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| Eric Lyons made two big plays on the goal line in the closing minutes to preserve the win for Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus athletics photo |
Suddenly, it's Gustavus Adolphus ahead in the race for one of the two slots in the MIAC title game with an upset of St. John's, while Ithaca rallied past Rochester. That and more in the Top 25 roundup.
St. John's passed up a 27-yard field goal attempt that could have tied the game at the end of the third quarter, and Gustavus Adolphus made sure the No. 7-ranked Johnnies never did tie it up, as the Gusties held on to win 38-35. With St. John's facing fourth down and a little over a yard on the Gustavus 9 yard line, the Johnnies elected to go for it. Dylan Larson burst through the line to hit Devin Vouk for a loss and forced a turnover on downs. The Johnnies got the ball back on their own 24 after forcing a fumble, and had a first-and-goal from the 7, but Syverson threw a pass to the left front corner which Eric Lyons broke up on first down. SJU was whistled for a false start on second down, and Lyons struck again, picking off Syverson at the goal line.
George Sandven had given the Gusties (4-3) the lead late in the third quarter, faking a shovel pass to Jake Breitbach before hitting Rohee Konde with a pass that Konde took 49 yards to the end zone. It was the third of three TD passes for Sandven, along with a rushing touchdown. Breitback caught 10 passes for 122 yards for GAC, but Konde, Matthew Carreon and Caden Kleinschmidt got the TDs for the Gusties.
"That was a really special win for us, no doubt about it," said coach Peter Haugen. "I'm really proud of our guys and our coaches and all the work they've done and resilience they've shown this year. We just have to keep plugging away. We will certainly enjoy this win, and we're very humbled and thankful for it."
The Gusties are just 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the MIAC, but 2-0 against Northwoods Division opponents, which is the record which determines MIAC title game matchups. Gustavus finishes the conference slate with St. Olaf and Carleton, and can clinch the berth with a win against Carleton and any loss by St. Olaf.
Ithaca broke open a 3-3 game in the fourth quarter as the No. 16 Bombers scored 21 points to get past Rochester 24-10 in their first full game without All-America quarterback A.J. Wingfield. The Bombers took a 10-3 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jalen Leonard-Osbourne as IC capped off a seven-play, 44-yard drive for its first lead of the game. UR gave the ball right back to IC as Derek Slywka recorded his first of two interceptions on the day just three plays later. Ithaca punched in the change of possession with a 34-yard score by Leonard-Osbourne with 10:12 left in the game. Leonard-Osbourne finished the game with a career-high 208 yards rushing on 26 carries and is the first IC running back to eclipse 200 yards in a game since 2012. Colin Schumm was 11-for-19 passing for 79 yards in the win while the Bombers limited Daniel Papantonis to 46 yards on 16 carries.
No. 24 Delaware Valley kept its long conference winning streak alive in dramatic fashion as the Aggies rallied to beat Lebanon Valley, 21-17. The Flying Dutchman took the lead halfway through the fourth quarter when LVC quarterback Braden Bohannan swung the nose of the football across the goal line on fourth-and-1. On the ensuing possession, Delaware Valley drove to the LVC 14 and attempted a game-tying field goal that was off the mark. But the Aggies' defense stopped LebVal on three straight runs and called three timeouts to preserve just enough time for one final drive. Delaware Valley moved inside the Lebanon Valley 20 on a long pass from Louis Berrios to Luan Avdijaj and then Berrios found Avdijaj again in the end zone with 14 seconds left. The Aggies extend their MAC winning streak to 50 straight dating back to October 19, 2016.
North Central scored on every single possession, as the No. 1 Cardinals rolled over Washington U. 49-3. It was another big offensive outburst, as North Central averaged 10.7 yards per play. The Cardinals finished with 503 total yards, of which 351 was gained in the running game, as they won their 30th consecutive CCIW game and 33rd consecutive regular-season game. Wash U lost its second consecutive game after a 5-0 start.
Chris Winter ended up watching the game from even further away on the sidelines as usual. The Wartburg coach got ejected after getting two unsportsmanlike conduct calls, but it didn't matter as Wartburg cruised to a 62-7 win at Loras. Nile McLaughlin threw five touchdown passes in just 16 completions and Carter Markham threw one as well as the No. 3 Knights used eight ball-carriers and had passes caught by 10 players in the victory.
No. 10 Johns Hopkins and No. 21 Muhlenberg set up an undefeated showdown next week as Muhlenberg defeated Dickinson 42-21 and JHU rolled past Ursinus 42-14. The Blue Jays jumped out to a 35-14 halftime lead and held visiting Ursinus scoreless in the second half. The Blue Jays run their winning streak to 10 games dating to last season and improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial, while the Bears slip to 4-3, 0-3. The Blue Jays scored back-to-back touchdowns in a span of less than four minutes midway through the first quarter to grab a 14-0 lead that they would never relinquish.
UW-Oshkosh scored twice in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three each time, but No. 4 UW-La Crosse held on to beat the Titans 31-28. Kobe Berghammer drove Oshkosh 91 yards, including a 16-yard TD pass to Trae Tretzlaff to cut the lead to three with 4:26 left, but La Crosse and Keyser Helterbrand ran out the clock as he carried 10 times for 55 yards on the Eagles' final drive. Helterbrand threw for 203 yards and ran for 145.
Alec Ogden ran for two touchdowns and threw for two, while Jeff Isotalo-McGuire kicked three field goals as No. 5 UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Stout 37-20. The Warhawks scored 24 points in the second quarter after a scoreless opening frame. Ogden was UWW's leading rusher, going for 90 yards on 11 carries, while Alijah Maher-Parr had 71 yards on 12 carries in the win. The Warhakws limited Stout quarterback Mitch Waechter to 23-for-53 passing, including three pass breakups and an interception by Tyson Harvey.
Blake Eaton passed for five touchdowns in a little more than two quarters, Blake Rybar piled up a game-high nine tackles, and ninth-ranked Linfield handed Puget Sound a 55-6 drubbing. UPS quarterback Mason Binning, who entered the game as the Northwest Conference's leader in passing yardage, finished with 159 yards through the air. He completed 24 of 42 throws but was intercepted twice and sacked four times by the Wildcats defense, which limited the Loggers to 261 total yards.
Carter St. John had another ridiculous day passing the ball, as the sophomore completed 23 of 26 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns in Alma's 43-10 win against Kalamazoo. The Scots forced a punt from Kalamazoo and they were in the end zone 10 seconds later, as St. John hit Devon Frenchko for an 85-yard touchdown and Alma went up 8-0.