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| Merchant Marine athletics file photo |
Wittenberg handed Ohio Wesleyan its first loss of the season after recovering a fumble, then driving 81 yards for the win, while Merchant Marine kept WPI out of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1. That and more in Week 5.
RPI shook off a second-quarter deficit and put four consecutive touchdowns on the board to get past the University of Rochester, 38-22. George Marinopoulos threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers in the win, which lifted RPI to 5-0 and dropped Rochester to 1-3. Marinopoulos finished 25-for-37 with 308 yards and four touchdown passes, without an interception. Delano Munoz Whatts carried the ball 14 times for 91 yards.
Brandon Goodwin punched through a 19-yard field goal with seven seconds left to play and Wittenberg handed Ohio Wesleyan its first loss of the season, 24-23. OWU had been driving before Austin Womack fumbled at the Wittenberg 13-yard line with 2:20 to play, and the Tigers marched 81 yards in 12 plays and ended up taking the field goal attempt on second down with seven seconds left. Bobby Froehlich completed 18 of 32 passes for 243 yards and two scores for Wittenberg.
Western New England made Salve Regina's big comeback look like a distant memory as the Golden Bears mauled the Seahawks 41-3. Joey Mauriello, who ran for more than 200 yards against WNEU in 2019, was limited to 41 yards and just 19 carries. Antonio Gordon was an efficient 24-for-33 passing for 203 yards and two scores for Western New England, which improved to 2-2 while Salve fell to 4-1.
Merchant Marine remained unbeaten as well, stopping WPI on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with just over a minute to play to seal a 31-28 win. Merchant Marine improved to 4-0 for the first time since they were in the Freedom Football Conference in 1997, while WPI fell to 1-4. Trailing 31-28 with 8:54 remaining, WPI engineered a 16-play, 74-yard drive in its final offensive possession, including converting on four third downs. However, the visitors were stopped on three consecutive rush attempts inside the three yard line to thwart any hopes of an upset. For Merchant Marine, Matt Strong rushed for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Quarterback Ian Blankenship had 198 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown and threw for 50 yards as well.
Liam Dearing returned an onside kick 42 yards for a touchdown and Catholic was able to seal a 23-13 victory against MIT. It is the first win for the Cardinals (3-2, 1-0 NEWMAC) in a NEWMAC opener since joining the league in 2017. Catholic led 17-7 after Madden Lowe found Preston Jeffrey in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing drive, MIT (2-2, 0-1), which entered the quarter with just 158 yards, drove 92 yards on 13 plays in just 2:15 to make it a one score game with 2:38 remaining. After missing the extra point, the Cardinals led by four and prepared for the onside kick attempt. However, the ball never made it 10 yards as Dearing snagged it out of the air three yards shy of the 45-yard line and raced 42 yards untouched to put Catholic back in front by two possessions with 2:32 to play. Lowe led the offense, completing 29-of-43 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns to Jeffrey and Mark Cheffers.
Hamilton shook off a nearly 90-minute delay at the start of the game and scored 27 second-quarter points to win at Colby, 27-14. The game was pushed back when approximately 30 people took the field as a form of protest before kickoff and staged a sit-in. After the delay, the Colby broadcast came back, saying, "It was either about dining and housing, or sexual assault. Take your pick, I have heard all three." But for Hamilton (2-1), it was about Joe Cairnes, who completed 16 of 22 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
Washington and Lee was 4-4 on two-point conversions and needed every one of them in a 32-30 win at Hampden-Sydney. After finishing off last week's game-winning drive, Generals quarterback Stephen Murrin got the start and sparked a 16-point fourth quarter with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Coby Kirkland. Kaleb Smith executed a perfect jump pass to Ed Newman that pulled Hampden-Sydney within two points with 29 seconds to play. The Generals stopped the two-point try, and survived the Tigers successful onside kick to hang on for the win.
Denison forced Wabash into overtime with a Drew Dawkins to DJ Johnson touchdown pass with 22 seconds left in regulation. The Big Red scored first in overtime on a Trey Fabrocini 2-yard run on fourth down. Wabash answered Denison's score in overtime and scored the winning two-point conversion when Liam Thompson found Jackson Clayborne-Smith wide open in the end zone. The 39-38 victory is the 700th win in Wabash program history.
St. Vincent scored 35 second half points, capped off with a pair of fourth quarter touchdown runs from Billy Beck, to defeat Case Western Reserve 42-40 in a wild, back-and-forth battle. After the Bearcats scored 21 fourth quarter points to take a 42-33 lead with less than two minutes left, Case countered with a touchdown to pull to within two with 20 seconds left. St. Vincent would then seal the victory when Jeffrey Downs II recovered the onside kick to set off a raucous celebration at Chuck Noll Field.
Ohio Northern engineered a game winning touchdown drive in the final minute of the game to come from behind and defeat Marietta 34-33. Trailing 33-27, the Polar Bears took possession of the ball on their own 32-yard line with 57 seconds left on the clock and no time outs. Senior quarterback Brody Hahn completed three of four passes moving the ball to the Marietta 33. Hahn picked up 24 more yards on a scramble giving ONU first and goal at the 9. Following an incompletion in the end zone, Hahn connected with Austin Eick in the back right corner for the 9-yard touchdown evening the score, 33-33. Dom DiFalco split the uprights with the extra point putting the Polar Bears in front, 34-33, with 18 seconds left in the game.
Quarterback Tyler Moore rushed into the end zone from 11 yards out with 29 seconds left to give King's a 10-7 victory over Alvernia. The Monarchs took over with just under six minutes left and converted on two fourth downs on the drive, including Moore's run for the game-winning score. King's managed just 253 yards of total offense in the win.
Andrew Kibler connected on a career long 49-yard field goal in overtime to lift Manchester to a 27-24 win in overtime at Franklin. The Spartans managed just nine first downs in the game, but scored on a bad Franklin punt snap and recovered three Grizzly fumbles to overcome a slow offensive day. The win snaps a 10-game losing streak for the Spartans but is their second consecutive win at Faught Stadium.
Tucker Horn threw two first half touchdowns and Winston Hutchison ran for two second half touchdowns as Trinity (Texas) opened SAA play with a 27-6 victory at Berry. The Tiger defense limited Berry to just 54 yards of offense and held Berry's Gavin Gray to just 129 passing yards for the game.