By Ryan Briggs
Grove City SID
Much like Joe Frazier-George Foreman or Michael Spinks-Mike Tyson, the heavyweight title clash in the OAC Saturday turned out to be a one-sided affair.
Mount Union peppered Ohio Northern with 21 first-half points, then delivered a 21-point knockout in third quarter on its way to a 49-7 win over the Polar Bears.
Fortunately for Great Lakes Region fans, several of the other highly anticipated matchups turned out to have much more drama.
Kyle Zabel's 47-yard field goal with two minutes left vaulted Olivet to a 13-10 home win over Adrian. Like Olivet, Hope is 2-0 in the MIAA after pulling out a wild 49-43 overtime win at Alma. Hope trailed 30-10 at the half.
Meanwhile, Washington & Jefferson used a late defensive stand to slip past host Thiel, 27-23, in a critical Presidents' Athletic Conference clash.
Purple reign
In 2005, visiting Ohio Northern handed Mount Union a 21-14 setback. Mount Union made sure that history did not repeat itself. Nate Kmic and Pierre Garcon both scored three touchdowns as the Purple Raiders rolled to a 49-7 victory.
Mount Union's passing attack has received plenty of well-deserved acclaim through the years. Saturday, the Mount Union defense and ground attack stepped to the forefront. The Purple Raiders, led by Kmic's 204-yard effort, ran for 325 yards.
Defensively, Mount Union limited the Polar Bears to eight first downs. Matt Kostelnik intercepted a pair of passes to help lead the MUC defense. In all, Mount Union turned four ONU turnovers into 21 points.
Hope springs eternal
Hope faced a 30-10 halftime deficit at Alma on Saturday. Most of the time, overcoming a 20-point hole on the road against a quality opponent is a near-impossible. Such rules of thumb are thrown out the window in the MIAA, though.
Hope scored 33 second-half points to force overtime, then pulled out a 49-43 win over the host Scots at Bahlke Field. Trailing 43-37 with 27 seconds left, Hope running back David Booko scored his fifth of six rushing touchdowns to tie the game. However, Chris Bowen's potential game-winning PAT missed the mark and the game proceeded into overtime.
In the extra period, Booko raced in from the 11 for the eventual game-winning score. Booko accumulated 207 yards and six touchdowns to help pace Hope, which had 24 first downs and 420 total yards.
Alma's Josh Brehm fired the rock 62 times, completing 37 of those attempts for 393 yards. Brehm set an NCAA record with 233 straight attempts without throwing an interception. He also went over the 10,000-yard mark for total offense in his career.
Joe Cline caught 17 passes for 186 yards, including three of Brehm's five touchdown passes.
Missed conversions in regulation also factored into Saturday's game. Alma missed two PAT kicks and also failed on one two-point attempt. Hope missed one kick and one two-point attempt.
Presidential pardon
Washington & Jefferson took advantage of two Thiel turnovers in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 27-23 win over the host Tomcats in PAC action.
Kyle Sidebotham booted a pair of field goals in the final seven minutes for W&J, which has won four straight. W&J trailed 23-14 with 10 minutes left but Bobby Swallow tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tom McCafferty, slashing the lead to 23-21. McCafferty caught seven passes for 89 yards.
Still, W&J had to hold off Thiel's final drive. Thiel drove 64 yards to the Presidents' 10 but Billy Blankenship's pass to Mark LaScola on fourth-and-goal fell incomplete.
W&J defensive end Dan Brodland paced the W&J defense with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. LaScola caught a game-high 10 passes from Blankenship.
Air raid
Allegheny quarterback Jimmy Savage threw for a school-record 400 yards and four touchdowns at Wabash Saturday. Yet, Wabash withstood that assault and held on for a 41-27 victory over the Gators in a critical midseason clash.
While Savage kept Allegheny close, Wabash quarterback Dustin Huff one-upped his counterpart by throwing five touchdown passes. Four of those scoring strikes went to big-play receiver Mike Russell, who had six total catches.
Wabash, winner of 11 consecutive league games, led 35-7 early in the second half. Savage threw a pair of third quarter touchdown passes to Jake Vite, though, slashing the lead to 35-21. Savage's final touchdown pass of the day, a 16-yarder to Mario Tarquinio, closed the gap to 35-27.
Vite caught eight passes, including three touchdowns. Allegheny ends Dallas Robinson and Jim Lieb both had 10 receptions. The Gators piled up 30 first downs in defeat.
Rocky road
Capital quarterback Rocky Pentello became the OAC's all-time leading passer as the Crusaders rallied for a 24-21 win at John Carroll. Pentello now has 10,403 career yards, surpassing JCU alum Tom Arth, who threw for 10,345 yards from 1999-2002.
Pentello threw for 263 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Kelly with 58 seconds left in the game.
It is Capital's first win in University Heights since 1978. The Crusaders own the OAC's longest current winning streak, having won 11 consecutive league games.
