Top 25: HSU, UWW, Trinity among winners

Sep 09, 2023

Hardin-Simmons picked up a big road win at UW-La Crosse.
Photo by Wade D. Gardner, d3photography.com | More photos from this game

Hardin-Simmons picked up a huge road win, Ithaca rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, UW-Whitewater rolled up a big win on St. John's and Wheaton got its season started with a big win in Saturday's action in the D3football.com Top 25. Meanwhile, No. 5 Trinity exorcised its demons against Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Cade Michna intercepted UW-La Crosse quarterback Keyser Helterbrand at midfield with about 40 seconds left and the No. 6 Hardin-Simmons Cowboys held on to win 28-21 at No. 11 UW-La Crosse. It was the second big defensive play in the closing minutes for the Cowboys (2-0), after they had stripped Helterbrand of the at inside the 5-yard line as the Eagles quarterback was fighting for extra yardage with the help of his offensive line. The Cowboys took advantage of four takeaways in the win. Hardin-Simmons totaled 427 yards of offense, including 229 rushing and 198 passing. The Cowboys were six-of-12 on third-down and also converted their only fourth-down attempt. The Cowboys were 3-for-3 in the red-zone.

Trinity improved to 1-1, putting Mary Hardin-Baylor away with a big fourth-quarter drive and defeating the Cru 35-16. UMHB is 0-2 for the first time since 1999. The Cru scored twice in the second quarter to cut a 21-7 deficit to 21-16 at the half, but Trinity held them scoreless in the second half. Leading 21-16, the Tigers came up empty on six snaps from inside the 5-yard line, including three incomplete passes on goal-to-go from the 2, followed by a missed field goal attempt off the right upright by Eli Gehman from 19 yards out. The Cru was unable to answer, and had a punt blocked. One play later Tucker Horn hit Caleb Crawford for a 14-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 28-16.

In the fourth quarter, John Kohl McAdams sacked UMHB quarterback Isaac Phe on third down, forcing a punt. And Trinity went to work, taking over the ball with 7:41 left on their own 15. And from there, the Tigers ran the ball 12 times in a 13-play drive, going 85 yards, capped by a Winston Hutchison touchdown with 54 seconds to play. Horn finished 18-for-29 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, while Trinity ran for 213 yards on 43 carries.

No. 14 Johns Hopkins got a late defensive stand to thwart a fourth-quarter rally by visiting Christopher Newport as the Blue Jays slipped past the Captains, 20-14. JHU (2-0) appeared to be in control after Bay Harvey hit Will Leger in the back of the end zone to give Hopkins a 20-7 lead midway through the third quarter, but they would need two fourth-quarter stops in their own territory to secure the victory. The Captains answered Leger's touchdown with an 18-play, 62-yard drive that took them down to the Blue Jay 1-yard line, but a pair of stops from the one and an unsportsmanlike penalty on CNU eventually led to a fourth-and-goal from the 10 and a pass over the middle fell incomplete to end the threat.

Endicott put together an 18-play, 95-yard drive as Clayton Marengi hit Markys Bridgewater for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put Endicott up 17-7 with under 14 minutes to play. Bridgewater made two defenders miss in space. But that's when the comeback began. Ithaca quarterback A.J. Wingfield converted a third-and-22 pass to Sam Kline to keep the next drive alive. A pass interference penalty put Ithaca on the 2, where Wingfield ran it in to cut the lead to 17-13. D3football.com first team All-Region defensive end Hector Johnson blocked the extra point to keep it 17-13.

Mike Blanchard got a big tackle for loss for Ithaca to force an Endicott punt, and the Wingfield-Kline connection struck again, with a 30-yard TD pass to put the Bombers ahead 20-17 with 2:06 to play. Endicott got the ball back down to the Ithaca 31, where Ryan Smith had a 49-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game, but it went wide right and Ithaca held on for the win.

St. John's had a magical second quarter, but UW-Whitewater pounded away at the Johnnies in the second half, outscoring SJU 35-7 after halftime as the No. 8 Warhawks doubled up the No. 4 Johnnies 56-28. After Alec Ogden exited the game with a shoulder injury, the Warhawks (2-0) turned to their backup, Jason Ceniti, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while Tamir Thomas averaged 10.5 yards a carry in rushing for 179 yards and three touchdowns. UWW held St. John's to 38 yards on the ground, while Aaron Syverson completed 27 of 45 passes, but for just 261 yards in the loss.

