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| Lake Forest had nowhere to go on offense vs. Monmouth on Saturday. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
Chapman clinched the SCIAC automatic bid in the final game of the night, while three teams got themslves on the doorstep of punching their tickets to the 2017 NCAA Division III postseason.
Chapman clinched a share of the SCIAC championship and the conference's automatic bid with a 46-38 win over Cal Lutheran. Joe Mudie led the offensive charge for Chapman with 153 yards on the ground to go along with seven catches for 94 yards and another TD. His two touchdowns came on a 70-yard run and a 51-yard pass. Quarterback Ricky Bautista tied his school record with six touchdowns. Despite throwing a pair of interceptions – his first since the opening game of the season – he was 22-of-28 on the night.
The Panthers were the third team to clinch a bid, joining Wartburg and Berry.
Joey Valdivia ran for 127 yards, but that was nearly 70 yards below his average and Lake Forest got just 41 other yards of total offense as Monmouth rolled to a 42-7 win in a Midwest Conference South Division showdown. Lake Forest, which has played only Midwest Conference teams this season, picked up its first loss, while Monmouth improved to 7-1 behind 161 yards and three touchdowns from Deandre Wright. Monmouth will face St. Norbert in Week 11 in the Midwest Conference championship game, as the Green Knights rolled over its nearest competitor, Macalester, 47-7 in a MWC North contest.
Eureka put itself in position to clinch the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference automatic bid next week as the Red Devils defeated frequent conference champion St. Scholastica 40-34. LeAnthony Reasnover got 355 of the team's 418 yards of total offense, as the Saints had no answer. He had 53 carries and five touchdowns en route to those 355 yards. Eureka can clinch with a win vs. Martin Luther in Week 10.
Widener withstood a fourth-and-goal play with 48 seconds left as the Pride became the fourth team in NCAA Division III history to record 700 wins as Widener downed Stevenson 20-14. Widener joins Mount Union, Wittenberg, and Washington & Jefferson as the only D3 schools with 700 or more victories. The Pride improved to 6-2, 6-1 in the MAC.
RPI scored on a touchdown pass with 16.9 seconds left to come from behind and win at St. Lawrence, 21-17. The win keeps the Engineers in a group of three Liberty League teams with one conference loss or fewer. George Marinopoulos found Marc Meislahn in the end zone from 7 yards out for the winning score, while Mike Tivinis had RPI's two other touchdowns, both on the ground.
Michael Whitley led a 75-yard drive in just 52 seconds, capping it off by hitting Dezmon Eddie with a 5-yard pass with two seconds left in a win at Aurora. Whitley's touchdown pass, his fourth of the game, made the score 41-38. The game ended when Aurora's attempt at multiple laterals resulted in a fumble and a touchdown on the final play. Eddie had four total touchdowns, two rushing and two receiving, and Whitley set the NACC record for career TD passes. Lakeland is unbeaten in NACC play with two games remaining.
Trine scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to break a 27-27 tie and pull away from Adrian, 55-34. The Thunder remain unbeaten at 8-0. Lamar Carswell scored four touchdowns, including a 90-yard run and a 70-yard reception. Carswell ran for 205 yards on 19 carries, while quarterback Evan Wyse threw for three touchdowns and ran for 150 yards and another score.
Trying to run out the clock, Randolph-Macon threw on third-and-8 from its own 33 and was picked off by Washington & Lee's Max Garrett. From there, it was up to Josh Breece, who got the call five times on a 10-play drive, including a 1-yard run with 38 seconds left to lift the Generals past Randolph-Macon 17-14. Breece finished with 27 carries for 199 yards and two scores as W&L moved into a first-place tie with Shenandoah in the ODAC. The two teams face off in Week 11.
Chase Burton threw six touchdown passes and Franklin dominated the time of possession in a 66-39 win vs. Mount St. Joseph. The Grizlies (6-2, 6-0) need just one win in the final two games to clinch the HCAC automatic bid.
James Chambers had a senior day to remember and helped his team salvage a bit of a lost season. He ran for 199 yards and had another 91 yards receiving as St. John Fisher defeated Cortland 35-28. It's just the second win for the Cardinals on the season, while Cortland drops to 5-3.
Alexis Santillan's 33-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked, but managed to wobble over the crossbar with four seconds left and North Park won at Augustana 20-17. NPU trailed 14-3 late in the second quarter before Grant Borsch led a 68-yard drive and hit Woodrow Corey for a 13-yard TD with 1:53 to go in the third. North Park blocked a punt in Augustana territory and Borsch hit Corey again for another TD pass. Augustana answered with a field goal but North Park answered on the ensuing drive, with Santillan's kick going through after two Augustana timeouts to attempt to ice him.