St. Thomas, Wittenberg, UMHB survive
| Kirk Baglien tips a pass at midfield that was
intercepted by Tommy Becker, enabling the Tommies to make their
final defensive stand of the day and go on to run out the clock
against Bethel. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
Colin Tobin dove over the top for a touchdown to give St. Thomas the lead but it was the Tommies defense that came up big late and No. 4 St. Thomas survived 10-6 at home against No. 20 Bethel before a homecoming crowd of around 6,000. The Tommies are 8-0 for the first time since 1956.
The Tommies finished off the win without their starting quarterback, as Dakota Tracy got his bell rung in the fourth quarter, without their starting running back, as Ben Wartman had just one carry for 10 yards in the second half, and without starting right guard Chad Vandergriff, who was helped off the field after injuring his knee early in the game and spent the second half on crutches.
A week after going down in the swirling winds at RPI, Alfred bounced back to knock off No. 19 St. John Fisher 42-31. Tom Secky was 21-for-27 passing for 211 yards and three touchdowns while freshman running back Austin Dwyer had 162 yards on 27 carries in the win.
No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor had a 28-17 fourth quarter lead on East Texas Baptist but the Tigers rallied to tie the game and force overtime. The Crusaders held the Tigers off the board and then Quincy Daniels found the end zone for a 34-28 win.
No. 12 Linfield defeated No. 22 Pacific Lutheran 35-20 to put itself in the driver's seat in the Northwest Conference and clinch the 55th consecutive winning season for the Wildcats, extending their college football record.
No. 6 North Central survived two first-quarter interceptions and went on to roll past Illinois Wesleyan 30-7. Ninth-ranked Delaware Valley shut out Lycoming 36-0 to take control of the MAC race. The Aggies defense held Josh Kleinfelter, who came in averaging 166 yards, to just 27 yards on 10 carries.
Wittenberg continued to survive close games against unranked teams, as Carnegie Mellon missed a field goal as time expired. The Tigers went on to win 27-21 in overtime.
No. 24 Ursinus remained unbeaten and took over sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference, rolling past McDaniel 43-18. The Bears are 7-0 for the first time since 1996. No. 15 Trine remained unbeaten as well, scoring the first 24 points en route to a 31-10 win against Hope.
Top-ranked UW-Whitewater did not throw an incomplete pass all day, and two backup running backs rushed for 240 and 147 yards, respectively, as the Warhawks crushed UW-River Falls on the road 63-14. Second-ranked Mount Union held Capital to 72 total yards in a 38-0 victory.
