By Ryan Briggs
Grove City SID
Stadiums were dedicated. Seasons opened. Some streaks continued while others ended. The final week of fully non-conference football in the Great Lakes Region has set the table for what should be very interesting conference races this year.
Baldwin-Wallace showed that last year's 4-6 effort was just an aberration as the Jackets earned a 17-7 win at Augustana in a North Region tilt Saturday.
Thiel and Wabash both went undefeated in the regular season last year. That won't happen this year as each fell on the road in hard-fought contests, at Alfred and Franklin, respectively.
Oberlin and Heidelberg combined for 1,017 yards (nearly a kilometer for you metric fans) as Oberlin sent the Student Princes home with a 48-34 defeat, their 27th straight loss.
All of this and lots more in this edition of the Great Lakes Region Notebook.
End of an Era
Allegheny and Washington and Jefferson met for the final time in the foreseeable future Saturday night as the Presidents earned a 22-10 win at historic Cameron Stadium.
W&J ran for 298 yards while limiting Allegheny to just 33 yards rushing. The Presidents also owned a 2-to-1 edge in possession. Still, the game was not decided until Cory Walsh's 36-yard interception return for touchdown in the closing seconds.
"We stopped the run and we ran the ball down their throats," W&J head coach Mike Sirianni told highly respected (Washington) Observer-Reporter scribe Joe Tuscano after the game. "Our kids were tougher than their kids. Their seniors are 0-4 against us and they know that they can't beat us."
Those would definitely be classified as "fightin' words." Except that W&J and Allegheny won't be "fightin' " anytime soon. With W&J's PAC schedule expanding next year to include St. Vincent and Geneva -- coupled with Allegheny's entrance into the NCAC-UAA schedule agreement -- the teams will discontinue their series for at least the next few years.
Magnificent seven
Earlham quarterback Justin Rummell threw seven touchdown passes in the Quakers' 49-35 victory against Manchester Saturday. Rummell completed 30 of 39 attempts for 507 yards, helping Earlham amass 676 yards of offense.
Joe White pulled in 13 catches for 231 yards and four touchdowns while Chris Owens had seven catches for 198 yards.
This year's meeting seemed like a snoozer compared to Earlham's 69-62 win last year. Over the past three years, Rummell has thrown for 1,408 yards and 18 touchdowns. He's also scored two rushing touchdowns against Manchester in that span.
Strange Brew
Case Western Reserve linebacker Tom Brew recorded a pair of safeties Saturday night as the Spartans earned a 27-14 win at Denison in the first game played at the refurbished Deeds Field.
Brew sacked Denison quarterback Jordan Linck in the end zone twice during the first half, helping CWRU (2-0) rally from an early 7-0 hole. Brew had plenty of help defensively as the Spartans intercepted four passes.
Case Western's defensive performance overshadowed a solid effort by quarterback Dan Whalen. Whalen threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns for the undefeated Spartans.
Tartans two-For-two
Like their UAA archrivals in Cleveland, Carnegie Mellon improved to 2-0 Saturday with a road win. And like Case Western Reserve, the Tartans' win came at the expense of a team dedicating a renovated facility.
Carnegie Mellon ran for 360 yards on its way to a 28-0 win over host Grove City Saturday afternoon in the first game played on the CSTurf at Robert E. Thorn Field. Halfback Robert Gimson ran for 140 yards while fullback Travis Sivek ran for 129 yards for the Tartans.
Quarterback Kevin Mulkern completed 10 of 13 attempts, helping CMU own a 15-minute advantage in time of possession.
Sluggish performance
Adrian opened its new on-campus facility, Performance Stadium, Saturday night with a 10-0 loss to visiting Defiance. Defiance harassed the Bulldogs into five turnovers on its way to the shutout victory.
Performance Stadium features a 137-stall locker room, a 500-square foot scoreboard and among other things, a wet bar in the President's Suite.
More spoiled debuts
Waynesburg played its first home game on the renovated Jack Wiley Stadium on Saturday. And, in keeping with the tradition established by other Great Lakes Region teams, the Yellow Jackets came away on the short end. Visiting Wooster improved to 2-0 with a 31-10 win over Rick Shepas' charges.
Wooster broke open a tight game with 17 unanswered points in the third quarter. Greg Peltz caught an 18-yard pass from Justin Schafer while Joe Francescangeli added a 7-yard touchdown run. Wooster also held the Jackets to 0-for-13 inefficiency on third down.
Putting the 'O' In Oberlin
Oberlin amassed 597 yards and 31 first downs in its 48-34 home win over Heidelberg Saturday. Quarterback Greg Mangan set a new school record with 366 passing yards on 28-of-37 marksmanship.
Oberlin produced a 100-yard rusher (R.V. Carroll, 170 yards) and a pair of 100-yard receivers in Chris Schubert (125) and Cassius Harris (123). Surprisingly, neither team scored in the first quarter of this shootout.
