By Ryan Briggs
Grove City SID
Seven days can make a big difference. Seven days ago, no Great Lakes region team had wrapped up an NCAA playoff berth. Since then, three automatic berths were secured while a handful of teams continued to move into position for Pool B and C invitations.
Top-ranked Mount Union (9-0, 8-0 OAC) wrapped up the Ohio Athletic Conference title Saturday with a 55-7 home win against Ohio Northern in Alliance. The Purple Raiders own a one-game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker over second-place Baldwin-Wallace heading into the final weekend.
Surprising Allegheny (6-3, 6-0 NCAC) won the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 42-21 triumph over Earlham while in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Hope handled Olivet 56-37 to claim MIAA supremacy. Like Mount Union, Hope owns a one-game lead over a team it defeated (Adrian) with a week left in the season.
Westminster fell out of Pool B contention with a 41-39 loss to Thomas More, despite generating over 600 yards of offense. Washington U. turned out the lights on Carnegie Mellon's faint Pool B hopes while Waynesburg and Washington and Jefferson each solidified their résumés for Pool B consideration with road victories.
Baldwin-Wallace belted Marietta 57-14 and is probably the top Pool C contender across the nation with Bethel a close second. Adrian is currently 8-1 and may merit some consideration. The Bulldogs could use some help, however.
Nifty in the fifties
Mount Union extended its win streak to 51 games with a 55-7 victory against Ohio Northern. Halfback Rick Ciccone scored four first-half touchdowns as the Purple Raiders stormed to a 41-7 lead at halftime.
Zac Bruney completed 18 of 26 attempts for 355 yards, helping Mount Union accumulate 618 yards of offense. Mount Union clinched a playoff berth with the win and closes the regular season at Wilmington (2-7, 2-6). Mount Union is averaging 557 yards of offense per game while the Quakers' defense is allowing opponents to gain 432 yards per game.
Barring a huge upset, the Purple Raiders will head into the playoffs at 10-0 and will likely receive a first-round bye. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how long head coach Larry Kehres leaves his first-team players in if the lead gets big quickly. He may leave them in a bit longer than usual simply to keep them sharp due to the probable off week -- but not for the sake of running up the score.
Gator country
Allegheny earned its first trip to the postseason since 1996 with a 42-21 win over Earlham (1-8, 0-5 NCAC). The win clinches the NCAC title for Mark Matlak's Gators. Brian Woods established an Allegheny record with 344 all-purpose yards, breaking Jay Lewis' 34-year-old record of 316. Quarterback Bubba Smith completed just nine passes but four went for touchdowns.
Allegheny closes the regular season Saturday against Ohio Wesleyan. Last year, Allegheny went 5-5 in Matlak's first season after he replaced Blair Hrovat in midsummer.
Then, the Gators opened the year 0-3 with losses at Baldwin-Wallace (7-2) and Washington and Jefferson (8-1) before a 3-0 overtime home loss to Allegheny.
"We weren't a bad football team, even though we were 0-3," Matlak told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I didn't give up on the players, and, more importantly, they didn't give up on themselves. We didn't panic.
"It was like starting all over because we divide our season into two segments -- non-league and league," Matlak continued. "The kids just stuck with it. We just followed the plan. I'm a positive guy by nature. You can't dwell on the past, you have to move on."
Stuck in the 80s
Wabash piled up 81 points on Hiram Saturday in Crawfordsville, Ind., in NCAC action as the Little Giants (6-3) won 81-0.
Senior running back Chris Morris moved into second place in Wabash history with 3,145 yards rushing while freshman Aaron Lafitte set a new school freshman rushing record with 907 yards.
Wabash led 47-0 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half. Morris made his fifth start of the year and finished with 240 yards on 34 carries. It is worth noting, however, that 127 of those yards came after Wabash held a 54-0 lead.
The Little Giants amassed 611 yards of offense and did not punt. Even kicker Olmy Olmstead got into the scoring act, scoring on a two-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He also booted nine extra points.
Hiram's long season (1-8) continued. It is the fourth time a Hiram opponent has scored at least 59 points in a game this year.
The Terriers have no seniors on the roster and just a couple of juniors on the roster. Better days are ahead for head coach Mike Meyer and the program. They finish up 2003 at home against Earlham.
Plenty of 'O' at Olivet
A Hope press release described it as a "donnybrook." And without throwing a few wild haymakers, both host Olivet and Hope definitely got into a donnybrook Saturday as the Dutchmen clinched the MIAA title with a 56-37 win at Olivet.
Hope scored all seven times it entered the red zone as part of its 511-yard output. Quarterback Phil Butler completed 20 of 30 passes for 316 yards and six touchdowns against the Comets. Flanker Joe Verschueren caught three of the scoring passes while Scott Jeschke hauled in two.
Olivet (4-5, 0-5) threw just five passes in the game as the Comet offense ran for 361 yards on 59 carries.
