Grove City and Westminster (Pa.) got their seasons off on the right foot on Friday night. Grove City athletics photo by Matt Durisko

On Friday night, Wilmington, Denison and Ferrum all won thrilling games in the closing minute, while Mount Union pulled away from John Carroll and four PAC teams got on the field for the first time.

• Week 7 scores: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
• 2020-21 conference standings

Trailing 21-14 in the second quarter, the Purple Raiders outscored John Carroll 38-6 the rest of the way, with Braxton Plunk throwing five of his seven touchdown passes during that stretch en route to a 52-27 win. Plunk went 38-for-58 passing, 16 of those to Wayne Ruby for 182 yards and four scores. Those 16 catches are one short of the most ever by a Purple Raider, Adam Marino's 17 in the 2000 national semifinals against Widener.

For the second time in as many weeks, Wilmington started a drive inside its own 5 with under five minutes to play, and for the second week in a row Kyle Barrett drove them all the way to the end zone for a game-winning touchdown. The Quakers defeated Otterbein 17-10. The drive was given a big jolt right out of the gate with a 45-yard run by Yvan Tientcheu to just short of midfield and Barrett later found Lathan Jones in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left.

Pat Kramer connected on a 28-yard field goal with 27 seconds left to lead Denison to a thrilling 38-37 win at Ohio Wesleyan. Kramer's game-winner came after Ohio Wesleyan kicker Gabe Philhower booted a 43-yard field goal with 5:21 remaining to put the Battling Bishops on top, 37-35. Denison took over on their own 22 yard line and Dawkins quickly moved them into OWU territory after completions to DJ Johnson and Peyton Vining. On third-and-3 from the OWU 11, Dawkins' pass was batted down, forcing a field goal attempt by Kramer. After two timeouts by OWU, Kramer's field goal went through with plenty to spare and was the 25th of his career, matching the school's record.

Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney will enter their rivalry game both undefeated on this young season, as Randolph-Macon scored on six consecutive possessions to put Shenandoah away in a 52-38 win and Hampden-Sydney rolled past Guilford, beating the winless Quakers 43-12. For the second week in a row, Guilford managed to score in the first 20 minutes of the game, but it was of little consequence as Hampden-Sydney (3-0) roared out to a 28-6 lead and rolled to a 43-12 win. For the second consecutive week, Guilford gave up a two-point defensive return for a touchdown. The Tigers featured 10 individual ball-carriers in the win and Brendan Weinberg threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns.

Rashadeen Byrd Jr. ran for a 68-yard touchdown, his third of the game, with 2:06 left to give Shenandoah a 31-30 lead at home against Randolph-Macon, but the Yellow Jackets scored three consecutive touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Presley Egbers ran for 173 yards and two scores and threw for 153 yards and two additional touchdowns in the win. Hampden-Sydney will host the matchup of The Game archrivals on Saturday, March 27.

Ferrum took a 27-7 lead into the locker and looked as though it was cruising to its first victory of the season, but Southern Virginia came out and chipped away with three touchdown drives to start the second half and went on top 28-27 with 8:49 to play in the game. Matthew Johansson's 33-yard touchdown run, his third score of the game, gave the Knights the lead. Southern Virginia also picked off a pass on Ferrum's next possession, but was only able to pick up one first down. Ferrum got the ball back on its own 28 and drove 72 yards to the end zone, with J'Sean Dupu going the final 11 yards to give the Panthers the 33-28 lead with 1:15 left.

Junior quarterback Josh Ehst completed 12 of 21 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns as Grove City rolled up 525 yards of total offense in a 37-14 win against St. Vincent. The game was a cross-divisional matchup between teams in the PAC's spring 2021 North and South Division. Westminster (Pa.) jumped out to a 42-0 lead and cruised in the other cross-divisional PAC game, defeating Bethany 42-21. Four Titans quarterbacks and nine ballcarriers combined for 455 yards of total offense, while Jarred Kohl led the way with two and a half sacks.

Marietta got its season started with a 30-20 win against Baldwin Wallace. The Pioneers returned a blocked extra point for a defensive two-point conversion, leading 16-13 going into halftime. And Marietta scored the first points of the second half as well when running back Bryce Agnew went 29 yards to pay dirt for his second touchdown. Marietta pushed its lead to 30-13 on the third touchdown of the game for Agnew on an 8-yard rush and the Pioneers held on from there.