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| The Scots ended the game with a celebration 15 years in the making. Wooster athletics photo |
Wooster defeated conference rival Wabash for the first time since 2004, Dubuque knocked Central from the ranks of the unbeaten and Grove City came off the mat for an amazing win at Westminster (Pa.) in Division III football action on Oct. 12, 2019.
Wooster's defense was on bend-but-not break duty all afternoon with three interceptions, seven sacks, and four fourth-down stops, and the offense was equally as impressive, as the Fighting Scots downed co-North Coast Athletic Conference-leading Wabash 24-10 at John P. Papp Stadium. The win marked the first for the Scots over the Little Giants since 2004.
Wabash, which rushed for 300 yards last year against Wooster, was kept in check on the ground. The Little Giants averaged 2.8 yards per carry, and Ike James was limited to 46 yards, nearly 100 below his season average entering the afternoon. The Scots took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and made it stand up, despite being outgained 432-302.
Central threw five interceptions and held the ball for just over 20 minutes and the Dutch took their first loss of the season as they fell to Dubuque, 28-7. Emanuel Jenkins, not even listed on the team's pregame depth chart, caught three touchdown passes on the afternoon for the Spartans (3-3, 2-1 ARC). Quarterback Sean Duffy completed 27 of 37 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
"Dubuque played well," Central coach Jeff McMartin said. "They made plays. I thought the quarterback threw the ball really well in windy conditions. I thought we did a good job of slowing the running game down. But they threw the ball so effectively. They were really good in certain situations and they played great on defense. They got interceptions, they sacked the quarterback, they made plays. I thought they did a really good job."
Josh Ezekiel had two of the five interceptions for Dubuque, one on the first possession of the game and one on Central's first drive of the fourth quarter.
For the second consecutive week, Grove City sophomore quarterback Josh Ehst scored on a quarterback sneak on the final play of the game as the Wolverines earned a 43-41 road win at Westminster (Pa.), spoiling the Titans' homecoming. Two plays earlier, Ehst had thrown an interception at the goal line on fourth down, giving the ball back to Westminster with eight seconds remaining. An excessive celebration penalty moved the ball from the 2 to the 1. Westminster fumbled the snap, however, and sophomore cornerback Dan Melville recovered the loose ball at the Westminster 1 with four seconds left. Ehst then followed center Geoff Matthews into the end zone for the game-winning score. Last week, Ehst scored on a quarterback sneak in overtime to defeat Carnegie Mellon, 29-26.
In the MAC undefeated Wilkes needed a late stop to beat winless Albright, 42-40. The Lions had the ball on the Wilkes' 12-yard line in the closing minutes until Zach Nesheiwat intercepted the ball and the Colonels' offense ran out the clock. Wilkes quarterback Jose Tabora threw for 185 yards and ran for 91 more for the Colonels (5-0), who host Delaware Valley next week.
Misericordia kept pace with those two teams with a 40-35 victory at Widener. After falling behind 28-16, the Cougars scored the next 24 points to build a 40-28 lead. The Pride scored in the final minute but Misericordia recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock. The Cougars do not play Del Val in the MAC's unbalanced schedule and host Wilkes in two weeks.
North Carolina Wesleyan played an on-campus home game for the first time in the program's history, and it was a great homecoming for the Battling Bishops, who jumped out to a 30-0 lead and rolled past Greensboro 44-7. Eddie Graham had a pair of interceptions, while Donielle Totten went 11-for-13 passing for 144 yards and three TDs in the win. Check out the look of the temporary on-campus stadium they assembled especially for the event in a photo gallery from d3photography.com.
Anna Maria scored two touchdowns in the final 99 seconds and the AMCATs rallied to defeat Alfred State 21-20. Anna Maria drove 75 yards and scored a touchdown with a two-point conversion to cut the Pioneers' lead to 20-14 with 1:39 left, then got the ball back at its own 41 after an Alfred State fumble. Tanner Kingsley went just 3-for-9 on the final drive, but the completions were for 24, 20 and finally 5 yards to Hayden Braga for the touchdown with 16 seconds left. Ryan Johnson's extra-point attempt was the game-winner.
Union moved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League with a 47-19 victory over the University of Rochester at Edwin Fauver Stadium. Ike Irabor rushed for three Union TDs, Joseph Ferreira ran for one, and Will Bellamy passed for two others. Bellamy passed for 224 yards, hitting 12 of 20 with two TDs and one interception. Rochester fell to 0-6, 0-2.
Gustavus Adolphus scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and rallied to win at Concordia-Moorhead, 35-28. The winning touchdown came with 14 seconds remaining, as Michael Veldman scrambled to his left, threw a bomb downfield and found Josh Kirk for a 78-yard touchdown catch-and-run. It's the first win for Gustavus at Concordia since 2010.
Hope rallied from a second-quarter deficit by scoring on four consecutive possessions, and went on to defeat Albion 52-33, in the highest-scoring game in the history of their rivalry, which dates to 1926. Hope (4-1, 2-0 MIAA) finished the game with 465 yards of total offense, including 322 yards on the ground on 55 rushing attempts.
Bridgewater trailed for the first time all season but regained the lead in 98 seconds and scored 45 unanswered points to beat Hampden-Sydney 51-7 on the Tigers' Homecoming. Jay Scroggins completed 17 of 24 passes for 232 yards, three TDs and no interceptions as six Eagles totaled at least 30 receiving yards and six rushed for at least 30 yards. Demetreus Jalepes (49 rushing, 73 receiving), Jarrod Denham (56 rushing, 46 receiving) and Matt DeMasi (33 rushing, 31 receiving) were in both groups.
Hamline kept the Carleton passing game in check and held the ball for more than 40 minutes but was unable to come away with more than one score as the Knights defeated the Pipers 14-7. Hamline had a 17-play drive eat up more than 10 minutes, but had a 27-yard field goal attempt blocked, and also stalled out on fourth-and-2 from the 6. Carleton scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone and broke a 7-7 tie on a 30-yard TD run by Sean Goodman Jr. with 3:30 left in the game.
Heidelberg took an early lead, then scored the final 27 points of the game to put Marietta away, 58-32. Kyle McSweeney hit Gage Giovengo on a 20-yard touchdown pass and Jacob Griffin kicked the point after to give Marietta its only lead of the day, 32-31, with 11:38 left in the third period. Heidelberg wasted no time retaking the lead on the ensuing possession, however. The Student Princes needed just 2:36 and 11 plays to go 91 yards for the go-ahead score. Jimmy Gephart connected with Dimitri Penick on a 12-yard touchdown. Gephart added two more touchdown passes and Jace Grossman scored on a 37-yard run accounting for the 58-32 final. Gephart finished 22-of-36 for 276 yards and five touchdowns. He was picked off once.
Alma handed Trine its second loss in two games, as the Scots' two quarterbacks combined for 10-for-15 passing for 91 yards and two scores in a 23-14 win. Without Brandon Winters at quarterback, Trine was 11-for-20 passing and generated 298 yards of total offense, but just 92 yards on its final seven possessions combined.