/notables/2013/10/week7-top25-wrap

Top 25 wrap: Bethel wins, Wesley and Coe are upset

More news about: Bethel | Dubuque | Rowan

Tackle Jeff Schmidt celebrates Bethel's go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left in a win against St. Thomas.
Photo by Scott Pierson, d3photography.com

Marshall Klitzke dove into the end zone with 40 seconds left as No. 5 Bethel held off No. 9 St. Thomas 28-21. Klitzke ran for two touchdowns, with the game-winner coming after the Tommies were flagged for pass interference on third-and-six, while Erik Peterson was 20-for-29 passing with two scores. 

Jack Gilliland got the Tommies on the board with a 90-yard kickoff return to start the second half and Jack Kaiser scored on a pair of TD runs to give UST the lead. But Brandon Marquardt scored on a 27-yard run to cut the lead to one and Klitzke gave the Royals the lead in the final minute.

Frankie Goris caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from Bill McCarty with 3:03 left as Rowan upended No. 11 Wesley, 24-17. The Wolverines had a final chance to tie it, and QB Joe Callahan got Wesley to the 8-yard line before throwing his fourth interception -- this one picked by Rowan's Frank Ruopoli in the end zone -- with 14 seconds left.

Dominic Caruso had two interceptions for Rowan, returning one 62 yards for a touchdown, and the Profs won with McCarty replacing starting quarterback Paul Hammersma, who left in the third quarter with an injury. Wesley's loss will likely not only shake up the top 25 poll, but also the race for Pool B playoff spots, as they finish out their schedule against non-Division III teams and Alfred State.

Salisbury took the lead for good early in the third quarter and held on during a wild fourth quarter to hold off No. 19 St. John Fisher, 42-35. Joey Jones ran for four touchdowns and was one of five Sea Gulls to rush for more than 60 yards in the win. Tyler Fenti threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns but was picked off twice, one of which Salisbury converted into the go-ahead touchdown shortly after halftime. 

Bryan Bradshaw threw for five touchdowns and Dubuque rolled past No. 21 Coe 38-14. Tyler Rutenbeck caught three of them as part of a four-catch, 165-yard day. The Spartans' defense held Coe to just 88 passing yards.

Linfield clinched its 58th consecutive winning season, rolling over Whitworth 51-17. The No. 2-ranked Wildcats improved to 5-0 on a nine-game schedule. No. 17 Pacific Lutheran handed Pacific its first loss, edging the Boxers 17-16 on a 20-yard Nick Kaylor field goal with two seconds left. The third ranked team from the NWC, No. 22 Willamette, got six touchdown throws from Josh Dean in a 56-30 win over Lewis & Clark, while its defense intercepted three of Keith Welch's 73 passes.

Trevor Whitehead stiff-arms defender Matt Gaffney on the way to the end zone.
Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com 

John Kelly found Trevor Whitehead for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left in the game and No. 7 UW-Platteville avoided an upset, winning 24-23 at UW-Stevens Point. Whitehead finished with 11 catches for 161 yards and two TD in the win. The Pointers had taken a 23-17 lead with 8:42 left on a Mitch Beau touchdown run.

No. 8 UW-Oshkosh fell behind early but ran off 41 unanswered points to improve to 6-0 and drop UW-River Falls to 0-6. Cole Myhra rushed 27 times for 154 yards and four touchdowns, and was one of 13 Titans to have a carry in the 41-13 win. UW-Oshkosh remains in a three-way tie with UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater, which won on Friday night, atop the WIAC.

Cartel Brooks rushed for 339 yards and five touchdowns as No. 12 Heidelberg beat Otterbein 35-17 in the Rhine River Classic. Brooks had three touchdown runs longer than 20 yards, and had a 74-yard run that did not produce a score. Quarterback Kevin Burke passed for two touchdowns and ran for three more, plus 158 yards, in No. 1 Mount Union's 58-3 win against Capital. Also in the OAC, Muskingum managed a season-high nine points against the John Carroll defense but it wasn't nearly enough to take down the No. 20 Blue Streaks, who won, 41-9.

No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor overcame an early deficit with 28 straight points and the Cru held off a late Louisiana College comeback in a 45-34 victory over the Wildcats. Zach Anderson hrew for 359 yards in the win, while Easton Melancon threw for 419 yards and Ryan Montague rushed for 104 and had 135 receiving yards in the loss.

Fourth-ranked North Central racked up 35 points in the first half and coasted to a 42-0 win at North Park, owning a 542-200 advantage in total yards, forcing three turnovers and stopping four fourth-down conversion attempts. No. 13 Wheaton beat Elmhurst, 28-3, setting up a showdown of 6-0 teams next week in Bloomington, Ill., home of No. 23 Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans beat Carthage, 31-10, on Saturday.

No. 14 Franklin scored 42 points in the first 16:16 of a 67-7 win against Anderson. Grant Klembara, a former fifth-stringer, rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown in No. 16 Wabash's win 48-7 win against Kenyon. Reed Florence threw six touchdown passes in a 66-39 victory for No. 18 Wittenberg against Wooster.

No. 24 Concordia-Moorhead rushed for 7.1 yards a carry as a team, and 342 yards total, in a 63-7 win against Hamline. No. 25 St. John's held the ball for nearly 38 minutes as it beat Carleton, 23-13.

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
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