Wrap: Maryville douses Blazers

Oct 28, 2023

Maryville got bailed out by a pass interference call in overtime and ended up scoring twice in the extra session to beat Belhaven.
Maryville athletics photo

Maryville held Kolbe Blunt more than 80 yards below his average, while Bethel got Steve Johnson his 250th career win, Hamilton outlasted Tufts in the two-point conversion contest and Wabash and DePauw kept a Monon Bell game for the NCAC automatic bid on the table in action Saturday among teams not ranked in the D3football.com Top 25.

Belhaven came into the day having won 13 of its past 14 games, with the only loss coming last Nov. 12 against Maryvillle. And the Scots were there to douse another Blazers streak, defeating Belhaven 20-7 in overtime on Saturday. Maryville (6-2) was facing a fourth-and-10 from the 25 in its half of overtime before the Blazers were flagged for pass interference on a ball to the end zone. From there, Bryson Rollins ran for 8 yards, then a 2-yard TD to give the Scots a 14-7 lead. In the second half of OT, Mike Bethea picked off Tim Johnson's pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown, with the officials generously overlooking the fact that the entire Scots bench poured onto the field while the play was still in progress. Belhaven had forced the game to OT when Kolbe Blunt ran for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:38 left in regulation. Blunt managed just 42 yards on 14 carries after coming into the game rushing for 126 yards per game.

"The game came down to the defensive line playing really well and controlling the game up front, and Bryson making enough plays offensively with him being special and magic and giving us a chance to win," Scots coach Ben Fox said. "Our defensive front really rose to the challenge. We knew it was going to come down to them."

Bethel had little trouble with Carleton, rolling past the Knights 40-0 on the road and getting head coach Steve Johnson his 250th career win. George Bolt threw two touchdown passes, one of them to Micah Niewald, who had five catches for 104 yards and a TD on the day. Bethel improved to 6-2 in a game which had no impact on the MIAC playoff chase because it was a game between teams in each division. Bethel remains unbeaten in the Skyline division of the conference, as does Concordia-Moorhead, the only oustate Minnesota team in the Skyline division. Concordia defeated Augsburg 30-10 on Saturday, setting up a showdown next week for a spot in the MIAC title game. Gustavus Adolphus remained on pace in the Northwoods division, surviving 41-40 in overtime at St. Olaf.

Johnson's win total is tops among active coaches and 12th among coaches all-time in Division III football history.

Hamilton had just one more two-point conversion play in its bag of tricks as the Continentals defeated Tufts 36-34 in a game which went to five overtimes. Hamilton came back from 17 down to tie the game at 17 entering overtime. Hamilton converted for two points in the second, fourth and fifth overtimes to come away with the victory and improve to 2-5, overcoming 168 yards and a touchdown from Chartellis Reece and two TD passes by Tufts' Michael Berluti. Matt Banbury ran right out of the jumbo package and got to the end zone in the final overtime, and the Jumbos' attempt failed on a fade attempt from Berluti to Cade Moore.

A week after Wittenberg and DePauw went to overtime, Wabash went to town on Wittenberg, while DePauw had its way with Kenyon as the two teams remained in line for a Monon Bell game that has a conference championship on the line as well. Wabash scored 24 first quarter points and had its way with Wittenberg in a 52-20 win. Liam Thompson threw three first-quarter TD passes and finished with 256 yards passing and 78 yards rushing on the day as Wittenberg fell to 5-3. Thompson broke the NCAC career record for touchdown passes and eclipsed the Wabash career record for total offense. Both records were held by former Wabash quarterback Jake Knott, who threw 97 touchdowns after the Little Giants joined the NCAC. Knott accounted for 12,054 career yards over four seasons as the Wabash starter. Thompson has 99 career TD throws and 12,275 career yards of offense with two regular season games remaining. And DePauw (9-0) rolled over 1-7 Kenyon by a 58-7 margin. Nathan McCahlll threw for three touchdowns and the Tigers' defense held Kenyon quarterbacks to 15-for-34 passing with three interceptions.

Brockport won its sixth consecutive game after a 6-5 loss to Suquehanna and held Utica to minus-19 yards rushing in the process, defeating the Pioneers 38-3. It's the third week in a row that Brockport has held an opponent to fewer than 100 yards of total offense, following wins against Hartwick and Morrisville State. Shutting down the Pioneer offense, the Golden Eagle defenders compiled three sacks to go with six tackles in the backfield for a loss of yards. Vincent Daviero, Dawin Fanor, and Joseph Rodda all got to the quarterback, while Mike Talbert Jr. had a pair of quarterback hurries.

Springfield remained into sole possession of first place in the NEWMAC, improving to 7-1 overall, 5-0 in the conference with a 21-14 win against Merchant Marine. Arsen Shtefan rolled up 134 yards and Blaine Hart had 119 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries in the win. The Pride held Merchant Marine (6-2, 4-2) more than 100 yards below their average on the day and just 3-for-17 on third-down conversions in the win. Despite having the ball for over 12 minutes in the third quarter, Springfield was unable to put points on the board, but finally found the end zone for the third time on the day just over a minute into the fourth to make it 21-7. Merchant Marine answered with a 70-yard TD pass to Talsen Smith with 2:13 left but was unable to cover the onside kick and Springfield ran out the clock.

Freshman Jacob Morris made the most of his first career catch as he outleapt the secondary to haul in a Hail Mary pass in the front of the end zone as Plymouth State stunned Westfield State 20-19 in a MASCAC game. Junior Braden Lynn launched the 53-yard bomb as time expired, with Morris making a clean grab in heavy traffic to secure the Panthers' win. Westfield State had grabbed the lead, 19-14, just moments earlier as the Owls found paydirt from 4 yards out to take the lead with just 36 seconds left on the clock. With the ball spotted at the Panthers' 47-yard line, Lynn received the shotgun snap as the Owls rushed just three. He danced in the pocket, allowing his receivers time to get down field, then set his feet and fired a dart to the front of the end zone where Morris elevated over three defenders to come down with the game-winner.