By Greg Chandler
D3sports.com

Last season, Wilmington College stormed its way to a 9-1 record as a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. This fall, the Quakers are stepping into the fire as the newest member of the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Wilmington came up big in its OAC debut on Saturday, derailing No. 15 Baldwin-Wallace 30-24. Junior quarterback Adam Ryan led the Quakers, completing 29 of 44 passes for 364 yards and three touchdowns. Wideout Jonathan Cain had 142 yards receiving, and kicker Art Steele booted three field goals, including a 46-yarder.

Elsewhere in the OAC, No. 2 Mount Union rolled right along, downing Otterbein 37-14 for its 50th consecutive conference win and its 56th consecutive regular-season triumph. Quarterback Gary Smeck passed for 251 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Chuck Moore pounded out 130 yards on 24 carries, adding two more TDs.

No. 16 John Carroll survived Marietta 42-35 in a game that saw 962 yards of total offense. Tom Arth threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns for the Blue Streaks, including a 67-yard strike to Jeff Lerner and a 63-yarder to John Clark. JCU's Glen Dragoiu rushed for 159 yards, including a 64-yard gallop for a score. Marietta QB Shawn Taylor was 31-of-43 through the air for 326 yards and three scores, while wideout Todd Miller had 151 receiving yards and tailback Kenneth Sasu rushed for 140 yards. 

In the Presidents' Athletic Conference, quarterback Brian Dawson threw six touchdown passes - all in the first half - as No. 12 Washington and Jefferson dedicated Cameron Stadium with a 53-12 blowout of Randolph-Macon. Ryan Silvis caught four TD passes for the Presidents and became W&J's all-time career pass receiving yardage leader with 1,894 yards.

Barring injury, Grove City's R.J. Bowers should surpass Coe's Carey Bender this Saturday as the most prolific runner in Division III history. Last Saturday, Bowers fell 16 yards short of Bender's record, rushing for 139 yards on 34 carries. However, Wooster put the clamps on the rest of the Wolverines' offense, as the Fighting Scots prevailed 27-7. Wooster held Grove City to 153 yards total offense (14 if you subtract Bowers' numbers) and caused four turnovers. Team of the Year linebacker candidate Seth Duerr led the Fighting Scots with 14 tackles and recovered a fumble.

In the North Coast Athletic Conference, No. 7 Wittenberg had little trouble with Alma, 39-14, in a rematch of last year's Division III first-round playoff game. Casey Donaldson continued to add to his list of records, rushing for 138 yards on 34 carries to go over the 4,000-yard mark for his career. Donaldson also scored three second-quarter touchdowns to give him 54 for his career, tying the NCAC career mark set by Allegheny's Stanley Drayton from 1989-92. The Tigers, who have won 24 straight regular season games, are averaging 38 points a contest so far in getting off to a 3-0 start.

This week, Wittenberg travels to Crawfordsville, Ind. to face the Little Giants of Wabash. It's the NCAC football debut for Wabash, which is coming off a tough 17-14 loss to Wheaton last Saturday.

Wabash is one of two new members of the NCAC this season. The other, Hiram, made its conference debut a success last Saturday with a wild 42-34 win over Kenyon. Quarterback Tom Gallagher threw for three touchdowns for the Terriers.

Doing it all
Hope's J.D. Graves did just about everything except sell popcorn in leading the Flying Dutchmen to a thrilling 30-24 overtime win at DePauw. The senior quarterback threw for three touchdowns, including a game-winning 25-yard TD strike to Mike Gle in overtime. Graves also rushed for a touchdown and kicked a 30-yard field goal and an extra point in place of injured kicker Ian Fish. Hope led 24-7 midway through the fourth quarter, but DePauw scored 17 points in the final 7:26 to force overtime. The Tigers' Jason Lee was 41-of-72 through the air for 476 yards, all school records.

Capital punishment
It's only taken two weeks, but the Crusaders of Capital have already matched their victory total of last season. Capital improved to 2-0 last Saturday with a 37-7 thumping of Heidelberg. Rayshaun Gales rushed for 148 yards on 21 carries, but it was the Crusaders' defense that was the story. Capital held Heidelberg to minus-13 yards rushing, recorded nine quarterback sacks and intercepted five passes. Capital hasn't had a winning season since 1991.

That loud thud you heard came from Albion's Sprankle-Sprandel stadium, where the Britons got their lunch handed to them by Buffalo State, 41-14, in their home opener. The Britons, who entered the game No. 14 in the country, couldn't get anything going early, as Buffalo State held Albion to two first downs and 52 yards in total offense in the game's first 32 minutes. By that time, the Britons were looking up a 27-0 deficit.

Running wild
Kalamazoo's defense couldn't stop Mount St. Joseph's Doug Anderson last Saturday. Anderson rushed for 277 yards on 41 carries as MSJ dumped the Hornets, 24-19. 

Ohio Northern's Jamal Robertson set a school record with his 15th career 100-yard rushing performance. Robertson rushed for 159 yards in the Polar Bears' 49-0 blowout of Muskingum.

Still defiant
Defiance might be gone from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, but the Yellow Jackets are still getting their licks in against former conference rivals. Defiance has beaten MIAA members Olivet and Adrian in the last two weeks. Freshman tailback Maurice Hooker rushed for 138 yards against Olivet, then piled up 182 yards in last Saturday's 28-7 thumping of Adrian. But Olivet and Adrian are a combined 0-5 and Defiance has no more MIAA teams on its schedule.

You dropped the bomb on me
Two big plays on offense broke the game open for Earlham in the Quakers' 35-7 win over Oberlin. Tailback Jermel Hurt scored twice, including a 90-yard run for one score, while quarterback Quincy Adams and split end Will Hughes applied the backbreaker late, hooking up on a school record 98-yard touchdown pass. 

Defensive stoppers
Olivet's Mike Hanna made 21 tackles in the Comets' loss to Manchester. Hope's Matt Bride won MIAA defensive player of the week honors for the second consecutive week, with 11 tackles, including four for losses, two interceptions and a fumble recovery against DePauw. Earlham defensive tackle Terrance Bogan had four quarterback sacks in the Quakers' win against Oberlin.

Bits and pieces
Wabash's Ryan Short caught 13 passes and scored twice, but the Little Giants fell short against Wheaton 17-14. Bethany's one-two rushing punch led the Bison to their first win against Carnegie Mellon in 13 meetings, 27-19 against the No. 19 Tartans. Will Anderson scored three touchdowns and rushed for 132 yards on 20 carries, while Brandon Isbell added 129 yards on 20 tries. 

Last year, Kalamazoo's T.J. Thayer was the Hornets' starting quarterback. This fall, coach Tim Rogers has switched the shifty Thayer to wide receiver, with big results. Thayer had 13 catches for 142 yards in the Hornets' loss to Mount St. Joseph, and leads the MIAA in all-purpose running with more than 400 yards in receiving, rushing and kick return yardage so far.