By Ryan Briggs
Grove City SID
Conference play began in the Ohio Athletic Conference and continued in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Meanwhile, North Coast Athletic Conference and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association teams continued final preparations for league play.
This past Saturday represented the 35th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's passing. Instead of going to Electric Ladyland, let's take a trip around the Great Lakes Region.
"Purple Haze"
Mount Union piled up 474 first-half yards and 42 points in 30 minutes Saturday night as the Purple Raiders handed John Carroll a 70-0 defeat at Don Shula Stadium in both teams' OAC opener.
Junior quarterback Mike Jorris set a school record with seven touchdown passes, five of which came in the first half. The seven touchdown passes breaks the record of six that was shared by former standouts Jim Ballard, Bill Borchert and Zac Bruney.
Jorris finished the night 24-of-27 for 421 yards, helping Mount Union set a new school record for single-game passing yardage with 507.
"The offensive line did a great job giving me time to throw and the receivers were running terrific routes and getting open," Jorris said. "I got in a pretty good rhythm and just kept trying to locate the open guys."
Mount Union finished the game with 687 total yards of offense. Cornerbacks Ross Watson and Cameron Rose each intercepted two passes to help spearhead the defense's shutout effort.
It is the Purple Raiders' 95th straight OAC win.
"Fire"
To say that Washington and Jefferson quarterback Chris Edwards was on fire would be the understatement of the week. The senior CoSIDA Academic All-American completed his first 21 pass attempts in the Presidents' 45-21 triumph over Allegheny (0-3) Saturday night at historic Cameron Stadium.
Edwards set a Division III record with those 21 straight completions. For the night, he completed 33 of 37 attempts for 419 yards and four touchdowns.
Jon Miller caught a pair of touchdowns for the Presidents while Tom McCafferty and this writer's favorite President tight end, Peter Briggs, also caught scoring passes from Edwards.
Defensively, Washington and Jefferson held the Gators to just 79 yards rushing on 27 attempts.
The victory gives Washington and Jefferson the edge in the all-time series, 21-20-1. Washington and Jefferson has won seven of the last eight meetings, though.
"Crosstown Traffic"
While one of the OAC's first-division teams rolled to a 70-0 laugher on the road, there were no giggles Saturday night for Capital. The Crusaders allowed a 14-2 lead to slip away at crosstown rival Otterbein as the host Cardinals pulled out a 17-14 win in the first game at the newly-refurbished Memorial Stadium.
Otterbein quarterback Paul Stelzer tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Lenhart with 23 seconds left to give Otterbein a 15-14 lead. Stelzer then ran in the two-point conversion.
Capital's fourth lost fumble of the night gave Otterbein possession with 1:33 left in the game. Otterbein needed just 70 seconds to cover the 43 yards on the game-winning drive.
Stelzer threw for 301 yards on 31-of-46 accuracy. Capital did sack Stelzer eight times, helping contribute to the Cardinals' net minus-21 yards rushing.
"If 6 Was 9"
Carnegie Mellon dropped a 9-6 decision to Johns Hopkins Saturday at Gesling Stadium as Ben Scott drilled a 24-yard field goal as time expired. Fullback Travis Sivek posted his second straight 100-yard outing, rushing for 117 yards on 31 carries.
Aaron Lewis led the CMU defense with 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops.
"Little Wing"
In a battle of wing-T vs. former Wing-T offenses, Ohio Wesleyan turned the tables on Olivet by earning a 21-7 victory over the Comets at Selby Field in Delaware, Ohio.
Last season, Olivet ran for a D-III record 670 rushing yards against the Battling Bishops. This year, Ohio Wesleyan held the Comets to just 60 yards on 36 carries. Ohio Wesleyan also forced nine punts and held Olivet to 2 of 16 on third-down conversions.
OWU quarterback Ryan Sir Louis threw a pair of short touchdown passes to Nick Rice. Sir Louis threw for 185 yards and ran for 76 yards.
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
Returns were not slight for Thomas More Saturday -- they were quite significant. Thomas More returned two Grove City fumbles for touchdowns in the Saints' 15-7 win over the Wolverines.
Terry Runion returned a botched lateral 40 yards for a score in the second quarter while Rashawn West extended the lead to 12-0 with a 15-yard recovery early in the third quarter.
Grove City sacked Thomas More quarterback Nate Berkley nine times and held the Saints to just 36 yards rushing. Strong safety Aaron Margo had three of the sacks, a career high.
