The following nouns would not be associated with Week Ten of the 2005 season in the Great Lakes Region: balance, parity, competitiveness. 

Week 10 featured several big matchups that turned out to be big disappointments. Albion took control of the MIAA with a 66-27 win over Alma. Wittenberg bombed Wooster 45-0. Wabash wrapped up the NCAC with a 52-0 win over Denison. Mount Union clinched the OAC's automatic bid with a 45-0 win over Muskingum. Even Allegheny got into the fun, rolling up a 41-0 win over Earlham.

Although Week 10 wasn't a week to remember generally, there were several noteworthy efforts that should be remembered and recognized. A handful of region teams closed their seasons Saturday, so best wishes to the seniors who are moving on.

Most teams will wrap up the season this Saturday, except for the select few who advance into the NCAA Playoffs. Here's a look back at the penultimate week of Great Lakes action:

Emotional game
The 2005 season has been the proverbial emotional roller-coaster for Ohio Northern this season. As loyal readers know, the Polar Bears were slapped with a postseason ban as part of NCAA-imposed probation due to violations earlier this decade. ONU compounded that with a 50-25 loss to John Carroll but bounced back a few weeks later and ended Mount Union's 11-year OAC winning streak, 21-14.

With the OAC title and a playoff berth in sight, the Polar Bears then suffered a last-minute 16-14 home loss to Capital. Four days later, assistant coach Ron Bendekovic passed away suddenly at age 34. 

All of those emotions culminated Saturday on Senior Day at Dial-Roberson Stadium as Ohio Northern hosted Wilmington. The Polar Bears scored on the first play of the game and never looked back on their way to a 63-0 triumph. 

"It was an extremely difficult week, with the tragedy regarding Coach Bendekovic," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "He was a very likeable guy and had a huge impact on our lives. We were also coming off a difficult loss last week to Capital.

"I was so proud of the way we responded. We had some big plays right out of the gate and maintained that emotion all day."

Derek Garrod scored on the first play of the game for ONU as he raced 79 yards on an option pitch for a touchdown. He ran for three touchdowns and caught a fourth score while quarterback Adam Quirk threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns on 13 of 16 accuracy.

Rusty Midlam tied the OAC's career interception mark (at that time) with his 21st collegiate pick in the rout. The Polar Bears held a 654-197 edge in total offense. Ohio Northern improved to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the OAC. Of course, there is now a nice little logjam at 6-2 in the OAC because ...

Protect this Hausler
Capital safety Kyle Hausler intercepted three passes and returned one for a touchdown Saturday as the Crusaders downed visiting John Carroll, 19-7. Both Capital and John Carroll are now 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the OAC, helping form that logjam with Ohio Northern.

Hausler now owns the OAC record for career interceptions, taking away Midlam's share of the title (for now) as Hausler has 23 career picks. He intercepted a Doug Phillips pass and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game. As a team, Capital intercepted Phillips four times.

Hometown hero Colin O'Reilly, a Bexley High grad, carried the ball a career-high 35 times for 117 yards for Capital -- his fifth straight 100-yard game. 

Most folks, this writer included, have assumed that the OAC runner-up would get a Pool C bid this year, especially with the field expanded to 32. That thinking might be errant now, however, with three teams tied for second. Capital has the head-to-head edge over both teams. And John Carroll beat Ohio Northern. But, Ohio Northern beat Mount Union and that will definitely help the Polar Bears' strength of schedule. Plus, the sheer fact of winning at Mount Union has to count for something, doesn't it?

It could come down to each team's non-conference win emerging as a tiebreaker. Capital crushed Wittenberg (5-4) in the opener while Ohio Northern rolled past Westminster (4-5), 48-3. John Carroll rolled Hope (4-5), 38-13. This is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Michigan Madness
The MIAA race remains up in the air entering the final week. According to my math (and I trust it), four teams have a shot at earning the league's automatic qualifier. Albion currently leads the league with a 5-1 record. The Britons will win the outright title Saturday with a win at Olivet. However, four teams are tied for second at 4-2. A four-way tie for first at 5-2 is very possible. The MIAA hasn't published anything yet concerning this scenario or any other tiebreakers, but here is what I have figured:

 Olivet (4-2) defeats Albion; Hope (4-2) defeats Alma (4-2); Wisconsin Lutheran defeats Adrian (4-2) -- Olivet would get the automatic berth based on wins over Hope and Albion. 
 Same scenario, except Adrian wins -- Adrian would get the automatic berth. In four-way tie between Albion, Adrian, Hope and Olivet, Adrian and Olivet would be 2-1 against the others. Adrian defeated Olivet in head-to-head meeting.
 Olivet defeats Albion; Alma defeats Hope; Wisconsin Lutheran defeats Adrian -- Alma gets the automatic bid. Alma, Albion and Olivet would all be 5-2 and 1-1 against each other. Hope and Adrian would both be 4-3 but Hope would get fourth, based on head-to-head win. The three 5-2 teams all beat Hope. However, Alma beat Adrian, whereas Albion and Olivet lost to Adrian. Keep in mind that I have no official confirmation on this.
 Same scenario but Adrian wins -- Alma still gets the bid. In a four-way tie at 5-2, Alma and Adrian are both 2-1 whereas Olivet and Albion are 1-2 in the head-to-head matchups. Alma, of course, beat Adrian, so the Scots would theoretically get the bid. 

