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| Paul Bageanis hauls in a 47-yard bomb between two Wisconsin Lutheran defenders for the game-winner for St. Norbert with 13 seconds left. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
St. Norbert salvaged a devastating two minutes in a wild fourth quarter, Franklin & Marshall came back to win in overtime and Eureka scored late to improve to 3-0 in Saturday's play among teams not ranked in the D3football.com Top 25.
The Green Knights saw their 31-20 advantage late in the fourth quarter disappear in a matter of minutes, as Wisconsin Lutheran scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Barbian to Trevion Green with 52 seconds left to cut the deficit to 31-26. Following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Warriors' onside kick attempt from midfield was successful, recovering at the St. Norbert 38. On the next play, Barbian hit Emmitt Hawkins on a 38-yard touchdown pass for a 32-31 lead with 43 seconds to go.
But St. Norbert got the ball back and within two plays, the Green Knights were in WLC territory. Peyton Lyon missed on one pass, but then found Paul Bageanis deep downfield between two defenders for a 47-yard touchdown catch with 13 seconds remaining. The touchdown capped a fourth quarter which saw six touchdowns scored.
Montclair State trailed Franklin & Marshall 17-0 before coming back to not only tie, but take the lead at 25-17 with 3:51 to play. But the Diplomats went on the march, and went 79 yards in 17 bruising plays, scoring with 33 seconds to play and hitting on a two-point conversion to tie it up. F&M converted on fourth down three separate times on the drive. The Dips then intercepted Montclair at the beginning of the extra session and Dante Wilson got his team in the end zone with a 2-yard run to seal the 31-25 win. Ty Tremba threw for two touchdowns in the win, one of them to Gary Lewis for the score at the end of regulation. He also caught the two-point conversion pass on a Philly Special. Matt Scully not only had the interception for F&M in overtime, but also forced a fumble and recovered a different fumble on the afternoon.
Hansen Johnson made the stop and forced the fumble on the final play of the game, and Eureka held on to win at home against Rockford, 35-28. The Red Devils had taken the lead with 41.8 seconds left as Ben Bernabei went over right tackle for an easy 3-yard touchdown run. Jaelen Ray led his team deep inside Eureka territory, but his pass was caught, then stripped to end the game. Eureka is 3-0 with wins against Knox, Greenville and Rockford.
Travis Rundle's home head coaching debut saw him lead his alma mater to a 48-19 win against Rose-Hulman. A former player for Albion under his father, Craig Rundle, Travis returned this offseason. Phillip Jones-Price ran for three touchdowns for the Britons, while Luke Lovell completed 18 of 34 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown in a game in which Albion shut out Rose-Hulman in the second half, 28-0.
After trailing 17-3 in the third quarter, Rhodes rallied to push Centre to overtime, only to have the Colonels prevail in the third extra session by a 28-26 score. Rhodes had missed a 27-yard field goal that could have won the game late in regulation. The teams traded field goals in the first overtime and touchdowns in the second before the penalty-kicks-like third overtime, where Jack Gohmann found Joey Deshler on a game-winning two point conversion after Centre's Parker Guillaume had broken up Rhodes' pass attempt earlier in the third OT.
Central threw four interceptions and Coe held on to defeat the Dutch 19-11. The Central defense denied the Kohawks on fourth down three times in the second half and picked off two passes after halftime as well. Central led 11-10 at the half, including getting two points when Coe's punt snap went out of the end zone. But in the third quarter, Coe hit on a 37-yard third-quarter TD pass and added a 24-yard field goal. Central stayed in the game by stopping Coe on fourth down four times in the second half.
William Paterson managed to get past McDaniel 35-14 despite managing just 143 yards of total offense, which included minus-10 yards on the ground. Paterson scored on a 65-yard fumble return by defensive lineman Yubir Rojas-Herrera, an 89-yard kickoff return by Nafee Finney, and a 25-yard pick-six by Devyn Blount. Taz Burton got 118 of Paterson's 143 yards on just two plays, each of them third-quarter touchdown catches. William Paterson had just four first downs on the afternoon, and went three-and-out nine times, including one drive that ended in a fumble.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps got a 47-yard field goal from Rich Brutto with one second left in the game to break a tie against George Fox, then intercepted one of the Bruins' attempted multiple laterals and took it to the house on the final play to secure the 16-7 win. On a day in which Justin Edwards left the game early, Walter Kuhlenkamp carried the load for the Stags, running for a 65-yard touchdown to get his team on the board in the third quarter and compiling 207 total yards. Kuhlenkamp came in to replace Peter Boehm, who was ineffective in his start, completing just four of his 12 pass attempts.