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| The defenses had a field day, and North Central's Storm Simmons and Jake Beesley got to hold the Little Brass Bell after all was said and done. Photo by Pat Coleman, D3sports.com |
The defending national champions finally got their rivalry trophy back, while UW-Whitewater cruised, while Muhlenberg got knocked off in Division III football action among teams in the D3football.com Top 25.
Freshman quarterback Luke Lehnen racked up 354 yards of total offense and Ethan Greenfield ran for two second-half touchdowns, but it was the defense which made the difference as No. 4 North Central defeated No. 5 Wheaton 20-7 to bring the Little Brass Bell back to Naperville, Illinois. Cornerback Jake Beesley broke up five passes, including one in the end zone in the closing seconds to help secure the win.
Wheaton (1-1) marched down the field on its first possession of the game and Luke Anthony found Spencer Peterson on the left-hand side of the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Thunder a 7-0 lead. But the Cardinals did not let Wheaton get on the board again. North Central trailed until midway through the second period, when Nic Rummell's 34-yard punt return gave the visitors a short field at the Wheaton 44-yard line. On the next play, Lehnen found DeAngelo Hardy behind the Wheaton defense and delivered a touchdown pass. Ethan Greenfield ran for two touchdowns in the second half to give the Cardinals the lead, then put the game away.
After the final gun, Wheaton coach Jesse Scott hands off the Little Brass Bell. Andrew Kamienski takes off running and the celebration is on for @NCC_Athletics! #d3fb pic.twitter.com/OaquHxGbKp
— D3football.com (@d3football) September 19, 2021
It was Wheaton's lowest point total in the rivalry since 2011.
Ursinus knocked off No. 8 Muhlenberg 42-35 in a major Centennial Conference upset. Bears freshman defensive back Aaron Anderson had Michael Hnatkowsky measured, intercepting the All-American quarterback twice. Anderson returned the first interception 42 yards for a touchdown and brought the second back 87 yards to set up the game’s deciding score. Ursinus running back Samuel Ragland scored three times on the afternoon, becoming the program’s all time leader in rushing touchdowns.
It's the first regular season loss for the Mules since Oct. 27, 2018, at Johns Hopkins.
Berry fumbled the ball away on consecutive snaps late in the second quarter and UW-Whitewater took its lead from 16-0 to 30-0 in the final minute of the first half. The No. 2 Warhawks went on to beat the No. 25 Vikings 39-7. The Warhawks limited two Berry quarterbacks to 15-for-28 passing for 136 yards while Max Meylor threw for 256 yards and three scores in the win.
Whitewater scored 17 points in the final two minutes of the second quarter.
No. 10 Delaware Valley outlasted Stevenson 34-17 in a meeting of the top two teams in the MAC preseason poll. The Aggies (3-0) jumped out to a 13-0 lead when Julien White capped a 99-yard touchdown drive that started after Anthony Tedecso stuffed the Mustangs on fourth and goal from the one. Stevenson (0-3), which has faced two ranked teams and third receiving votes, bounced back and trailed 19-17 at the break. In the second half, DelVal capitalized on two errant Stevenson long snaps, converting them into 9 points. Aggies quarterback Daquan Bohannan capped the day with his third touchdown pass of the afternoon, finding Isaiah Calhoun for the final score.
The Union defense registered two turnovers on downs, three fumble recoveries, and two interceptions as the No. 13 Dutchmen held on to defeat Springfield 30-23. The Pride closed the gap in the fourth to make it a one-score game. With less than a minute to go in the game and Springfield marching up the field, Lama picked off Wells, sealing the victory for the Dutchmen. Springfield had 435 yards of offense in the game, including 290 on the ground, but was hampered by five turnovers, including three lost fumbles.
Baldwin Wallace tested No. 3 Mount Union early trailing just 14-7 at the intermission, but the Purple Raiders dominated the 30 minutes to coast to a 31-7 win. Mount Union running back Josh Petrucelli scored once on the ground and once through the air while wide receiver Wayne Ruby caught ten passes for 128 yards. The Purple Raider defense limited the Yellow Jackets to just two third-down conversions in 12 chances.
Grand Valley State, which won the NCAA Division II national championship four times between 2002 and 2006, pulled away in the second half to defeat No. 24 UW-La Crosse 45-24. The Lakers rolled up 534 yards of total offense in the win. Jake Simuncak caught two touchdown passes from Jakob Parks for the Eagles.
No. 6 Hardin-Simmons fell behind 10-0 early to Belhaven, but scored the game's next 21 points and held on to win 21-16. The Cowboys were limited to just 42 plays and 269 yards of offense, but that would be just enough to outlast the Blazers. Hardin-Simmons quarterback Kyle Jones had an efficient day completing 13 of 17 passes for 169 yards and two scores.
After two weeks of getting it done through the air, No. 16 Central hammered out 364 rushing yards on Saturday to run past Nebraska Wesleyan 37-7. The Dutch (3-0, 1-0 ARC) displayed a powerful passing attack in the season's first two victories but running back Jason Hopp was the offensive catalyst Saturday with 168 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, just 4 yards shy of his career high. "(Nebraska Wesleyan) definitely wanted to take something away and make us one-dimensional," coach Jeff McMartin said. "Watching them on film, we knew they had a good secondary and they did a good job of playing to their strengths. But then that leaves other things open and I thought up front out guys played really well. We created some good matchups."
No. 18 Randolph-Macon scored two touchdowns in a two-minute stretch late in the second period in a 31-13 ODAC victory at Bridgewater on Saturday. The win was Randolph-Macon's 10th in a row, the second-longest winning streak in program history. The Yellow Jackets had just 289 yards of total offense but made the most of them. Justin DeLeon had two rushing TDs for R-MC.
No. 19 Ithaca stayed perfect against its former Empire 8 opponents with a comfortable 34-0 win at Alfred. The Bombers outgained the Saxons 551-186 and did not allow Alfred into the red zone.
Demerius Goodwin and No. 20 John Carroll opened their OAC campaign with a 41-17 at Otterbein. Goodwin rushed for 194 yards on 23 attempts and found the end zone three times for the Blue Streaks. The other Johns in the top 25 also had little trouble in Week 3. No. 7 St. John's cruised by Martin Luther 55-7 while No. 25 Johns Hopkins amassed 738 yards of offense in a 77-0 rout of Juniata. Ryan Stevens threw for another 358 yards and Johns Hopkins scored on five of its first eight possessions. Stevens and Bay Harvey combined to go 30-of-44 for 478 yards and five touchdowns in the win. The Blue Jay defense held the Eagles to 182 yards of total offense, 12 first downs and just 72 yards rushing on 31 attempts while racking up five sacks and forcing two turnovers.