These are just my projections as to how the tie would be broken. It seems logical but I cannot find any official MIAA documentation to the contrary. If Albion wins at Olivet, all of this becomes moot. 

Of course, last week's MIAA action set up this week's potential chaos. Albion handed visiting Alma a 66-27 defeat as quarterback Steve Wasil threw for a school-record 412 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for a sixth touchdown as the Britons accumulated 645 total yards. 

Albion raced out to a 28-7 lead in the first quarter and put the game away with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Alma's "Scot-gun" did pile up 406 passing yards as quarterback Josh Brehm completed 31 of 42 attempts. But Alma could never recover from Albion's fast start.

Wabash wraps it up
Wabash clinched the NCAC with a 52-0 home win over Denison (5-4, 3-3) Saturday. The Little Giants, ranked first in the North Region, improved to 9-0 overall. 

Wabash charged to a 35-0 second-quarter lead on its way to clinching the program's second NCAC title. A balanced ground game helped spearhead Wabash's victorious effort. Brandon Roop ran for 83 yards and two scores on 12 carries while Don Juan Brown added 80 yards on 10 attempts. Chris Ogden ran for 66 yards on 13 carries.

But the big story turned out to be quarterback Russ Harbaugh. Harbaugh completed 19 of 20 passes (an NCAC-record 95% completion rate) for 317 yards and three touchdowns. Geoff Walker caught two touchdown passes while Eric Summers had six catches for 120 yards. 

Wabash finished the day with 646 yards of offense and a 33-9 edge in first downs. Not surprisingly, Wabash held a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession. 

Pioneer spirit
Marietta (5-4, 4-4) clinched at least a .500 season and rang the death knell to Baldwin-Wallace's string of 38 consecutive seasons of .500 or better with a come-from-behind 32-31 win at B-W (3-6, 2-6) Saturday. (B-W also had a streak of 38 consecutive winning seasons, the demise of which was already clinched.)

Jason Vrable's 11-yard touchdown pass to Nic North on fourth-and-goal with 51 seconds left tied the game at 31 while Nick Manson's extra point put the Pioneers ahead to stay.

Marietta trailed 31-13 with 11 minutes left but rallied for the victory. Vrable's one-yard touchdown run with 7:57 left cut the lead to 31-19. Four minutes later, Vrable tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jason Curry. That capped a 13-play, 92-yard drive.

Vrable finished the day 32 of 52 for 305 yards. He also ran for 49 yards. Baldwin-Wallace did record two safeties in the first half, one on a sack of Vrable in the end zone; the other on a bad punt snap.

Down to the wire
Westminster backup quarterback Brett Myers tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brett Ziegler with 16 seconds left, giving Westminster a 14-13 win over Grove City in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Memorial Field in New Wilmington, Pa. Saturday.

Grove City took a 13-7 lead in the third quarter as D3Football.com Preseason All-American Ross Trimmer returned a Westminster fumble 42 yards for a touchdown. The extra point failed, though, and that would prove pivotal.

Ziegler caught a 43-yard pass from starting quarterback J.R. Barley in the second quarter to put the Titans up, 7-0. Grove City was gunning for its first win over Westminster since 1979. The teams did not play from 1984 through 1999. 

Kentucky Colonels, er, Presidents
Washington and Jefferson made its first-ever trip to Thomas More and earned a 32-14 victory over the PAC newcomers. More importantly, the Presidents closed the regular season 9-1 and would appear to be in good shape to earn a playoff berth.

Senior quarterback Chris Edwards threw for 373 yards and four touchdowns in helping Washington and Jefferson rally from an early 14-6 deficit. The Presidents piled up 503 yards of offense, 14 below their usual output.

Thomas More linebacker Mark Carlisle was officially credited with 20 tackles in defeat. Of those 20 tackles, 13 came on plays in which three defenders were given credit for tackles, contrary to NCAA statistical guidelines. Still, Carlisle had a very active day defensively. 