"Manic Depression"
Wittenberg's rough start took another negative turn Saturday as host Alma rallied past the Tigers for a 38-27 victory. Alma scored 21 fourth-quarter points to erase Wittenberg's 20-17 lead.
Wittenberg (0-3) fell behind 17-0 early in the second quarter but eventually took a 20-17 lead late in the third period on Tristan Murray's 65-yard touchdown run. Murray finished with 112 yards rushing and also caught four passes for 99 yards.
However, Alma held a 9.5-minute edge in time of possession and executed 98 plays. Alma accumulated 224 yards of offense on its final three drives, all of which ended in touchdowns.
"Hey Joe"
DePauw harassed Hope quarterback Joe Schwander into a 9-for-38 performance Saturday as DePauw rolled to a surprisingly-lopsided 38-12 win in Holland, Mich.
DePauw raced to a 35-0 halftime lead and held a 529-248 edge in total offense. Schwander did throw two second-half touchdown passes.
Around the MIAA
Albion committed six turnovers and ran for -4 yards in a 27-13 home loss to Wisconsin-Oshkosh Saturday. ... Steve Wasil threw for 350 yards for the Britons. ... Mount St. Joseph handed Kalamazoo a 42-0 defeat. ... Kalamazoo allowed MSJ to convert 10 of 15 third-down situations. ... Trent Riddle returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown but Tri-State fell at home to MacMurray, 41-27. ... Riddle also ran for a one-yard touchdown. ... Mark Peterson caught four passes for 124 yards but Wisconsin Lutheran fell at Concordia Wisconsin, 40-13.
Around the NCAC
Steve Boxler led Hiram with 15 tackles in the Terriers' 38-7 home loss to Westminster (Pa.). ... Kenyon linebacker Andrew Fuchs recorded four sacks against Case Western Reserve but CWRU still pulled out a 19-8 victory. ... Russ Harbaugh's 256-yard, three-touchdown passing effort helped vault Wabash to a 23-7 win over Washington U. on Saturday. Wabash held Washington to just 46 rushing yards. ... One week after scoring 69 points against Manchester, Earlham managed just seven points in a 48-7 loss to Anderson. ... James Jewell moved from wide receiver to quarterback in place of the gimpy Justin Rummell. ... Jewell ran for a 9-yard touchdown.
Around the OAC
Marietta improved to 2-0 with a 46-21 win at Heidelberg. ... The Pioneers recorded a safety for the second straight week. ... Marietta ran for 313 yards as a team, led by Steven Wagner's 121-yard effort. ... All-America defensive end Jason Trusnik became Ohio Northern's all-time sacks leader with 32 in the Polar Bears' 30-17 win over Baldwin-Wallace. ... He had three sacks. ... ONU rallied from a 17-0 hole to capture the win in its home opener. ... Safety Jake Knipp returned an ONU fumble 50 yards for a touchdown to help Baldwin-Wallace jump out to the early lead. ... Barry Wulf earned his first win as Wilmington head coach as the Quakers topped Muskingum, 14-3. ... Marque Jones broke a scoreless tie by returning the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
Around the PAC
Waynesburg gave head coach Rick Shepas his first collegiate win as the Yellow Jackets topped Manchester, 28-7. ... Ryan Abels ran for 160 yards on 20 carries and moved into sixth place on Waynesburg's all-time rushing list with 2,126 yards. ... Sean Buggey accumulated 266 all-purpose yards and ran for three touchdowns Saturday in Westminster's 38-7 win at Hiram. ... Brett Myers completed 15 of 22 attempts in place of injured starter J.R. Barley. ... Bethany fell to 1-2 with a 29-26 loss at Defiance. ... Defiance's Gary Allen returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds left in the game. ... Bethany held a 21-9 edge in first downs and out-gained Defiance 330-157. ... Thiel blanked Bluffton, 42-0, as Steve Minton ran for three touchdowns.
Games of the Week
John Carroll at Marietta: The Pioneers look to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1972. ... John Carroll has never lost to the Pioneers. ... On the other hand, the Blue Streaks have never had to recover from a 70-point loss.
Earlham at Wabash: North Coast Athletic Conference play begins Saturday as the Little Giants host the Quakers in a clash of the NCAC's Indiana members. ... The winner obviously gets an early leg up on the rest of the league.
Bethany at Thiel: Thiel is averaging 40 points a game as part of its 2-0 start. Bethany is vastly improved. Bethany is looking to even its Presidents' Athletic Conference record at 1-1; it is Thiel's league opener.
