yard drive from the Green Knights (1-2). The game was a non-conference contest between teams from the conference's South and North Division. Gage McClanahan and Freddy Poorman combined to throw six interceptions, as Mason Castricone picked off two passes for Monmouth. The Scots also recovered two fumbles and had 11 tackles for loss in the win.
Demetreus Jalepes had another big afternoon, the Bridgewater defense again did not give up a first-quarter touchdown and the Eagles improved to 4-0 with a 40-6 win against Southern Virginia. Jarrod Denham put the Eagles ahead on the very first play of the game, breaking down the right sideline and taking the opening kickoff 94 yards for the score. Jay Scroggins threw for 204 yards and three scores on just 16 pass attempts.
Lars Prestemon threw five touchdown passes to four receivers to lead St. Olaf to a 48-26 victory over Augsburg. Prestemon threw four of his five touchdown passes in the first half to help St. Olaf (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) to a 28-6 lead at the half. Siegel Howard III ran for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. Khayleb Willis, NCAA Division III's leading rusher entering the game, gained 80 yards on 25 carries.
The numbers continued to pile up and the records fall as Central flexed a big-play offense in 52-33 homecoming crowd-pleaser over Loras. Improving to 3-0 overall in their American Rivers Conference opener, the Dutch rolled up 569 yards total offense. Quarterback Blaine Hawkins misfired on three of his first four passes, but then connected on 17 of 18, including his final 11 attempts, He also matched his three-week-old school record with six TD strikes. Senior Hunter Robinson had four of the touchdown catches, including back-to-back first-quarter scoring grabs from 58 yards out.
Eddie Lee hauled in a five-yard TD with nine seconds remaining as St. Scholastica scored 21 points in the final 17 minutes to rally from a 20-point deficit to defeat Westminster (Mo.) 28-27. The Saints took over on their own 28-yard-line with 2:05 remaining. On a third down play, Edwards found Lee on an out pattern to tie the game at 27-27 with nine seconds left. Eric Soderberg, a starting linebacker, then split the uprights on his first extra point attempt of the season, giving the Saints their first lead of the game.
George Marinopoulous threw three touchdown passes and RPI scored 28 points in the first quarter, then cruised to a 38-0 win vs. Anna Maria. The Engineers (3-1) scored their last points less than 20 minutes into the game.
Baldwin Wallace scored 20 second half points to secure a come-from-behind 34-33 win over Heidelberg in the Yellow Jackets' home opener. Freshman quarterback Keagan Armitage, who entered just four plays into the game, was named the Yellow Jacket Shrine Classic Player of the Game as he completed 15 of 29 passes for 229 yards with four touchdowns. A.J. Miller got the start at quarterback but left after being sacked, clutching his left wrist.
Cortland remained unbeaten as the Red Dragons scored on seven of their first eight drives and sailed past visiting Buffalo State, 59-21. Cortland rolled up 580 yards of total offense, 291 through the air and 289 on the ground. The Red Dragons improve to 3-0 entering Empire 8 play.