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| Collin Urie gave Hobart a 14-7 lead with a pick-six late in the first quarter. Hobart and William Smith Colleges photo by Mary Mazzarella |
Without Joe Germinerio, Brockport stumbled, while W&J and St. John's won nail-biters in Saturday's early Division III football Top 25 action.
Hobart picked off Brockport quarterbacks five times and needed just 191 yards of total offense to defeat the No. 13-ranked Golden Eagles 33-7 on Saturday. With former All-America quarterback Joe Germinerio transferring to Ithaca in the offseason, Jason Hellwig got the call and was picked off four times, while Keion Jones threw an interception as well in relief.
Emmett Forde picked off two passes, while Collin Urie returned a pick 23 yards for a touchdown with 1:10 left in the first quarter to give the Statesmen (1-0) a lead they would never relinquish. On the opposite side, Ryan Hoffmann completed 12 of 25 passes for 147 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
No. 3 St. John's survived two drives by UW-Stout late in the fourth quarter as the Johnnies held on to defeat the Blue Devils 14-7. Trailing 7-0 at the half, St. John's came back to score twice in the third quarter, both times with Jackson Erdmann throwing touchdown passes. Erdmann's second, a 46-yard strike to Henry Trost, came after the Johnnies defense forced a three-and-out and T.J. Hodge set SJU up with good field position on a punt return.
Washington & Jefferson overcame three interceptions and a 12-for-31 day from its quarterbacks and scored twice in the fourth quarter as the No. 21 Presidents survived to knock off the No. 18 Tigers 16-8. Wittenberg (0-1) took an 8-7 lead into the halftime locker room on the strength of a safety and Blake King's 35-yard touchdown pass to Thad Snodgrass, but the Tigers got into Presidents territory just one time the rest of the game. W&J managed just 120 yards of total offense for the game. William Wooldridge picked off two passes for the Tigers. Senior Mike Williams recorded 10 tackles, a pair of sacks and forced a fumble that senior Nick Getz returned 52 yards for a touchdown in the win.
UW-Whitewater got off to a big start as the No. 4 Warhawks defeated Dubuque 42-7 in front of 10,316 fans. UWW rolled up 439 yards of total offense, with Zach Oles getting the start at quarterback and accounting for 151 yards through the air. Ronny Ponick carried the ball 12 times, picking up 80 yards and a score, while Alex Peete added 14 for 29 yards. Mark McGrath led the defense from his defensive back spot with five tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick. (Photo gallery)
North Central made the long trip to the East Coast and came away with a convincing 43-13 win vs. Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon. Garrison Mayo took a screen pass 78 yards for a touchdown five minutes into the game to bring the Captains into a 7-7 tie, but the fifth-ranked Cardinals scored the next three touchdowns, including two TD passes from senior Broc Rutter, to blow the game open. North Central held CNU without a third-down conversion on the afternoon, while Rutter finished 27-for-36 passing with 369 yards and three scores. (Photo gallery)
Michael Hnatkowsky was an efficient 17-for-25 and threw five touchdown passes as No. 8 Muhlenberg defeated TCNJ 45-26. The Mules, coming off of a quarterfinal trip last season, sprinted out to a 21-0 lead in the first 12 minutes and cruised to the victory. The Lions (0-1) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to keep the final score close.
Marc Meislahn scored two 1-yard touchdowns and George Marinopoulos three two touchdowns and ran for one as No. 19 RPI defeated Allegheny 52-14. Meislahn, a slot receiver who missed nearly all of 2018 due to an injury, finished with eight yards rushing along with 46 receiving yards on three catches. He was one of 11 Engineers to catch the ball and one of 10 to run with it.
Bethel had no trouble imposing its will on Simpson, even with starting quarterback Jaran Roste getting knocked out of the game in the third quarter, as the No. 10 Royals defeated Simpson 42-10. The Storm missed a field goal which would have cut the lead to 7-6 and Bethel's Mike Delich ripped off a 54-yard run on the next possession to extend the Royals lead. Delich added another score early in the fourth quarter.
Junior quarterback Clark Payne recorded five touchdowns in his starting debut, and No. 20 Centre handed Hanover a 45-31 defeat at Alumni Stadium. It marked the sixth straight season-opening victory for the Colonels (1-0) over the Panthers (0-1). The Colonels scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.
Aurora exploded for 29 points in the second quarter and the Spartans came away with a victory in the first game for new head coach Don Beebe, defeating No. 25 St. Norbert 50-40. Aurora quarterback Gavin Zimbelman completed 33 of 52 passes for 497 yards and seven touchdowns in the win. Senior tight end Colton Jewell caught four passes for 41 yards and three scores, while Jacolby Mahwell caught five passes for 175 yards and two scores. St. Norbert, which joins Aurora's conference, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, next fall, scored twice in the final six minutes to cut the deficit to 10.