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| Justin Edwards picked up two touchdowns for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a win at Chicago. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics file photo |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps went a long way for a W, while Mount St. Joseph repeated its season-opening win against Baldwin Wallace, Wabash edged Hampden-Sydney in another Gentleman's Classic and Elmhurst snapped its double-digit losing streak. They were just a few of the unranked teams who got their season off to a great start in Week 1.
Baldwin Wallace had no answers for Josh Taylor and the visiting Mount St. Joseph offense as the Lions open their season with a 46-33 win in Berea. Taylor threw for 428 yards and six touchdowns against the Yellow Jacket defense. Joey Newton bookended the Lions’ scoring with touchdown catches of 58 and 60 yards as part of his 6 catch, 147 yard day.
Preseason SCIAC favorite Claremont-Mudd-Scripps collected a lot of flyer miles and a 24-15 win at Chicago. Justin Edwards tallied two touchdowns and 91 yards on 22 carries for the Stags. Anderson Cynkar’s 77-yard touchdown reception from Walter Kuhlenkamp late in the third quarter capped the Stags' scoring at Stagg Field. CMS took the lead right before halftime as an Edwards touchdown run capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive with 1:27 left in the half.
Winless in their last 15 games, Elmhust started the Mike Murray era off with a streak-snapping win, knocking off Adrian 14-3 at Langhorst. Elmhurst gained just 204 yards of offense, but forced five Bulldog turnovers to keep the visitors out of the endzone in the contest. Bryce Gable opened the scoring for the Bluejays with a 54 yard interception return for a touchdown.
The fourth installment of the Gentlemen’s Classic ended as the first three have, with a Wabash victory over Hampden-Sydney. The Little Giants pulled out a 29-28 win in Farmville after Liam Thompson connected with Derek Allen, Jr. for a 16 yard touchdown with 1:59 to play. The Little Giants went to the bag of tricks for a two-point conversion with wide receiver Jacob Riddle completing a pass to Thompson for the game winning points. Carter Sido rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns and also threw for 153 yards and one more touchdown for the Tigers. Jake Pasch forced a fumble to set up the game-winning drive.
King's reclaims the Mayor's Cup, as the Monarchs scored with just two seconds left in the game to get past Wilkes-Barre archrival Wilkes, 27-23. Wilkes dropped King's in the 2022 season finale to take the rivalry trophy and keep King's from having a chance at the playoffs, and with Wilkes moving to the Landmark Conference, the trophy game moves from Week 11 to Week 1. Russell Minor-Shaw threw for 260 yards, including the game-winning touchdown to Ryan McCombs from 6 yards out.
The Pynchon SAW went back home with Springfield as the Pride defeated crosstown rival Western New England 28-14. The two Springfield, Massachusetts, schools have competed for this trophy for the past 10 seasons. The name comes from that of city founder William Pynchon. Springfield outgained WNE by a 491-275 margin on offense and dominated the time of possession as it had the ball for nearly 38 minutes. Jacob Silvester's first start saw him throw for an unexpected total of 160 yards for the triple option team, as he completed three of his four passes.
Castleton rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to knock off Plymouth State 25-21 in front of 3,106 fans in Castleton. Castleton took over at its own 34-yard line with 4:40 left, facing a three-point deficit. Christian Keeling fauled in a pass for 19 yards and took a handoff for 18 morre to get into Panthers territory and two carries by Devin Wallner got the Spartans into the red zone. A 16-yard completion from Evan Smith to Jackson Brand pushed the ball down to the Plymouth State 2-yard line inside the two-minute mark. Smith then turned around and handed off to Wollner, who bounced off left tackle and into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown and a 25-21 lead with 1:38 to play.
Alfred State again struck a blow for the ECFC against the MAC as the Pioneers defeated Misericordia for the second season in a row, winning 24-14. Justin Horvath connected with Jazir Francois for two touchdowns on the afternoon and Rylie Van Fleet had a key interception.