By Greg Chandler
D3sports.com

It's the old guard against the new kids on the block this Saturday with first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference at stake.

No. 1-ranked Mount Union, winners of 53 straight OAC contests and 58 consecutive regular season games overall, hosts Wilmington, which has shown it belongs as a team to be reckoned with in its first season in the OAC.

Last Saturday, Mount Union ran its record to 5-0 (4-0 in the OAC) with a 54-14 blowout of Marietta. The win was coach Larry Kehres' 155th career victory, as he moved past Baldwin-Wallace coaching legend Lee Tressel as the winningest coach in OAC history.

Chuck Moore rushed for 107 yards and four touchdowns for Mount Union, while quarterback Gary Smeck completed 18 of 22 passes for 284 yards and four more touchdowns. Moore now holds the Purple Raiders' school record for most points 

Meanwhile, Wilmington scored perhaps its most important win yet, knocking off No. 15 John Carroll on the road, 24-19. Quakers quarterback Adam Ryan came up big again, going 27 of 41 through the air for 294 yards and two touchdowns, both to wideout Jonathan Cain. The Wilmington defense, meanwhile, picked off JCU quarterback Tom Arth twice and recovered two fumbles. The Quakers have won four straight, all in the OAC, since a tough season-opening loss to Alma.

The game pits two of the nation's most prolific quarterbacks in Wilmington's Ryan and Mount Union's Smeck. Ryan is third in the nation in total offense at 330 yards a game, while Smeck is 10th at 276 yards a contest.

It's only the third meeting ever between Mount Union and Wilmington and the first between the teams since 1969. The Purple Raiders shut out the Quakers in both of their previous meetings.

In the North Coast Athletic Conference, Wabash pulled off the upset of the week, knocking off Wooster 20-15 to spoil the Fighting Scots' homecoming weekend. Freshman Korey Mauck rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Little Giants, while the Wabash defense had nine quarterback sacks and limited Wooster to 37 rushing yards in sending the Fighting Scots down to their first loss.

Wooster (2-1, 4-1) has no time to bemoan its homecoming loss, as this Saturday the Fighting Scots travel to traditional rival and NCAC powerhouse Wittenberg. The Tigers are coming off a dominating performance against Denison, crushing the Big Red 62-7.

Wittenberg quarterback Anthony Crane threw four touchdown passes in the first half before taking a seat, along with the Tigers' other starters. Tailback Casey Donaldson added to his NCAC career touchdown record with two more scores -- a 3-yard run and a 44-yard pass from Crane -- giving him 58 for his career.

Wittenberg (4-0, 5-0) has won 18 straight NCAC games and owns a 27-game regular season winning streak. The Witt-Wooster game should be another classic, pitting the NCAC's highest scoring offense (Witt's 42 points per game) against the conference's toughest defense (Wooster's stingy 11.4 ppg).

In the Presidents Athletic Conference, Washington and Jefferson bounced back in a big way from its loss last week to Westminster, pounding Grove City 38-17. The Presidents' vaunted air attack gave way to the running game, as W&J piled up more than 300 yards on the ground. Sophomore Joey Nichols led the way with 155 yards on 15 carries, while quarterback Brian Dawson threw three more touchdown passes, giving him 19 for the season against just two interceptions. Dawson leads the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 215.3.

Grove City's R.J. Bowers tied two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin's all-time NCAA record of 31 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, rumbling for 133 yards on 31 carries to move into second place on the all-time NCAA all-divisions career rushing list. He now leads all Division III rushers with an average of nearly 185 yards per game, slightly ahead of Marietta's Kenneth Sasu. Bowers scored both of the Wolverines' touchdowns, but also lost two fumbles, leading to 10 Washington and Jefferson points.

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opens league play this weekend with a crucial contest between Alma and Albion at Bahlke Stadium in Alma. Last season, the Scots stunned the Britons 20-17 on the final day of the regular season to force a three-way tie (with Hope) for the league championship and claim the league's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. Albion and Alma were picked to finish in a tie for the top spot in the league's preseason poll of coaches and media.

Reamed: Allegheny hadn't defeated Hiram since 1979, but Shane Ream helped the Gators change that on Saturday. Ream scored four touchdowns to lead the high-powered Allegheny ground game in a 70-7 blowout of the Terriers. Ream now had 17 touchdowns on the season (15 on the ground), tops in Division III.

He doesn't just sack quarterbacks: Alma defensive end Justin Harris vaulted into the spotlight last season with a spectacular 17-sack season that earned him first team D3football.com All-American honors. But Harris isn't just a sackmeister. The 255-pounder showed his versatility as a fullback on Saturday, scoring his second career rushing touchdown. He also forced a fumble in the Scots' 27-7 win against Division II Gannon. 

Fantastic finishes: Albion's Keith Debauddt nailed a 35-yard field goal with 15 seconds left as the Britons knocked off Division I-AA Butler 24-23. It was Debauddt's ninth field goal of the season, two away from his own school record of 11 set last year.

Brad Maska threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Matt Vonders with 22 seconds remaining as Adrian escaped with a 13-12 win against Wisconsin Lutheran, a program that's in its first season. It was the Bulldogs' first win of the season.

Muskingum quarterback Jeff Morris hooked up with senior fullback Luke Thimmes on a 7-yard TD pass with 2:57 left, then the Fighting Muskies' defense recovered a fumble in the end zone in the final minute to hold off Capital 38-35. Morris threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth.

Westminster, which scored a big upset over Washington and Jefferson in its PAC debut last week, came from behind to take down another ranked foe, defeating No. 22 Bethany 24-14. The Titans trailed 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, but rallied for 17 points in the final 15 minutes to thrill their homecoming crowd.

The Westminster defense stepped up big in this one, causing five turnovers, with linebacker Don Augustine picking off three Bethany passes.

Odds and ends: Ohio Northern's Jamal Robertson became the school's career rushing leader, gaining 103 yards in the Polar Bears' 45-21 win over Otterbein. Robertson has now rushed for 3,165 yards during his career. Kenyon's Nathan Swartz rumbled for 195 yards and two scores in Kenyon's 27-21 triumph against Case Western Reserve.

Muskingum wideout Jeremy Abney returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and had a 60-yard TD reception against Capital. Meanwhile, Crusaders' QB Danny Edghill accounted for all five Capital touchdowns, throwing for three and running for two more. However, Edghill's 31-for-56, 370-yard day, was offset by four interceptions and the lost fumble in the end zone in the final minute. Muskies' defensive back Mark Louis had three of those interceptions.

The quarterbacks also put on a show in Baldwin-Wallace's wild 38-31 win over Heidelberg. B-W quarterback Dan Larlham compiled 230 yards in total offense (134 passing, 96 rushing), while Heidelberg QB Brian Frank threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns.

Wittenberg has a dominating defense, a talented and diverse offense, and ... oh yeah, the Tigers get it done on special teams too. Witt blocked two punts against Denison, giving the Tigers six for the season.

Adrian linebacker Jim Outlaw was a difference-maker on special teams in the Bulldogs' narrow win over Wisconsin Lutheran, blocking two punts and a field goal attempt.

Wabash's Ryan Freeman and Chris Futscher matched big game performances in the Little Giants' upset of Wooster. Both had two sacks and four tackles for losses apiece, with Freeman finishing with 10 tackles overall. Wooster's Chris Cabot has eight catches for 120 yards.

Kalamazoo linebacker Brant Haverdink had 14 tackles, including two for losses, a sack and an interception in the Hornets' 23-19 win over Colorado College. Teammate T.J. Thayer continued his breakout transition season from quarterback to wide receiver with 10 catches, giving him 33 in just four games.