T25 recap: JHU rallies; RF, WW win

Sep 07, 2024

Ithaca jumped out to a 17-0 lead, but found the final 37 minutes of the game a stiffer challenge.
Ithaca athletics photo

No. 8 Johns Hopkins rallied from 17 points down at No. 20 Ithaca, while UW-Oshkosh edged past No. 9 Wheaton, No. 17 UW-River Falls held off a late charge from No. 7 Alma and No. 3 UW-Whitewater cruised past 19th-ranked John Carroll in early action among ranked teams. Then, under the lights, Texas Lutheran dominated No. 13 Trinity (Texas) in a 35-20 win.

Two Colin Schumm touchdown runs and a 45-yard field goal from Derek Baldin gave Ithaca a 17-0 lead with 7:28 remaining, but Johns Hopkins scored the next 20 points on two Bay Harvey touchdown runs and a TD pass, taking the lead with 6:43 left in the third quarter. Schumm found Jalen Leonard-Osborne for a 49-yard pass to get into the red zone, and Jake Williams caught a 7-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to allow Ithaca to retake the lead, but JHU retook the lead at 27-23 with 8:44 to play on Harvey's TD pass to EJ Talarico.

Ithaca failed on fourth down on consecutive possession but got a break as Jake Connolly forced a fumble with less than two minutes to play, giving the Bombers the ball at their own 21. But two plays later, Carson Bourdo stepped in front of a deep ball down the sideline to pick Schumm off and allow JHU to run out the clock for the 27-23 win. Schumm threw for 250 yards on 17-of-34 attempts and rushed for 48 yards, while Harvey was 17-for-28 for 243 yards and two scores, in addition to running for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

INTERCEPTION! Carson Bourdo gets the game-sealing INT to give @JHU_Football Head Coach Dan Wodicka his first win in his first game as HC. Hopkins defeats @IthacaBomberFB, 27-23, erasing a 17-0 early deficit to win. @D3FBHuddle #d3fb pic.twitter.com/5JR4MuEAJZ
— Frank Rossi (@FrankRossi) September 7, 2024

Quentin Keene threw two touchdown passes and Justice Lovelace ran for the game-winning touchdown with just 16 seconds left as UW-Oshkosh defeated No. 9 Wheaton 21-14. The Thunder had taken a 14-13 lead midway through the third quarter after Giovanni Weeks ran it in from 1 yard out with 7:39 left in the period. Oshkosh had a drive fail on downs in the red zone, and punted twice before getting the ball back on its own 25 with 4:21 left. Keene bounced back from a sack to hit Jon Mathieu for a 26-yard gain, then later found Mathieu again for a 30-yard catch to get the Titans down to the 19. From there, Justice Lovelace took over, running four times for 21 yards, including the 1-yard score with 0:16 left. Lovelace was credited with 46 yards rushing, while Keene was 11-for-22 for 273 yards.

UW-River Falls jumped out to a 27-7 lead and Kaleb Blaha outdueled Carter St. John in a Week 1 battle of standout Division III quarterbacks as the No. 17 Falcons defeated No. 7 Alma 41-35. Blaha threw for 315 yards and ran for 111, accounting for five total touchdowns in just three quarters before giving way to Cade Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald threw a TD pass in the fourth to give River Falls a 41-21 before before St. John led two touchdown drive in the final nine minutes, including a 13-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a TD pass to Ty Lotterman with 41 seconds left. But the Scots were unable to cover the onside kick and River Falls held on for the win. St. John threw for 257 yards and four TDs, while running for 33 yards and a score as well.

Tamir Thomas ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns, Brian Stanton added 123 yards and a score and Jason Ceniti threw a TD pass as well in his return to the starting lineup as No. 3 UW-Whitewater made it look easy, defeating No. 19 John Carroll 34-7. The Blue Streaks did score on the final snap of the game to avoid the shutout, on what was JCU's only trip into the red zone of the afternoon. The Warhawks defense held Nick Semptimphelter to 147 passing yards, 71 of them on that final drive which started with under 5 minutes to play. The Warhawks ran for 286 yards on 41 carries, an average of just a hair under 7.0 yards per carry.

In its first game without Tucker Horn, No. 13 Trinity (Texas) got a reality check in a loss to Texas Lutheran. TLU only needed 283 yards of total offense to rack up a 35-20 win, as the Bulldogs' defense limited Trinity to 17-of-39 passing and just 179 yards through the air. Caden Bosanko threw touchdown passes to Caleb Camarillo and Cole Andrus and finished the night 21-for-31 through the air for 240 yards.

Linfield jumped out front with three first-quarter touchdowns and the No. 23 Wildcats cruised to a home win, 31-7 against Denison. Linfield scored on a two-play, 90-yard drive, as well as on a 36-yard fumble return for a TD. Chance Sparks also picked up a defensive score, taking an interception 52 yards for a score to make it 31-0 with 4:38 left in the first half.

Whitworth held Gustavus Adolphus All-America wide receiver Jake Breitbach to four catches for 84 yards and the No. 24 Pirates pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 40-7 on the road. Evan Liggett had his best game as a Pirate, catching eight passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He also had an interception at the end of the first half to round out his day. Daniel McKeirnan had two picks for Whitworth.

The Carter administration was in full force at Wartburg as starting quarterback Carter Markham helped lead the No. 4 Knights to a 38-24 win at Monmouth. Markham, who stepped in as the starting quarterback for Wartburg, hit Carter Henry for nine receptions and 143 yards. The Knights exhibited ball control, holding the ball for 38:05. D3football.com All-American Anthony Cikauskas racked up three and a half tackles for loss as Monmouth had nine TFL and broke up six passes.

The two ranked teams in the PAC each shut out overmatched foes in Week 1. Grove City registered its first season-opening shutout in 37 years, blanking Geneva 41-0. The Wolverines limited Geneva to four first downs, 62 total yards and an 0-for-11 performance on third down. Grove City's starting linebackers, Ben Bladel, Caleb Brubaker and Jack Jollie each recorded sacks. Geneva executed two offensive plays in Grove City territory, back-to-back snaps at the Grove City 49 in the first quarter. No. 22 Carnegie Mellon had a similar opener, winning 58-0 at Thiel, with all of the points coming in the first half. The Tartans defense held the Tomcats to 2 yards rushing and 75 total yards on 59 offensive snaps. Ben Mills threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Brendan McCullough. It's the second year of two in which the Presidents' Athletic Conference is playing solely conference games.

The defending champs had no trouble with Hilbert, as No. 2 Cortland rolled past the Hawks 76-0. It's Hilbert's 16th consecutive loss since starting the program in 2022. Zac Boyes needed just 12 pass attempts to throw for 136 yards and three touchdowns, and the Cortland defense held Hilbert to just 18 yards of total offense and one first down. Noah Beaudrie ran for three touchdowns and threw for two as No. 5 Mount Union had its way with Ferrum, winning 55-6. The Panthers, who are departing for Division II after this season, did lead 3-0 and only trailed 14-6 midway through the second quarter before the Purple Raider offense came alive, scoring five touchdowns in the next 18 minutes of game action.