Ben Thorson had a fine day in his first career start at quarterback as No. 13 Wheaton defeated No. 19 UW-Oshkosh 30-21. He threw for 254 yards on the afternoon, while Giovanni Weeks ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and Cristian Carstens added 99 yards and two scores for the Thunder. Max Wilson picked off UW-Oshkosh quarterback Kobe Berghammer twice in the victory.

No. 3 Wartburg improved to 2-0, holding No. 16 Bethel to only a defensive two-point conversion on the afternoon as the Knights defeated the Royals 16-2. After Nile McLaughlin hit Thor Maakestad for a 12-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, Nate Farm returned the blocked extra point attempt for a defensive score, making the game 6-2. But Bethel never scored again, and McLaughlin hit Drake George for a 52-yard score late in the third to help put the game away. Bethel got no closer than the Wartburg 36-yard line on the afternoon. Two Bethel quarterbacks combined to complete 20 of 29 passes, but managed just 118 yards on those 29 attempts.

Christian Colasurdo kicked two field goals, the last a 19-yarder with two seconds left in the game to lift No. 22 Susquehanna to a 6-5 win at Brockport. Colasurdo got the call after River Hawks quarterback Josh Ehrlich found Kyle Howes downfield for a 49-yard gain down to the 1-yard line in the closing seconds. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 3-3 before Brockport blocked a Susquehanna punt out the back of the end zone for a safety and a 5-3 lead. Susquehanna's defense shut down Brockport with a three-and-out, and Colasurdo had a chip-shot field goal attempt on the other end blocked. Susquehanna eventually got the ball back with 1:44 to go and converted one fourth down before Howes' big catch and Colasurdo's kick gave them the win by an unconventional score.

Connor McNabb rushed for 161 yards and one touchdown, and the No. 7 Linfield Wildcats turned away the Denison Big Red 28-14 on Saturday night in Ohio. Linfield (1-0) extended its regular-season winning streak to 26 games while snapping Denison's six-game win streak dating back to last season. McNabb carried the ball 24 times, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. Wildcats quarterback Blake Eaton completed 21 of 35 passes for 218 yards and one score. Wideout Colton Smith pulled in six receptions for 53 yards.

Salisbury scored the first 14 points of the game, but Muhlenberg scored 29 of the next 32 as the Mules knocked off the No. 25 Sea Gulls 29-17. Mules quarterback Joe Repetti threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Mules got the win to improve to 2-0. Repetti also booted a 39-yard punt on fourth-and-5 from the 40, and the Mules defense sacked Salisbury quarterback Ben Hutchins in the end zone two plays later for a safety to wrap up the scoring. Muhlenberg covered the onside kick attempt and ran out the final 4:08 of the game.

Kaleb Blaha threw for 420 yards and ran for another 146 as No. 9 UW-River Falls rolled past Ohio Wesleyan 37-10. The Falcons won the total yardage battle 635-260. Jack Olson paced the Falcons defense with two and a half sacks. Cortland scored on each of its first nine full possessions and finished with a 594-144 advantage in total offensive yardage as the No. 10 Red Dragons defeated host Lycoming 62-7, in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Zac Boyes completed 21 of 28 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns for his fourth career 300-yard passing game. Vin Mazzone was 4-for-6 through the air for 54 yards and a score as Cortland (2-0) finished with 400 passing yards.

No. 15 Randolph-Macon registered 712 yards of total offense, the second-highest total in program history, and sat through a weather delay of 2:25 during halftime in a 59-14 home win against Catholic. The Yellow Jackets held Catholic to eight rushing yards and registered 428 rushing yards of their own, including 250 yards on the ground in the first half.

Carnegie Mellon shut out a PAC opponent for the second consecutive week, as the No. 17 Tartans defeated St. Vincent 38-0. Joey McGinnis IV put the home team ahead 28-0 with 2:12 to play in the first half after recording 1-yard and 2-yard touchdown runs. Carnegie Mellon totaled 406 yards of offense while holding Saint Vincent to 164 yards, including 34 rushing yards.

Jhe'Quay Chretin ran for 241 yards and four touchdowns as No. 20 Aurora defeated Franklin 45-30. After Aurora went out to a 21-7 lead, Franklin got as close as 35-30 when Garrett Cora ran for a 4-yard score early in the fourth, but Aurora scored twice more to put it away and improve to 2-0.