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Morrisville State locked down Rowan in remaining
unbeaten in the NJAC. |
Rowan fumbled on its first snap of the game and committed three turnovers on the afternoon as Morrisville State made the Profs pay by beating them 41-21.
Trailing 14-7, Morrisville ran off three long touchdown drives to take a 34-21 lead early in the fourth quarter and tacked on a score late. Lemar Johnson was 17-for-31 passing and added 78 rushing yards in the win as the Mustangs overcame 144 yards in penalties.
It marks just the second time that Morrisville State has won three games in a season since becoming a four-year school.
Octavias McKoy ran for 372 yards and five touchdowns but Western Connecticut failed on three conversions and missed a field goal with one minute left as Massachusetts Maritime won a 54-53 shootout. Mike Stanton threw for 348 yards for the Buccaneers and Stefan Gustafson ran for 235 yards and four TDs in the win. The teams combined for 1,282 yards of total offense and Mass. Maritime broke 50 points for the third time in the past four games.
Rochester showed its savvy by replacing Merchant Marine -- which can't play because of the government shutdown -- on its schedule with Alfred State, a new-to-Division III team that had an open date. Then Dean Kennedy showed his skills, throwing an 80-yard touchdown pass in the first minute and accounting for four touchdowns overall as the Yellowjackets won, 38-13. Meantime, St. Lawrence (5-1) kept pace with Hobart at the top of the Liberty League by beating RPI, 20-13 behind three touchdown passes from Mike Lefflbine and a defense that held the Engineers' option offense under 200 rushing yards.
Millsaps remained unbeaten, but needed all 60 minutes to top former SCAC rival Trinity (Texas), 27-24. The Majors, now in the SAA, drove 10 plays in the final five minutes, winning on a 33-yard Beau Brady field goal with 12 seconds left. With the stage set for a repeat of the Miracle in Mississippi -- although the game was in San Antonio -- Trinity returned the kickoff 28 yards. In Arkansas, it took Zach Strittmatter's touchdown catch in the final minute, capping a 10-play, 83-yard drive, for Wash. U. to hold off Hendrix, 45-41. In Georgia, Maryville rushed for 297 yards and improved to 5-1 with a 45-37 win at LaGrange.
Hope scored three touchdowns in the first five minutes and poured it on to knock Olivet from the ranks of the unbeaten, 47-14. Hope scored on its opening drive, and Augie Mata took a punt back 60 yards for a score after the Comets' first possession. Then Olivet fumbled the following kickoff, and two plays later the Flying Dutchmen (4-2) scored again. Then when Olivet did get on the board later in the opening quarter, Hope blocked the kick and ran it back 98 yards for two points.
Rakim Jones rushed for 170 yards as Ithaca bounced back from a loss at Hartwick by beating Alfred, 17-6. That knocked the Saxons out of the group of teams unbeaten in Empire 8. Salisbury kept pace with St. John Fisher atop the conference with its 34-6 win over Buffalo State. The Bengals got on the board first with a 13-play scoring drive, but it was all Salisbury after that, as the Gulls rushed for 404 yards and allowed only 86 on the ground.
Buena Vista, which has played a ranked team in each of its first four games, was within three points of Wartburg in the fourth quarter but lost, 37-29. The Knights got more than 100 yards rushing from quarterback Taylor Jacobsmeier and running back Brandon Domeyer, and 133 yards receiving from Brandon Steggal to improve to 4-1. Simpson gained only 274 yards, but it won a defensive struggle with Central, 14-10. The Dutch gained just 217 yards themselves, and stalled on downs during its final three possessions.
St. John's (5-1) won for the fourth time this season by three points or fewer, topping Augsburg, 30-28. The Johnnies were outgained, 468-306, but recovered all five of the Auggies' fumbles and three of their six. St. John's was also penalized just once, for 2 yards. Hamline continued a resurgence with a 31-28 win against St. Olaf, while Carleton retained the Book of Knowledge by scoring five touchdowns of 25 yards or longer in a 56-17 win aganst Macalester.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Pawlowski was 5-for-5 for 103 yards and three TDs in the third quarter alone as Guilford turned a 21-0 halftime score into a 49-7 lead in defeating Shenandoah 56-29. The Quakers share the ODAC lead with Hampden-Sydney, which opened the game with Sidney Henry's 90-yard kickoff return and beat Bridgewater, 28-7, and Randolph-Macon.
Hendrix was stopped a yard short of its third win of its inaugural season as Washington U. held on to win in Arkansas 45-41. Washington U. took the 45-41 lead with 51 seconds left, but quarterback Tanner Frye led the Warriors down to the Wash U 35-yard line with 3.4 seconds left before a Hendrix timeout. Frye's Hail Mary was brought down at the 1 by freshman Spencer Smith, but defensive back Andrew Skalman tackled him there.
The battle of teams at the top of the MWC wasn't one at all, as Illinois College dominated Lake Forest, 55-7. The Blueboys outgained the Foresters 546-186, and Josh Gentile had 11 catches. Monmouth got three touchdown runs from Trey Yocum and two long Austin Peterson touchdown catches in a 65-3 win over Grinnell.
Although it took a full two hours, 44 minutes, the battle of the triple option ECFC contenders ended with homestanding Gallaudet defeating Norwich 30-22. Norwich got all the way down to the Gallaudet 2-yard line before a sack and fumble caused the clock to run out with the Cadets still outside the end zone.
Wesleyan improved to 4-0 by rushing for 250 yards in a 35-7 win over Bates. Amherst and Trinity (Conn.) each won to remain unbeaten atop the NESCAC as well. Across the country, Pacific blitzed Puget Sound, 56-14, behind five interceptions in improving to 5-0. Brent Peavy and the Texas Lutheran offense continued rolling, as the quarterback passed for 363 yards and the Bulldogs scored 35 points in the first half and improved to 4-0 by beating Austin, 45-12.
Barry Flynn had nine catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns as DePauw won its first game this season, beating Oberlin, 45-11. Thiel, which played four of its first five games on the road, got its first win of the season in front of its home fans, 30-3 against St. Vincent.
King's won the week after a win for the first time since 2008, beating FDU-Florham, 52-21. TCNJ won while scoring only seven points for the second time this season, winning 7-0 at Kean.
Rose-Hulman won for the fourth week in a row, beating Bluffton 34-26. The Engineers now have two weeks before they host HCAC favorite Franklin.