Summer of 69
After four straight road games to open the season, Kenyon made its debut at McBride Field a successful -- and record-breaking -- one Saturday. The Lords racked up 537 yards and 29 first downs en route to a 69-34 Homecoming win over Hiram. It is Kenyon's fifth straight NCAC win.
The Lords set records on both sides of the ball. The 69 points are a school record, as is Kenyon's total of 10 quarterback sacks. David Cicetti racked up three of the 10 sacks while both of Gabe Martinez's tackles in the win were quarterback sacks.
Offensively, standout running back Alby Coombs became Kenyon's all-time leading scorer with 224 career points. Coombs ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Lords ran for 305 yards.
Hiram's Greg Kibler hauled in eight catches for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Trevor Henderson absorbed eight sacks for the Terriers. He threw for 230 yards and four touchdowns.
Rea of sunshine
Kalamazoo allowed a 21-0 lead over visiting Tri-State to evaporate. Yet, Kalamazoo kicker Jon Rea helped rescue the hosts with a pair of late field goals in a 33-30 double-overtime win.
Rea kicked a 47-yard field goal with eight seconds left to tie the game at 30-all. In overtime, Rea's 20-yard field goal put the Hornets ahead to stay. It was Rea's fourth field goal of the day.
Kalamazoo jumped out to an early lead as Shane Nolan returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Tri-State began its comeback late in the second quarter as Tab McNally returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown.
Awesome Olivet
Olivet improved to 2-0 in the MIAA with a 13-10 win over preseason MIAA favorite Adrian at the Cutler Athletic Complex Saturday. Kyle Zabel's 47-yard field goal with 2;05 left gave the Comets their second league win in as many weeks.
Olivet limited Adrian to just a dozen first downs and 74 rushing yards. The Comets also harassed Adrian quarterback Andy Denryter into a 19-of-43 effort. Denryter did throw for 204 yards and a touchdown to Chester Evans late in the first half.
Around the MIAA
Albion improved to 3-2 overall with a 38-7 win at Wisconsin Lutheran Saturday. Quarterback Jake Wilson completed 15 of 21 passes for 228 yards and three scores. Wisconsin Lutheran (0-5, 0-2) received 83 rushing yards and 59 receiving yards from running back Matt Kehl.
Around the NCAC
Oberlin erased a 7-0 halftime deficit against visiting Denison to earn an 18-7 win at Dill Field. Cassius Harris caught five passes for 154 yards and a touchdown while LaKristopher Devant sealed the win for the Yeomen with a 67-yard interception return for touchdown. Oberlin is 3-2 for the first time in 17 years ... Andy Vanover's three touchdowns helped propel Wittenberg to a 28-14 win over Earlham. The Tigers have won three straight after an 0-2 start ... Wooster senior quarterback Justin Schafer threw for 215 yards in the Scots' 24-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan. The Bishops fell to 0-6.
Around the OAC
Chad Otte intercepted a pair of passes while frosh quarterback Billy Blackburn threw for 224 yards and three touchdowns as Wilmington rolled past host Otterbein, 38-7. It is the Quakers' second straight victory ... Jason Vrable became Marietta's all-time leading passer in the Pioneers' 30-10 win over Muskingum. Vrable threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns and now has 5,024 career yards ... Brandon Hedges ran for four touchdowns to help lift Baldwin-Wallace to a 36-10 home win over Heidelberg.
Around the PAC
Monty Collier's 142 yards and three touchdowns helped lead Thomas More to a 42-14 win over host Westminster. TMC led 33-7 at halftime and did not punt all day. The Saints converted 8 of 11 third downs ... Bethany earned its first PAC victory since 2002, pulling out a 34-28 win over visiting Grove City. Bison quarterback Brent Owens threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third.
Games of the Week
Wabash at Wittenberg, 1:00 p.m.: Two of the NCAC's four unbeaten teams square off in Springfield. Wabash and Wittenberg have combined to win six of the last eight conference titles. The winner will have an obvious inside track to the conference total.
Capital at Ohio Northern, 1:30 p.m.: Ohio Northern will try to bounce back from a disappointing loss at Mount Union. Having to face a 5-0 Capital team isn't exactly the tonic a team in ONU's situation would be looking for. Still, ONU has playoff aspirations and a win Saturday would go a long way towards reaching that goal.
Olivet at Albion, 1:00 p.m.: Olivet looks to stay unbeaten in the MIAA as it heads to Albion. The Britons were the only team to win by double-digits in the MIAA last week.
Carnegie Mellon at Case Western, 12:00 p.m.: Undefeated CMU opens UAA play against 3-2 Case Western in the annual Academic Bowl in Cleveland. How good is CMU? I think the Tartans are a very solid team that could very easily contend for a Pool B berth.
Thiel at Grove City, 2:00 p.m.: The 23rd annual clash for the Mercer County Cup will be held at Robert E. Thorn Field Saturday. Grove City owns a 14-8 edge in the Cup series but Thiel has won two straight Cup games. It's also Homecoming at Grove City and the five-year reunion for a certain D3football.com regional columnist.
