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Games of Oct. 5, 2019

Offense

QB Mason Opple, Sr., Hope

Opple accounted for four touchdowns (three pass, one run) during Hope's 51-0, MIAA-opening win at then-No. 24 Trine. Opple capped the first possession of the game with a 3-yard touchdown and finished with a game-high 102 yards rushing, accouting for 312 yards of total offense while sitting out the fourth quarter. Opple has 35 career rushing touchdowns. He completed 17 of 28 passes, including touchdown passes of 8, 7 and 20 yards, while playing just three quarters.

OL Derek Gulrud, Alexander Quist, Sam Boeder, Carrington Cunningham, Andrew Owczarzak, Martin Luther

Martin Luther's offensive line controlled the game in the team's 27-6 win at previously unbeaten St. Scholastica. The Knights ran the ball 75 times for a season-best 402 yards, helping them control the clock for 38:47 of the game in time of possession. Two running backs went for more than 100 yards in the game.

RB Jaquan Hemphill, Sr., Hardin-Simmons

Hemphill broke his own school record with 304 yards on 32 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt. He had TD runs of 57, 10 and a school-record 97 yards. It came in a losing effort against Texas Lutheran.

RB Alnazir Blackman, Jr., FDU-Florham

Blackman accounted for four touchdowns in the Devils' wild 50-45 victory over Albright. He picked up 180 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns while adding five receptions for 63 yards and a score. He had TD runs from 3, 45 and 3 yards while adding a 13-yard TD reception.

WR Derrick Yates, Sr., Emory & Henry

Yates caught 13 passes for a school-record 265 yards (20.4 yards per reception) for three touchdowns. It was the second three-score game of his career, as he led the Wasps to a 56-17 drubbing of Hampden-Sydney.

WR Phillip Nichols, Sr., Wheaton (Ill.)

Nichols scored three of Wheaton's five touchdowns Saturday in a 35-21 victory against No. 5 North Central. All three touchdowns came in the second half. His first touchdown was a 47-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter to tie the game at 14 and he added a 5-yarder in the corner of the end zone late in the third quarter to tie it again at 21. Nichols broke through the Cardinals' defense less than a minute into the fourth quarter for a 58-yard touchdown catch that gave Wheaton a 28-21 advantage, Wheaton's first lead of the game. Four of Nichols' 10 receptions were for 20 or more yards.

TE Jacob Maher, Sr., Framingham State

Maher hauled in five catches for 215 yards with three touchdowns in the Rams' 39-33 win over previously unbeaten UMass Dartmouth. The senior caught a school-record 97-yard touchdown pass as well as TDs of 39 and 69 yards, averaging 43 yards per catch.

Defense

DE Cameron Brown, Sr., Case Western Reserve

Brown registered 2.5 sacks against a Westminster offense that had not allowed a sack through its first four games of the season. He helped hold Westminster to just 13 points (averaged 49.0 coming into the game) and 286 total yards (just 14 rushing).

DT Blade Durbala, Jr., Central

Durbala had three tackles for loss against Luther's (primarily) triple option attack. He stopped a Norse runner for a 3-yard loss at Central's 25-yard line on their final drive of the first half. He also had a solo stop on second-and-goal from the 1 in the fourth quarter.

DT Colton Ray, Fr., Merchant Marine

Ray led Merchant Marine with 10 tackles on Saturday in the Mariners' exciting double-overtime home victory over MIT. He recorded three sacks on the day for a loss of 22 yards and also forced a first-quarter fumble that set the Mariners up for their first touchdown of the day. Ray also added a quarterback hurry.

DE Liam Vincifora, Jr., Millsaps

Vincifora lived in the Centre backfield in Millsaps's double-overtime win. He finished with three sacks for 22 yards and 4.5 total tackles for loss for 26 yards. He also had one forced fumble and a quarterback hurry as the Majors beat Centre for the first time since 2013.

LB Keegan Nichols, So., Austin College

Nichols had a monster game for Austin College as the 'Roos fell to Trinity, as he made 15 tackles, 11 solo, including 4.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks while also coming up with an interception.

LB Eugene Bizer, Jr., Coast Guard

Bizer had a career-high 16 tackles and 2.5 for loss to lead the Coast Guard defense in a double overtime win over Catholic. Fourteen of his tackles were solo stops and he also added a pass breakup.

LB Craig Roumes, Sr., Susquehanna

Roumes totaled eight tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble (strip sack), one fumble recovery, and returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown. His first sack ended Dickinson's opening drive while his strip sack ended the Red Devils' first drive of the third quarter. Roumes' pick-six came with five minutes left in the first half and gave the River Hawks a 17-10 lead. He also added a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.

CB Torii Hilbert, Sr., La Verne

Hilbert led the La Verne defense in a 20-17 overtime win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. With the Stags threating to go up by two scores in the first quarter, Hilbert made one of the biggest plays of the game, intercepting Zack Flogel's pass at the 1-yard line. The stopped proved crucial as the Leopards were able to stay within a score of the Stags. Hilbert finished the game with 10 total tackles, five solo tackles, and a pass breakup.

S Daniel Enriquez, Fr., Texas Lutheran

Enriquez intercepted a pair of passes in the first half and returned one 58 yards for a touchdown just before the end of the first half of an upset win vs. then-No. 6 Hardin-Simmons. His first interception set up a short 17-yard scoring drive. The interception just before the half had Enriquez crossing the goal line with just 12 seconds to play in the first half. He finished the game with seven total tackles and a tackle for loss.

S Raeqwon Greer, Jr., Alfred

Greer led the Saxon defense with 12 tackles, nine of them solo, in Alfred's 28-21 Homecoming victory over Morrisville State. The safety also added a tackle for loss and a key pass breakup in Morrisville's final drive of the game.

CB Oscar Aliaga, So., Whittier

Aliaga had a standout performance on the defensive side of the ball in a 36-6 loss to Chapman, finishing with eight tackles, seven solo. He also added two forced fumbles, recovering both of them for a combined 42 yards in the first half as WC trailed 15-6 at the break.

Special teams

K Cooper West, So., Adrian

West went 3-for-3 on field goals of just 30, 20 and 18 yards, but it was his final kick that was the game-winner with 3 seconds left to lift Adrian to a 30-27 victory over Kalamazoo. That marks the second consecutive game that Adrian has won with his leg and on the last play of the game (he booted a 26-yarder vs Wisconsin Lutheran in double overtime, 32-29, on Sept. 21).

P Grayson Lawrence, So., Kenyon

In a defensive struggle, Lawrence helped Kenyon pull out a 12-7 win at Oberlin. Lawrence booted the ball seven times and averaged 42 yards per punt. Five of those punts ended up inside the Oberlin 20 yard-line and his last punt, within the game's final minute, traveled 57 yards and was downed at the Oberlin 1-yard line.

RET Marcus Ramirez, Fr., Cal Lutheran

Ramirez averaged 85 yards on two kickoff returns in a 55-21 win vs. Occidental. On his first return, he caught the ball at the Cal Lutheran 4-yard line and ran it back 81 yards to Occidental's 15. For an encore, Ramirez took the ball at the CLU 11 and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown.

ST Rook Tate, Fr., Brevard

Tate recovered a fumble on a punt attempt and returned it for a touchdown that changed momentum in Brevard's 22-10 victory over defending USA South champion Maryville.