By Greg Chandler
D3sports.com

The second week of the season in the Great Lakes region produced some fantastic finishes and wild, high-scoring contests.

Alma, which surprised many last year by winning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs, picked right up where they left off, coming from behind to defeat Wilmington 27-24.

Matt Picirilli nailed a 45-yard field goal with less than three minutes left for Alma, which battled back from deficits of 17-7 and 24-17 to win its season opener at Bahlke Field. Last year, the Scots were 8-2, losing only to MIAA rival Hope in the regular season, then falling to Wittenberg in the first round of the Division III playoffs. Wilmington, meanwhile, joins the Ohio Athletic Conference this fall after a 9-1 runner-up campaign last year as a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Tom DeVore, a transfer from John Carroll, came up big in his first game for the Scots, rushing for 128 yards, including a 21-yard run in the fourth quarter that tied the game. He also returned a kickoff 83 yards for a score. Meanwhile, Wilmington quarterback Adam Ryan lit up the skies, completing 29 of 43 passes for 384 yards.

This Saturday, Alma travels to Wittenberg for a rematch of last year's first-round playoff game. The Tigers (2-0) rolled over the Scots 42-19 last year as workhorse running back Casey Donaldson rushed for 152 yards. Wittenberg looked impressive again on Saturday with a 33-14 win over Heidelberg.

The wildest game of the day saw Washington and Jefferson and Allegheny combine for 1,349 yards and 95 points. When the smoke cleared, the Presidents emerged with a 54-41 victory.

Sophomore running back Roger Snyder, who was the third-string back on the W&J depth chart, got his chance to shine after Joey Nichols and John Pons were suspended for two games each for violating team rules. Nichols and Pons had combined for about 1,600 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns last season. Snyder exploded for a school-record 307 yards on 24 carries, scoring on runs on 67, 83 and 90 yards - the latter putting Washington and Jefferson ahead to stay in the fourth quarter.

The Presidents had other offensive heroes too - quarterback Brian Dawson, returning from a broken leg, completed 19 of 28 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns - three of them to wideout Dave Armitage, covering 29, 70 and 70 yards. Shane Ream had a big day for Allegheny, rumbling for 248 yards on 42 carries, but couldn't keep the Gators from falling to 0-2.

Meanwhile, Grove City evened its record at 1-1 with a thrilling 27-21 overtime victory over Kenyon. Running back R.J. Bowers continued to move closer to the all-time NCAA rushing record, rushing for 155 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 9-yard TD run in overtime. With his two scores, Bowers moved past the late Walter Payton as the eighth-leading scorer in NCAA history (all divisions). He now needs 154 yards to surpass Coe's Carey Bender as the most prolific rusher in Division III history.

Defensively, the Wolverines stopped Kenyon four times on fourth down, and forced three turnovers. Inside linebacker Adam Corbett led Grove City a career-high 19 tackles, including a pair of quarterback sacks. Kenyon's Andy Mills did all he could to help his team win, scoring on a 1-yard run on offense, making eight tackles and returning an interception 29 yards on defense, and blocking two kicks on special teams.

The wins for Washington and Jefferson and Grove City were part of a perfect Saturday for the Presidents' Athletic Conference. All five regular PAC members, plus provisional member Westminster, won their contests.

Playing with the big boys
A couple of D-III schools stepped up a notch, putting up battles against Division I-AA foes before falling on Saturday. In Holland, Mich., Hope gave Valparaiso, the top-ranked I-AA non-scholarship team in the country, all it wanted before the Crusaders prevailed 20-7. The Hope defense held Valpo without a touchdown for the game's first three quarters, leading 7-6 heading into the final 15 minutes, but could not hold on. Linebacker Matt Bride led the Flying Dutchmen with 16 tackles.

Meanwhile, Ohio Northern jumped out to a 14-3 lead at Dayton, and trailed only 30-24 late in the third quarter. However, the Flyers pulled away late for a 52-31 victory as ONU fell in its season opener. Jamal Robertson rambled for 189 yards on 19 carries, scoring twice for the Polar Bears. ONU piled up 468 yards in total offense in a losing cause.

"I am very excited about our effort, but we simply got beat by a better team," ONU head coach Tom Kaczkowski said. "We knew it was a big challenge to line up and play a Division I opponent like Dayton. We took it as a challenge and responded well."

News and notes
Wooster's Justin Abraham put up big numbers in leading the Fighting Scots to a 32-16 win against Kalamazoo. The Wooster quarterback completed 24 of 35 passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to wideout Chris Cabot, who had 11 catches for 142 yards.

Baldwin-Wallace piled up 511 yards of total offense and scored 42 points in the middle two quarters as the Yellow Jackets crushed Adrian, 49-3. The Bulldogs were held to 38 rushing yards.

Wabash's defense caused six turnovers, including two that were returned for touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the second half as the Little Giants manhandled Manchester 38-7. Nose guard B. J. Hammer returned a Manchester fumble 64 yards for his first career touchdown. Then on the next series, defensive back Lonnie Heck picked off a Spartan pass and returned it 69 yards for a score. 

Wittenberg's defense has been rock solid in wins against Urbana and Heidelberg, holding opponents to just four first-down conversions in 34 third-down situations. Thiel's Ricardo Franklin intercepted three passes and returned a kickoff 54 yards in his team's 25-20 win over Kean. Olivet's Mike Hanna made 18 tackles in the Comets' loss to Ohio Wesleyan.

Wilmington had a pair of receivers go over the 100-yard mark in its lost to Alma - Jonathan Cain had seven catches for 145 yards, while Ron Cosby had eight grabs for 101 yards. Wittenberg's Steve DeGraffenreed had seven catches for 134 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown reception, in the Tigers' win over Heidelberg. Both were career highs for DeGraffenreed.

Albion's Bill Poirier rushed for 117 yards on just five carries against Tri-State, but injured shoulder in the second quarter and is questionable for this week's home game against Buffalo State. The Britons also lost backup Asa Sherwood to an injury against Tri-State, but fullback Tom Weinmann switched the tailback and rushed for 96 yards as Albion silenced the Thunder 27-19.