By Greg Chandler
D3sports.com

It's still very early in the season, but in the Ohio Athletic Conference, it's showdown time on Saturday as two of the conference's titans lock horns in Ada.

Mount Union hasn't lost to an OAC foe since 1994, piling up 51 consecutive wins against league opponents. Ohio Northern, meanwhile, is coming off a record-setting 11-2 season that was marred only by two losses -- both to the Purple Raiders.

Mount Union, winners of 57 consecutive regular season contests, improved to 3-0 last Saturday, coming from behind to defeat John Carroll 41-31 in front of a homecoming crowd of more than 7,000 in Alliance. Quarterback Gary Smeck completed 24 of 38 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver Adam Marino hauled in 11 receptions for 154 yards. JCU led 22-21 late in the third quarter, but the Purple Raiders scored on each of their last three possessions to keep their streak alive.

Tom Arth was 33 of 57 through the air for 366 yards and three touchdowns in a losing cause for John Carroll (2-1).

While Mount Union was holding serve on its homecoming, Ohio Northern (2-0, 2-1) kept pace by stuffing Baldwin-Wallace 25-9. Quarterback Shane Franzer threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, while the Polar Bears' defense held B-W to less than 180 yards in total offense. Brad Lohr had 16 tackles for ONU, while Brad Klaus picked off a pair of passes.

Last season, Mount Union's offense rolled in both meetings, defeating ONU 56-24 at Alliance in the third week of the season, then drilling the Polar Bears 56-31 in a Division III quarterfinal matchup.

The game will be the D3football.com Game of the Week, broadcast live starting at 1:15 p.m. EDT.

Rolling like thunder
The weather was the story in a number of matchups last weekend. Two of the games most highly impacted by the thunder and lightning were the Wilmington-Muskingum and Wittenberg-Wabash contests.

The Wilmington-Muskingum game was postponed until Sunday, but the delay didn't affect the Quakers. Adam Ryan passed for 369 yards and three touchdowns as Wilmington improved to 2-0 as the OAC's newest member with a 21-14 win over the Fighting Muskies. Jonathan Cain had another big game catching Ryan's passes, with eight grabs, 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, in Crawfordsville, lightning and heavy rain caused a 2 1/2-hour delay in the Wittenberg-Wabash game, and forced the contest to be completed at Crawfordsville High School because Little Giant Stadium does not have lights. It mattered little to Wittenberg, which continued to roll with a 41-10 whipping of Wabash, spoiling the Little Giants' debut in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Witt running back Casey Donaldson broke the NCAC career touchdown record with his 55th TD, and also hooked up with Loban Storts on a 58-yard touchdown strike on a halfback option pass.

The Tigers, now 4-0, also got a solid performance from quarterback Anthony Crane, who was 19 of 31 through the air for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Crane has yet to throw an interception in 104 pass attempts this season, while throwing for 808 yards and six touchdowns.

Another quarterback that's on fire is Washington and Jefferson's Brian Dawson. Last Saturday, Dawson threw five touchdown passes as the Presidents crushed Hanover, 50-32. Dawson, who completed 23 of 31 passes for 383 yards, has already thrown for 1,070 yards and 15 touchdowns in W&J's first three games, with only one interception for an unbelievable rating of 247.9.

Ryan Silvis caught four of Dawson's TD passes as part of a nine-catch, 200-yard day. Silvis has already caught nine touchdown passes this season, part of a offensive juggernaut that has gone over 50 points in each of its first three games.

Grove City's R.J. Bowers is expected to become the most prolific rusher in Division III history as the Wolverines host Thiel in their annual Mercer County Cup rivalry. Bowers, who has rushed for 6,110 yards in his career and has gone over the 100-yard mark in 29 consecutive games, needs just 16 yards to surpass Coe's Carey Bender (1991-94) as the all-time D-III career rushing leader.

Fast starts
Capital and Bethany are two schools off to their best starts in many a year. Capital, which hasn't had a winning season since 1993, improved to 3-0 with a 12-9 victory over neighboring Otterbein. The Crusaders haven't started 3-0 since 1977.

Meanwhile, Bethany posted its second shutout of the season, trouncing first-year program Gallaudet 47-0. The Bison, who have outscored their opponents 140-23 so far, are 4-0 for the first time since 1980.

The wins by Washington and Jefferson and Bethany were part of a perfect weekend for Presidents Athletic Conference teams. Another PAC member, Thiel, evened its mark at 2-2 with a 13-12 upset of No. 21 Thomas More on the road. PAC teams have posted a 15-6 non-league record heading into this weekend's conference openers.

Off the schneid
Olivet broke a 15-game losing streak and gave interim coach Kevin Bozeman his first victory as the Comets smashed Anderson 39-8. Freshman Jameel Cooper returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown and later scored on an 81-yard run, while the Comets' defense had eight quarterback sacks and recovered four fumbles.

Defensive gems
Wooster has held its opponents to an average of 7.7 points per game in getting off to a 3-0 start. Last Saturday, the Fighting Scots blanked Kenyon 23-0, as Seth Duerr recorded 13 tackles and Seth Mastrine picked off two passes, giving him 14 for his career and tying the school record in that category.

Hope forced six turnovers, including five interceptions, as the Flying Dutchmen (2-1) defeated Wheaton for the first time since 1975, 26-14. Kurt Glupker picked off two passes, while Nick Conrad returned another theft 68 yards for a touchdown.

Defiance held Rockford to just 65 yards total offense as the Yellow Jackets rolled to their third consecutive win, 31-0. Albion's Todd Ritter sealed his team's victory over Washington (Mo.) with a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Britons (3-1) had five takeaways in the 30-27 win.

Earlham's David Thompson had three interceptions as his team defeated Manchester 26-18. Bethany's defense held Gallaudet to 74 yards in total offense in its blowout.

Odds and ends
Allegheny finally got on the winning track with a 39-8 pounding of Denison, but the Gators' early troubles aren't the fault of Shane Ream. Ream has piled up 657 yards rushing in his team's first four games and has scored 11 touchdowns.

Earlham's Darrian Story set a school single-game rushing record in the win against Manchester. Story romped for 227 yards on 25 carries, including a 65-yard run.

Capital's Chris Copeland became the most prolific receiver in school history in the win over Otterbein, grabbing seven passes for 139 yards. Copeland now has 157 career receptions.

Hope's Brian Adloff caught four passes against Wheaton, including the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, to give him 107 receptions for his career, tying the school record held by Bill Vanderbilt.

Hiram's Walter Froelich is a dangerous multiple threat, be it as a running back or return man. In the Terriers' first three games, Froelich has already returned two punts for touchdowns - one against Bluffton, then again last Saturday against Mount St. Joseph. With about 190 yards per game, Froelich leads the NCAC in all-purpose yardage.

Alma quarterback Brandron Wrobel was 32 of 55 through the air for 367 yards and three scores in the Scots' 35-3 thumping of Franklin. Two of Wrobel's favorite targets, Mark Boehms and Kris Ernst, each had nine catches in the contest, with Boehms gaining 134 yards and Ernst 115.

Denison's Greg Neuendorf completed 33 of 51 passes against Allegheny for 329 yards.