Wrapup: Muhlenberg honors fallen coach

Oct 07, 2017

Muhlenberg honored its late head coach in multiple ways on Saturday.
Muhlenberg athletics photo

Muhlenberg opened with a moment of silence, then honored the late Mike Donnelly on the field, while Lakeland's QB threw seven touchdowns, Springfield continued its run through the NEWMAC and St. Olaf snapped a long skid.

Three days after learning of the passing of their head coach, Mike "Duke" Donnelly, of complications from leukemia, Muhlenberg combined many of the elements that made him the most successful coach in program history – a crucial defensive stop, a key special teams play, and a player stepping up – to earn a 21-14 win against previously undefeated Ursinus. Senior Matthew Stickney, called on to fill in when Centennial Conference leading rusher Nick Savant went down with an injury on the Mules' third play from scrimmage, rushed for a career-high 118 yards on 23 carries. Linebacker Mickey Kober recorded 11 tackles for a defense that held the Bears (5-1, 4-1), who came in 24th in Division III with 240.2 rushing yards per game, to 132 yards on the ground. Muhlenberg improved to 4-2, 3-2.

Michael Whitley threw seven touchdown passes, and Lakeland needed every single one of them, as the game-winner came with 1:05 left to lift the Muskies past Adrian 47-40. Oman Smothers intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone with 10 seconds left to preserve Whitley was 21-for-39 passing for 433 yards with no interceptions, adding 26 rushing yards. Dezmon Eddie caught three passes, all of them touchdowns: a 58-yarder, a 54-yarder and the 11-yarder to give Lakeland the lead for good. For the Bulldogs, Emmanuel Stewart ran for 161 yards and three touchdowns and David Nutter added 150.

Springfield jumped out to a 24-0 lead and cruised to a 38-7 win vs. Coast Guard. Jordan Wilcox racked up 187 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, while quarterback Jake Eglintine added 106 yards and a score. The defense limited Coast Guard to 153 yards of total offense. Springfield is now 6-0, 3-0 in the inaugural season of NEWMAC football. The conference does not have an automatic bid.

St. Olaf defeated an MIAC opponent other than Carleton for the first time since 2012 as the Oles edged Hamline 40-37. St. Olaf had won three conference games over the past four seasons, all of them against their crosstown rival, before Jack Goldstein came out and threw four touchdown passes. The win overshadowed a fantastic performance by Hamline receiver Nick Barber, who caught 16 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns.

Christiaan Williams rolled up an incredible 407 yards rushing and Ohio Northern cruised past Capital 51-21. Williams had just 29 carries but it was enough to obliterate a school mark set by D3football.com All-America selection Jamal Robertson, who went on to play six years in the NFL.

In the conference Springfield left, the Liberty League, Hobart shut out an opponent for the first time since 2012, Ithaca improved to 3-0 in the league and Union got a key conference win. Hobart only allowed RPI to reach the red zone twice in a 30-0 win, while Shane Sweeney went 29-for-45 passing for 297 yards and two scores. Ithaca beat Rochester 46-6 in the first-ever meeting of schools which are just 92 miles apart. It was Ithaca's biggest margin of victory since 2009 and the Bombers improved to 3-2 overall while moving within two wins (RPI, Union left to play) of winning the LL automatic bid in their first year in the league. Union defeated St. Lawrence 30-6.

Johns Hopkins rebounded from last week's loss, its first regular season loss in five years, and handed Franklin & Marshall its first loss of the season in dominant fashion, 45-7. In the second and third quarters combined, the Blue Jays outgained F&M 365-70 and outscored the Diplomats 28-7. David Tammaro was 32-of-45 for 418 yards with five touchdowns, while Luke McFadden had nine receptions for 204 yards and a touchdown.

John Smith had 217 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries and Husson won its ninth consecutive ECFC game, handing SUNY-Maritime a 35-17 defeat. It's the Privateers' first loss of the season. But that wasn't the most impressive rushing performance in the ECFC on Saturday. Those honors may well go to Gallaudet, which had five ballcarriers rack up 80 or more yards in a 73-23 win vs. Anna Maria in a battle of teams which entered the day winless. Backup Jake Bonheyo had just four carries, but all went for touchdowns in the third quarter, while starting quarterback Timel Benton threw for 140 and ran for 128 in the win.

UW-La Crosse scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game -- in the first quarter, that is -- as the Eagles defeated UW-Eau Claire 45-14 to improve to 5-0. Tarek Yaeggi threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns on 15-for-33 passing in the win. Salisbury beat Christopher Newport 17-7 in a defensive battle in which the triple-option Sea Gulls didn't complete a pass.

Middlebury scored twice on interception returns for touchdowns to extend out an early lead, which went as high as 28-3, before holding on to defeat Amherst 35-31. The Mammoths had a one-play drive, an 81-yard pass from Ollie Eberth to James O'Regan, to cut the lead to 35-31 with 7:51 left, but went three-and-out on their next possession and never got the ball back as Middlebury ran out the final 4:56 of the clock.

Hayden Bauserman had another big day behind center for Shenandoah, as he completed 40 of 61 passes for 495 yards and led the Hornets to a 47-24 win vs Emory & Henry. Bauserman threw TD passes of 9, 11, 10, 43 and 32 yards to go along with four Jacob Newton field goals as Shenandoah beat E&H for the second year in a row.