Wartburg survived another battle from a MIAC team as the No. 6 Knights held off No. 19 Bethel. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

Thomas More player Mitch Kramer died in a vehicular accident in August and the community honored his memory at the Saints' home opener. Photo by Adam Turer, D3sports.com

Bethel's defense put up a fight but in the end, it was No. 6 Wartburg which won the battle, defeating the No. 19 Royals 24-14. Bethel held Logan Schrader to 14-for-30 passing and picked him off twice, but Robbie Anstoett had six catches for 124 yards and the Wartburg defense held on three of Bethel's red zone chances to win 24-14.

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Bethel took the second-half kickoff and scored seven plays later as Andrew Dzurik hit Bryce Marquardt for a 9-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-14. Wartburg answered with a field goal to take the lead and iced it in the fourth quarter. Anstoett came down with a big 11-yard reception on third-and-11 and Brandon Domeyer ran it in from 16 yards out two plays later to ice it for the Knights.

Thomas More held its starting quarterback out because of injury and it turned out not to matter as the offense came up huge in an 84-7 win vs. Hanover. The Saints, who remembered their fallen teammate, Mitch Kramer, rolled up 623 yards of total offense as six players rushed for at least 30 yards and a half-dozen found the end zone in the win. Brennan Kuntz led the Saints on 13-for-18 passing for 228 yards and three scores, while CT Tarrant ran for a game-high 130 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Franklin and Marshall scored twice in the final five minutes and held on to knock off No. 23 Muhlenberg 16-15. Matt Magarity was just 11-for-24 and threw two interceptions but threw for 27 yards and ran for 11 on the game-winning drive, including the 3-yard touchdown run with 1:01 to go. Muhlenberg's desperation pass to end the game fell incomplete as F&M held on to win.

Jordan Ratliffe, Dennis Moore and Nick Patterson combined for 247 yards on 30 carries and Chris Nelson's first start at quarterback for No. 1 UW-Whitewater was an easy one as he only threw nine passes in a 62-6 win at Belhaven. The Warhawks, with new cornerbacks, held the Air Raid offense to 195 yards, 168 on 45 passes, just 3.7 yards per attempt. 

Sam Riddle was 14-for-23 passing with two touchdowns, both of them to Spencer Payne, as No. 3 Linfield got its season started with a 52-14 win over No. 22 Chapman in the season opener for both teams. Payne caught six passes for 128 yards. Jake Reimer had seven tackles, two and a half for loss, for the Wildacts. Chapman scored on its opening drive and did noth score again until the fourth quarter.

Wesley got its season off to a strong start as Joe Callahan threw for five touchdowns and Jamar Baynard ran for 136 yards on 18 carries in a 44-3 win vs. Frostburg State. Jonathan Germano was a dual threat for Johns Hopkins, as he threw for 203 yards and ran for 105 more in a 59-7 win vs. Susquehanna. The No. 11 Blue Jays rolled up 556 yards of total offense while holding the Crusaders to 213. Seven players scored touchdowns for Johns Hopkins.

The starters hit the sidelines early for No. 8 St. John's as the Johnnies rolled over Buena Vista 56-7. SJU took a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime and Sam Sura didn't stay in the game much longer, coming out after 18 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown.

Jeff Thorne's head coaching debut was a successful one as No. 13 North Central rolled past Trine 41-7. "It was exciting," Thorne said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. It was really satisfying to come out here and have it play out the way it did. The guys just played phenomenally well. We ran the ball really well and our defense was just fantastic."

Hobart scored in all three phases of the game as the No. 15 Statesmen beat Endicott 28-17 on a rainy day in Geneva, N.Y. The game saw new Endicott Kevin DeWall make his return to Hobart, where he'd spent 19 seasons as an assistant coach.