Jakob Dreksler's touchdown catch with 7:21 left proved to be the game-winner for North Park. North Park athletics file photo by Virginia Smith

North Park and Bowdoin came up with big conference wins and Merchant Marine remained unbeaten, but Wabash and Wilkes did not in Saturday's Division III football action. 

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Matt Eck threw four touchdown passes, the last of them to Jakob Dreksler with 7:21 to play in the game, and North Park held on to win 33-30 at Carthage. It was the first win for the Vikings at Carthage since the early 1990s. Bryce Lowe hit Alex Jarvis on long touchdown passes twice in the first two series of the third quarter to give the Firebirds (3-3, 3-2 CCIW) a 22-15 lead. But North Park (1-5, 1-4) bounced back with consecutive scores, failing to convert on either touchdown but leading 27-22. Carthage regained the lead on a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by Noel Wright II's 1-yard TD run but the Vikings came right back with a 79-yard drive of their own, the capper of which saw Eck hitting Dreksler for the game's final score. Carthage turned the ball over on its final two full possessions.

A week after Bowdoin just missed at Wesleyan, the Polar Bears snapped a 14-game losing streak, beating Amherst 21-14. It's the first win for Bowdoin against Amherst since 2005. Andrew Boel hit Colton Fahey for two touchdown passes, one late in the second quarter and one early in the fourth, as the Polar Bears built a 14-0 lead. The Mammoths finally got on the board when Turner Garland brought down a Chad Peterson pass in the end zone on fourth-and-13 from the 35 to make is 14-7, but Boel found Brendan King for a 22-yard score on the next drive. Amherst cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:40 left but kicked deep and Andre Eden helped Bowdoin essentially run out the clock on the ground. Bowdoin held the ball for 36:38, compared to 23:22 for Amherst.

Ceaser Gonzalez ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Ian Blankenship ran for 121 and passed for 182 as Merchant Marine improved to 6-0, defeating MIT 56-34. Blankenship ran for two touchdowns and threw for two on 8-of-13 completions and had a hand in four USMMA touchdowns (two rushing and two passing). The teams conbined for four turnovers in the first quarter, including three in a span of 40 seconds, but coughed the ball up just once the rest of the way. Chris Mauck threw for 357 yards for MIT (2-3) but was just 23-for-54 passing and the Mariners recorded eight quarterback hurries.

Matt Pardi handled a high snap to perfection, then booted a 55-yard punt to Wabash's 20-yard line, and Matt Ulishney broke up the Little Giants' Hail Mary pass at Wooster's 5-yard line, as the Fighting Scots (4-2, 3-2 NCAC) knocked off the Little Giants 44-41 in an absolute thriller in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Wooster Lake Barrett knocked the 19-yard go-ahead field goal through the uprights with 5:29 remaining, and then Wabash (5-1, 4-1) moved into heartbreak territory, reaching the Scots' 22-yard line with about 1:30 remaining. The Little Giants' Liam Thompson could not connect with an open Derek Allen on second down, then Wooster's Dorion Talley stepped in with a third-down breakup, setting the stage for a game-tying field goal try. Jacob Handley was on the mark from 39 yards out, only to have to try again, thanks to Wooster coach Frank Colaprete sneaking in a timeout just before the snap went off. Handley sent the retry wide left, giving Wooster the ball with 51 seconds left to go. A three-and-out, plus having timeouts in its pocket, gave Wabash a chance, and the Little Giants advanced the ball to their 48-yard line after Pardi's 55-yard punt. That enabled Thompson to launch up a prayer which was not answered as time expired.

Widener rushed for 262 yards and two touchdowns on way to a 30-13 win against Wilkes at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium, handing Wilkes its first loss of the season. The Colonels (5-1, 4-1 MAC) entered the game as the conference's rushing leader with more than 200 yards per game, but Widener limited Wilkes to 31 yards on 18 carries. Widener improved to 6-1, 4-1 MAC. Wilkes' first five opponents are a combined 5-28.

Hobart handed RPI its first loss of the season, blocking an extra point attempt late in the fourth quarter and holding on to win 10-9 on a rainy day in Geneva, New York. Conner Noyes blocked a Hobart punt in the fourth quarter, setting up the RPI offense inside Hobart territory. Eleven plays and 48 yards later, George Marinopoulos connected with wide receiver Vinnie McDonald for a 4-yard touchdown pass to cut the Statesmen lead to just one with 3:39 to go. On the extra point attempt, the snap was to the right of holder Peter Lombardi, who had to reach across his body and bring the ball back to set it down for backup kicker Diego Fernandez. The delay was enough time for CJ Calero and Jared Leake to race in from the right side and leap in front of the kick, both players made contact with the ball, but Leake said after the game that Calero did more to block the kick, preserving Hobart's lead. Hobart sealed the win with a Bryan Aguilar interception with 56 seconds left.

Kevin Licciardi ran for a career-high 148 yards as Catholic posted a 30-7 victory over Coast Guard. The Cardinals (5-2, 3-0 NEWMAC) have posted three wins to open NEWMAC play for the first time in the its four seasons in the league and have set up a showdown for first place in the conference next Saturday at unbeaten Merchant Marine. The Cardinals scored on five of their first seven drives en route to finishing with 394 yards of total offense. After a Catholic punt and 26-yard missed field goal by Coast Guard (2-5, 0-3) on the first two possessions of the game, the Cardinals scored on its next five consecutive possessions as it built a 30-0 lead with 11:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Grove City rallied from a 24-14 deficit in the second half and scored 20 fourth-quarter points to pull out a 41-29 win at St. Vincent. Grove City trailed 24-14 but cut the lead to three when Gustafson caught a 65-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Josh Ehst on the second play of the drive. St. Vincent answered with a field goal but the Wolverines scored on each of their next three possessions. Clayton Parrish gave Grove City its first lead of the game, 28-27, when he scored on a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal. SVC drove to the Grove City 34 on the subsequent drive but R.J. Debo got to Bearcat quarterback Brady Walker for a 14-yard loss. Eight plays later, Parrish scored on a 13-yard touchdown run. Grove City then sealed the win with 1:16 left as Parrish scored on a 12-yard run. St. Vincent blocked the conversion and Jaden Pratt returned it for a defensive two-point conversion but could get no closer as Grove City improved to 6-1, 5-1 in the PAC.

Keystone took the lead in a game for the first time in the program's history, and the Giants scored with 2:00 left in the game to cut Dean's lead to three, but the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock and hold on for the 39-36 win. Dean had led by 21 points early in the fourth quarter, when David Curry hit Jordan Mason for a 20-yard touchdown, but the Giants answered immediately with a big kick return and a touchdown drive and recovered an onside kick, then scored again. Dean got a 33-yard field goal from Mason Dill to push the lead back out to 10 before Keystone's last-minute heroics, and that ended up being the final margin. Curry threw two TD passes, both to Mason, and ran for another. Javier Tazza caught four passes for 102 yards and two scores for the Giants, who fell to 0-7 in the program's first season.

TySean Sizer returned a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown but it was not enough as Alfred got past St. John Fisher 38-35. Sizer's kickoff return went 88 yards to open the second half and gave the Cardinals a 21-14 lead. His punt return cut Alfred's lead to three with 1:31 left and needed to cover just 38 yards. But the Cardinals were unable to cover the onside kick and the Saxons could run out the clock. Max Freeman led Alfred with 22 carries for 167 yards and a touchdown.