High octane at Hiram
Kenyon and Hiram combined for 976 yards of offense Saturday in the Lords' 41-38 win over Hiram in NCAC play. Kenyon jumped out to a 21-0 lead only to see Hiram rally in the second half. Trevor Henderson's 25-yard touchdown pass to Max Kravitz gave Hiram a 38-34 lead with 9:14 left.

However, Kenyon quarterback Rafael Sanchez scored on a 16-yard touchdown run with 6:22 left, putting the Lords back on top to stay.

Henderson, a freshman, threw for 428 yards on 34 of 50 passing. He threw two touchdown passes and also ran for three more scores. Kravitz hauled in a dozen passes for 184 yards while Sean Hardy had 10 receptions for 131. 

For Kenyon, Sanchez ran for 174 yards and two touchdowns while Javier Arbolaez ran for 171 yards and two scores. 

At 5-4, Kenyon is gunning for its first winning season since 1990. Hiram fell to 1-8, but it is obvious that the Terriers are making big strides under second-year head coach Mike Lazusky. 

Around the MIAA
Olivet stayed alive in the MIAA by forcing five turnovers in a 28-14 win at Wisconsin Lutheran. The Comets intercepted four passes. Offensively, Travis Sleight carried the mail 31 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns ... Hope scored 28 fourth-quarter points to earn a 42-10 win at Tri-State. Hope's David Booko ran for 112 yards while quarterback Joe Schwander added 111 yards. Doug VanErden closed the game by returning an onside kick 45 yards for a touchdown ... Adrian rolled to a 42-10 home win over Kalamazoo as Randy Hutchison threw three first-half touchdown passes. 

Around the NCAC
Allegheny improved to 2-7 with a 41-0 win over Earlham. The Gators have outscored their opponents, 216-197, this season ... Wittenberg scored 21 points in the first 12 minutes on its way to a 45-0 win over visiting Wooster. Tristan Murray ran for 174 yards on 17 carries for the Tigers. Wittenberg recorded six sacks, forced three turnovers and held the Fighting Scots to just 23 yards rushing ... Ohio Wesleyan improved to 6-3 with a 24-14 victory over Oberlin. Quarterback Ryan Sir Louis returned to the Bishops' lineup and threw for 152 yards and two scores. 

Around the OAC
Mike Jorris threw for 370 yards on 25 of 30 accuracy in Mount Union's 45-0 win over Muskingum. Tight end Anthony Antonucci posted a career-high seven grabs for 115 yards. The Purple Raiders have won 55 straight games on the road ... Otterbein claimed the coveted Rhine River Cup with a 65-35 win over Heidelberg. Otterbein clinched its first winning season since 1999. Wide receiver Ricardo Lenhart became Otterbein's all-time leader in receiving yards (2,488) as he caught 10 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns ... Bryan Porok threw for 274 yards and four touchdown passes for the Student Princes.

Around the PAC
Bethany fell behind 23-0 against Carnegie Mellon before pulling to within 23-15. However, the game Bison fell, 30-15, finishing the season 1-9. T.J. Parker set a new Bethany record with his ninth touchdown catch of the season ... Thiel remained undefeated at 9-0 with a 21-3 home win over Buffalo State. Brandon Chambers caught seven passes for 167 yards for the Tomcats, who will look to finish the season 10-0 at CMU Saturday ... Waynesburg suffered another tough, close loss, losing in overtime at Frostburg State, 17-10. This year, the Yellow Jackets have lost on the road at Denison (21-17), Thomas More (13-7), Grove City (7-6) and now Frostburg.

Games of the Week
Wabash at DePauw (Monon Bell Game): Wabash is in the playoffs. DePauw is currently 7-1 and is fighting for a playoff spot. Of course, these teams could both be 0-9 and it would be a crazed atmosphere! Wabash would love to keep DePauw out of the playoffs while the Tigers would be thrilled to take another step towards the postseason, along with ending Wabash's hopes of a 10-0 season.

Thomas More at Mount St. Joseph (Bridge Bowl): MSJ is in the playoffs as Heartland Conference champion while Thomas More will clinch a winning season with a victory. 

Westminster (Pa.) at Waynesburg (So-Called "Benedict Arnold Bowl"): At least that's the term that one regional sports writer used in describing this game. Westminster head coach Jeff Hand coached at Waynesburg for four years before moving north to PAC rival Westminster in the offseason. Waynesburg is extremely difficult to defeat at home and new Jackets' head coach Rick Shepas will certainly have the home team stoked. 

Albion at Olivet: Albion wins and they're in the playoffs. Albion loses and they're probably out. Olivet spoiled Albion's postseason hopes last season in the season finale, 58-35, at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. Will lightning strike twice for the Comets, who are seeking their first MIAA title since 1974?