Heidelberg quarterbacks Bryan Prorok and Steve West combined to complete 18 passes for 365 yards. The Berg piled up 420 total yards.
The game took an American League-esque four hours to complete as lighting delayed the game for an hour prior to the second-half kickoff.
Opposite ends
Thiel and Wabash had their regular season win streaks snapped Saturday in very different fashions. Thiel dropped a 14-0 bloodbath at two-time ECAC bowl qualifier Alfred while Wabash fell in overtime to Franklin, 45-38.
Thiel held Alfred to just 164 yards and nine first downs. However, Thiel garnered just 11 first downs and ran for just 56 yards on 30 attempts. Thiel also converted just two of 15 third-down attempts and committed four turnovers.
Wabash scored twice in the final 4:21 to force overtime but the Little Giants came up empty in the fifth period. Don Juan Brown's 1-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left sent the game to overtime.
Wabash wide receiver Geoff Walker hauled in 13 Dustin Huff passes, good for 175 yards and three touchdowns.
Is B-W back?
Baldwin-Wallace took the first step toward answering that inquiry Saturday with a 17-7 win at Augustana in Rock Island, Ill. Brandon Hedges sealed the victory with a 14-yard touchdown run with 3:40 left. Darren Cereshko's 22-yard interception return to the B-W 12 set up the clinching drive.
Baldwin-Wallace then stopped Augie on four plays from inside the 3 in the final minute to snuff out any hopes of a comeback.
Dream Weaver
Bethany head coach Tim Weaver earned his first win Saturday as the Bison rolled past visiting Hiram 42-7. Wide receiver T.J. Parker caught two touchdowns and ran for a third while Taylor McNeil returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Bethany accumulated 408 yards of offense on just 49 plays. The win snapped the Bison's 10-game losing streak.
Around the MIAA
It was a rough week for the MIAA as all six teams in action fell. Alma opened the season with a heartbreaking 32-31 home loss to Cornell. Cornell's Travion Hardman scored a two-point conversion with eight seconds left, giving Alma the loss. Joe Cline led Alma with 13 catches for 175 yards. ... Hope jumped to a 13-0 lead at Central but ultimately fell, 24-13. The Dutch had the ball for just 7:41 in the second half as their 13-3 halftime lead evaporated. ... Albion managed just 10 rushing yards in a 29-7 loss at Wheaton. Quarterback Blake Evans threw for 222 yards but the Britons fell in the first night game at Wheaton. ... Olivet also had a rough time running the ball, gaining just 37 yards on 23 attempts in a 21-6 loss to Illinois Wesleyan. ... Nathan Paul's 75-yard interception return for touchdown highlighted Wisconsin Lutheran's effort in a 48-7 loss to Dubuque in Milwaukee on Saturday. WLC had just 64 total yards of offense.
Around the NCAC
Wittenberg dropped to 0-2 with a 35-28 loss to I-AA non-scholarship power Dayton. Quarterback Aaron Huffman ran for 108 yards while halfback Tristan Murray had 104 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Wittenberg yielded 509 yards defensively, however. ... Ohio Wesleyan is also 0-2 after a 34-33 overtime loss at Catholic Saturday. The Bishops went for the win in overtime and quarterback Steve Hymes had his two-point pass deflected away from intended receiver Nick Rice. Hymes went 6-for-7 passing, including a pair of touchdown strikes. ... Alby Coombs ran for 107 yards and a touchdown but Kenyon lost at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Saturday night, 34-10, on the West Coast.
Around the OAC
Ohio Northern opened 2006 in fine fashion with a 28-14 win at Millikin. R.J. Meadows ran for 182 yards and three touchdowns to help lead the Polar Bears. Defensive end Jason Trusnik, injured for much of 2005, made his return Saturday and made three tackles for loss.
Games of the Week
Mount Union at Otterbein, 6:00 p.m.: Mount Union begins defense of the OAC title against rising power Otterbein. The host Cardinals will fire the first salvo towards Mount Union Saturday night.
Albion at Thiel, 1:30 p.m.: The defending PAC champions host the defending MIAA champs. Both teams are coming off tough road losses last week. A victory would be a real feather in the cap for Thiel in terms of possible Pool B consideration down the line.
UW-Eau Claire at Alma, 12 p.m.: Following Saturday's heartbreaker, the Scots will try to bounce back against an always-stout UW-Eau Claire squad. It will be a great tune-up for MIAA play for the Scots.
Thomas More at Grove City, 1:30 p.m.: Presidents' Athletic Conference play also begins Saturday as the Wolverines host Thomas More. It is the only PAC game on the schedule this week.
Next week, I plan to be back on the normal Monday schedule for this regional column. I thank all of you for your patience in waiting for this the past two weeks.
