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| Ripon running back Cormac Madigan evaded Chicago tacklers often enough to get 143 rushing yards and a touchdown. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com |
Ripon and Mount St. Joseph remained unbeaten, Bowdoin beat Wesleyan for the first time since 2011, and Carleton's unbeaten run ended as four Division III football games went to overtime on Saturday in Week 8 action.
Max Jacobs returned an interception for a touchdown and stopped two extra points in the fourth quarter as Bowdoin pulled off the surprising win, 28-26 against Wesleyan. It's the first win for the Polar Bears against the Cardinals since 2011, and since then, Wesleyan has a cumulative mark of 59-24, while Bowdoin has gone 12-71.
Wesleyan outgained Bowdoin 502-261 in total yards and had 27 first downs to Bowdoin's 17, but the Polar Bears controlled the possession game and dominated on special teams to earn the win. That included with 1:34 remaining, when Koy Price came up with the stop on a Wesleyan two-point conversion attempt to maintain the lead.
Ripon took a 16-0 advantage into the locker room at halftime on a bad-snap safety and two long drives for touchdowns in a battle of Midwest Conference contenders. Chicago cut the lead to 16-8 in the third quarter and scored again with 2:55 left to cut the lead to 16-14, setting up a two-point conversion attempt to tie the game. Chicago was called for a penalty on its first attempt, but converted the second time around as Wesley Gow scrambled left for 8 yards to tie the game. That left Ripon with plenty of time, however, and the Redhawks methodically drove 65 yards and Erik Flores put through a 20-yard fielg goal with just seconds left to seure the 19-16 win. Ripon remains unbeaten in Ron Ernst's final year as Redhawks head coach.
Mount St. Joseph remaing unbeaten as well, outscoring Hanover 21-8 in the fourth quarter to run away with a 44-29 win. Josh Taylor ran for three touchdowns, two of them in the final nine minutes of the game, while Cornell Beachem Jr. scored through the air on a 21-yard TD pass from Taylor and on the ground with 54 seconds left to ice the game. Taylor finished with 199 yards passing and 151 yards rushing in the victory, as MSJ improved to 7-0, 4-0 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Carleton picked up its first loss of the season as Concordia-Moorhead prevailed in overtime, 20-13. Carleton (6-1) had forced the extra session when Jonathan Singleton hit Nathan Streiff with a 15-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left in regulation, but the extra-point kick was no good, allowing the Cobbers (4-3) to extend the game. Concordia struck first in overtime, as Cooper Mattern took the first snap and ran 24 yards, then ran for the final yard on the second play to give the Cobbers the lead. Carleton's possession ended when a fourth-and-3 pass fell incomplete.
Catholic U. flew out to a 34-8 lead and held on down the stretch to survive and remain unbeaten in the NEWMAC, defeating Merchant Marine 41-33. The Cardinals (5-3, 4-0) scored on six of their first seven possessions, while the Mariners (5-2, 3-1) scored on their last four. Merchant Marine had 316 yards of total offense after halftime, including a 63-yard drive to cut the lead to eight with 4:11 left. But Catholic ground out all but 22 seconds of the remaining time and pinned the Mariners on their 22. Merchant Marine's hitch-and-pitch play ended in a fumble near midfield to end the game. Nico Casares threw for 349 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.
King's outscored Lebanon Valley 20-0 in the third quarter, and the Monarchs surged past the Flying Dutchmen, 34-24. Lebanon Valley took a 17-7 lead before the half on Devin Crone's 30-yard field goal. King's quarterback Tyler Moore threw touchdowns to Brandon Cohen, Jaylon Hailey and Joe Herman in the third quarter and finished with 315 yards and four scores. King's improves to 6-1, 5-1 in the MAC.
Tanner Bernard scored on a 3-yard run in overtime, and freshman kicker Elijah Swett added the decisive extra point, to lead Hampden-Sydney to a thrilling 44-43 Old Dominion Athletic Conference win at Washington & Lee. Bernard passed for a game-high 313 yards and three touchdowns, adding 32 yards rushing and the game-winning touchdown, while Swett added three field goals —including a 42-yarder on the final play of regulation to force OT — for the visiting Tigers en route to their road win against the host Generals. H-SC won its third consecutive game and improved to 4-3 overall, 3-1 in the ODAC, while W&L dropped to 5-2, 3-1.
Dean got its first win under new head coach and alumnus Andrae Murphy as the Bulldogs won at Alfred State, 36-35 in overtime. Dean scored with 44 seconds left in regulation, as Mozes Mooney capped a 77-yard drive with a 3-yard run to tie the game. Mooney then hit Quintus Reed for a touchdown in overtime, and completed a two-point conversion pass to Jordan Mason to win the game. Bluffton edged Manchester 46-44 in five overtimes on Saturday, the longest game since the new overtime rules went into effect, and it featured a third and fourth overtime in which both schools failed to convert on their one play from the 3-yard line.