At 7-2, Hope may be in position to host a first-round playoff game, provided that the Dutchmen get past Albion Saturday. Hope would love nothing more than for an opponent to have to deal with the cold Lake Michigan winds whipping into Holland Nov. 22.
They call them the (Blue) Streaks
With losses to Mount Union and Baldwin-Wallace, it is unlikely that John Carroll will get a Pool C bid. Still, the Blue Streaks have assembled another strong season in University Heights, Ohio.
John Carroll improved to 7-2 with a 14-0 win over Otterbein on Saturday, the Blue Streaks' third consecutive win. John Carroll held the Cardinals to just 184 total yards, including 59 through the air.
Defense has been the watchword for John Carroll as the Streaks have allowed just three first-half points over the past three weeks, 20 points total.
Saturday, John Carroll visits Capital in Bexley, Ohio with third place in the OAC at stake. Both teams are 6-2 in the OAC and 7-2 overall. The Crusaders notched a 42-21 win at Muskingum to set up Saturday's clash. To finish third in a league behind Mount Union and Baldwin-Wallace is an impressive feat, although both teams had playoff hopes prior to the season.
Two-point troubles
Missed two-point conversions in the final seconds effectively ended the Pool B hopes of both Carnegie Mellon and Westminster (Pa.) on Saturday. CMU (6-3, 2-1 UAA) lost at home to Washington U. 37-35, while Westminster lost at Thomas More 41-39.
Carnegie Mellon fullback Brad Stanley scored from the 1 with one second left to cut Washington's lead to 37-35. However, the two-point attempt failed, ending CMU's hopes for a University Athletic Association title.
In Crestview Hills, Ky., Westminster chewed up 620 yards but an apparent two-point catch by fullback Ryan Mitchell was ruled incomplete with three seconds left. Quarterback Joe Getsy threw for a school-record 409 yards on 26-for-43 passing while end Brian Ekis set school records with 13 catches and 221 yards receiving.
Scott Froelich added 206 yards rushing, his third 200-yard game of the season.
Sutton strikes again
Wooster tailback Tony Sutton picked up 270 yards rushing and five touchdowns as the Fighting Scots (7-2, 4-2) thumped Denison 59-3. Sutton highlighted his afternoon with an 83-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to help seal the victory. He is averaging 187.9 yards per game for his career, not just this season. Sutton also has 25 touchdowns this year, two shy of the NCAC single-season record.
Sam ain't no sham
Grove City senior quarterback Sam Mowrey closed his career by breaking the school's single-season passing touchdown record Saturday in the Wolverines' 29-14 upset of Kings Point (6-3). Mowrey threw a pair of touchdown strikes to junior split end Dave DiDonato as Grove City finished the season on a two-game win streak.
DiDonato finished the year with 10 touchdown catches, another school record.
Their 'A' game on offense
If you like offense, the MIAA is seemingly the conference for you. Adrian and Alma hooked up in another league shootout that featured 49 first downs, 958 yards, 522 rushing yards and 87 total points as Adrian stayed alive in the playoff race with a 45-42 win at Alma.
Adrian (8-1, 4-1) ran for 308 yards as Chris Clay gained 171 on just 18 carries. Derek Anderson added 91 on 16 attempts. Alma (5-4, 3-3) featured a communal attitude in the backfield as James Edington ran for 71 yards while quarterback Ryan Palmer had 70 yards and Jeremy Droptiny gained 67 rushing yards.
However, James Spencer's 35-yard field goal with 5:37 left in the game put Adrian up for good.
Game of the Week
Westminster (5-4, 3-1) at No. 21 Waynesburg (8-1, 4-0), Waynesburg, Pa.: The Presidents' Athletic Conference title is at stake at John Wiley Stadium Saturday. A Waynesburg win gives the Yellow Jackets their first-ever outright PAC title and would probably put them in the Division III playoffs. Westminster seeks a share of its first PAC title since joining the league fully in 2002. A Westminster win would also give Washington and Jefferson (8-1) part of the title. It is unlikely that both Waynesburg and W&J would earn Pool B bids, although both have strong cases. Waynesburg owns a 27-17 win over the Prexies back on Oct. 25. Waynesburg won 28-7 at Frostburg State last week while Washington and Jefferson won at Newport News Apprentice 41-0.
Other games of note
Wabash (6-3) at DePauw (5-4): The Monon Bell is at stake in Greencastle, Ind. These two longtime rivals meet for the 110th time. Tickets are sold out for the game, televised nationally on HDNet.
Earlham (1-8, 0-5) at Hiram (1-8, 0-5), Hiram, Ohio: One of these teams will earn its first NCAC win of the season in the season finale. It's been a tough year for both teams but one can go into the offseason on a positive note.
John Carroll (7-2, 6-2) at Capital (7-2, 6-2), Columbus, Ohio: The winner might have a chance at a Pool C bid, although there is no real track record of a third-place team getting invited to the playoffs. Still, one has to think that the OAC's third-best team is one of the top 28 in the country.
