| Mary Hardin-Baylor's defense
came out and did the job on the road. UMHB athletics file photo |
Mary Hardin-Baylor and Linfield each won Top 10 battles on Saturday, but it was a surprising loss that steals the headlines.
Buffalo State drove the length of the field and Casey Kacz found Ryan Carney in the front corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with 3.2 seconds left as the Bengals snapped No. 1 UW-Whitewater's 46-game winning streak, defeating the Warhawks 7-6.
Kacz drove the offense 75 yards for a touchdown after the Bengals got the ball back with 1:35 left. The key play was a hook-and-double-lateral that converted a fourth down and long.
"That's a play we practice every week," said coach Jerry Boyes, "because it's our last play-type of a play. The kids executed it to perfection."
Whitewater was limited to a pair of Eric Kindler field goals, the last with 1:35 left to give the Warhawks a 6-0 lead. Each team missed two field goals.
Justin Sottilare was 27-for-44 passing for 294 yards and three touchdowns, but No. 3 Wesley was held to minus-4 yards on the ground as No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor came away with a 32-25 victory on Saturday in Dover, Del.
Darius Wilson ran for 84 yards on 24 carries and LiDarral Bailey added 34 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 16 of 26 passes for 138 yards and two more scores in the win. Silvio Diaz had three sacks for the Cru.
No. 5 Linfield survived on the road at No. 10 Cal Lutheran, kicking a field goal in the closing seconds to win, 33-30.
Mount Union, the heir apparent to the No. 1 spot, had no trouble with Muskingum, with Kevin Burke completing 12 of 17 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for two more in a 57-0 blanking of Muskingum.
No. 6 St. Thomas led 15-14 before scoring just before the half at rival St. John's, and turning it on in the second half of a 43-21 win to deflate most of the 14,286 in attendance. The Tommies overcame 12 penalties and four interceptions by holding the Johnnies to 24 yards rushing. The game was John Gagliardi's 600th as the head coach at St. John's.
No. 7 Salisbury rushed for 341 yards and seven touchdowns in a thorough 69-6 takedown of North Carolina Wesleyan. No. 8 Wabash intercepted Max Paulus four times, had seven sacks and held Denison to 46 yards rushing in a 35-2 defeat of the Big Red. No. 9 St. John Fisher hung on to defeat Rochester, 20-16, in the final meeting of the two teams in the Courage Bowl.
Sul Ross State emphatically upset No. 11 Trinity (Texas), 62-35, behind 481 yards passing from A.J. Springer. Jay Hilbrands had two touchdown catches and Erik Peterson and Derek Waldbillig each rushed for two scores in No. 12 Bethel's 56-7 win against Buena Vista. No. 13 North Central won 37-10 at UW-Stout, holding the Blue Devils to 9 yards on the ground.
No. 14 Hobart outrushed Utica 218-13 and had 10 sacks in a 45-26 road win. Josiah Holt hauled in an 84-yard touchdown pass from Ryan O'Rourke with 1:21 left to help No. 15 Baldwin Wallace survive at John Carroll. Washington and Lee scored three touchdowns in a row to push its lead out to 34-10 and knock off No. 23 Centre 34-16.
Isaac Nichols rushed for 147 of No. 18 Birmingham-Southern's 407 yards on the ground and three touchdowns in a 61-14 win at Ave Maria. No. 19 Wheaton won at Luther, 53-7.
Jonny West was 31-of-38 for 357 yards and three touchdowns as No. 20 Franklin finally won, beating Manchester 48-27. No. 21 Thomas More put together a 10-play, 61-yard game-winning drive, as Ryan Winkler caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Luke Magness with 18 seconds left to defeat Westminster (Pa.), 27-23.