Top 25 recap: WNE knocks off Springfield; UWO wins at Linfield

Sep 06, 2025

A rivalry game, an upset win, and a trophy get the season started for Western New England.
Western New England athletics photo

Western New England handed archrival Springfield a season-opening loss, while Johns Hopkins rolled, Mount Union survived a late flurry from Wheaton and Grove City won going away at Cortland among teams in the Top 25 on Division III's first Saturday of the 2025 season.

Western New England wrenched the Pynchon SAW away from Springfield as the Golden Bears scored with five seconds left to win the rivalry game and knock off No. 13 Springfield 23-22. WNE entered the fourth quarter holding onto a 16-14 lead before Springfield scored with 2:26 left and got the two-point conversion to regain the advantage at 22-16. TJ Welch, getting the start at quarterback for the triple option offense, completed a deep ball down the right side for a 41 yard gain to get the ball into Bears territory, and Pedro Cam went 26 yards on the ground on the next play for the score.

But Brady Lafferty drove his team 65 yards on 16 plays, converting twice on fourth down, including a Matt LaMontagne run to get to the Pride 13 with just seconds left. After spiking the ball to stop the clock. Lafferty hit Christian Delgado on a short pass in the flat out to the right, and Delgado made a cut to beat the defender and get in the end zone with five seconds left. Western New England limited Springfield to 240 yards on the ground. It was Delgado's first career touchdown catch.

No. 2-ranked Mount Union rolled out to a 37-7 lead after three quarters on five touchdown passes from new starter Mikey Maloney before No. 17 Wheaton scored three TDs in the fourth quarter, two of them in the final four minutes as the Purple Raiders won, 37-29. Maloney threw for 307 yards on 19-for-24 completions and ran for 44 yards in the win, with Jacob Cockrell catching three passes for 106 yards and two scores. Jerry Cooper Jr., a standout wide receiver previously for Mount Union, got his first start at safety and got six tackles, five solo.

Bay Harvey was hyper-efficient in his return to the starting quarterback spot as No. 3 Johns Hopkins rolled past Ithaca on the road, 42-14. He completed 16 of 18 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for a touchdown himself, and Geoff Schroeder had 110 yards from scrimmage and three touchdown runs in the win. The Blue Jays defense got to Ithaca quarterback Matthew Parker, sacking him five times and intercepting two passes in the victory.

Susquehanna got off to a victorious start as the No. 4 River Hawks defeated Union 33-14. Josh Ehrlich threw for 226 yards and ran for 82 on a day in which Susquehanna was missing All-America running back Rahshan La Mons and running back Matt Sturtz, plus key wide receiver Shawn Cain. The River Hawks settled for field goals in the red zone twice in the second half, but got a pick-six from Berkeley Wagner to help keep the Garnet Chargers at bay. Tommy Grabowski had 21 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown, while Drew Hutchins added 11 for 21 and a touchdown out of the backfield for Susquehanna.

"He's the guy who makes us go," coach Tom Perkovich said of Ehrlich. "He's the leader. He is the captain. He's one of the best in the country, in my opinion, and you saw it today, just his ability to continue plays and find receivers and those guys made some great catches. ... To see him continue to mature as a leader and, and to, and kind of take the bull by the horns with the offense has been really fun to watch."

Recap continues below.

The Grove City defense locked things down after halftime, allowing the Wolverines' offense to pull away as No. 23 Grove City defeated No. 10 Cortland in Cortland, New York, 31-14. Noah Wheeler broke the tie with a pick-six, as Cortland's first offensive possession of the second half resulted in a Grove City TD. It was one of five interceptions for starting quarterback Mike Rescigno on the afternoon. Brady Lane added a field goal with 4:44 to play and Ian Demeri picked up his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon to seal the win with 1:20 left. Demeri gutted out 81 yards on 24 carries, while Sutton Ellis was 10-for-22 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown, surviving five sacks from the Red Dragons.

UW-Oshkosh started its season off with a big win as the Titans went to McMinnville, Oregon, and knocked off No. 16 Linfield, 31-14. Quentin Keene, who had thrown 10 career collegiate passes before the day started, went 17-for-26 for 285 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Oshkosh to the win. Luke McNabb, who was part of Linfield's two-QB system last year, went 14-for-29 passing for 128 yards and two scores. But the difference was on the ground, where Oshkosh limited Linfield to 22 yards rushing on 25 carries, while the Titans ran 40 times for 134 yards and a score. Clayton Schwalbe, the tight end/H-back for Oshkosh, had a TD catch and a TD run in the win.

No. 15 UW-Platteville had its way with No. 22 Aurora, defeating the Spartans 41-0. New starting quarterback Nathan Uselding completed 20 of 24 passes for 260 yards and ran for two TDs, while Zackary Bothun had 173 yards and three TDs on just 15 carries. The Pioneers picked off Aurora quarterback Tyler Adkins four times and got to him for six sacks, with Ashton Honore collecting two and a half of the sacks and one of the interceptions.

Kaleb Blaha threw for 443 yards and five touchdowns as No. 19 UW-River Falls started the season off with a win, defeating Alma 45-33. Blaha and his Alma counterpart, quarterback Carter St. John, were both held somewhat in check on the ground, but the two combined for 685 passing yards and were picked off just twice. Stephen Reifenberger caught three touchdown passes, two of them in the second half, including a 79-yards late in the third that gave the Falcons a 24-point lead. Eddie Williams led Alma on the ground with 28 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Noah Garcia ran 22 times for 158 yards and a touchdown and Braylon Henry added 125 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries as No. 6 Hardin-Simmons got out of Orange, California, with a 37-30 win at Chapman. The Panthers battled to the end, forcing HSU to recover an onside kick with about a minute left to seal the win. Tyler Pacheco threw for just 93 yards for Chapman, going 10-for-23, but he scrambled and ran the ball well enough to move the chains, running for 127 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. He also led a TD drive that culminated in a great catch by Kade Zimmerman with 55 seconds left to get Chapman back within one score.

Kamerin Ferguson ran for 148 yards and a touchdown and new starting quarterback Kirkland Michaux completed 19 of 25 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown as No. 8 Mary Hardin-Baylor won on the road at NAIA member Bethel (Tenn.). Bethel was starting a Division III transfer at quarterback, Destin Chance, who was an all-conference player at Illinois College. He was limited to 21-for-37 passing and just 227 yards on his 37 completions. Gaige Sanders registered two of UMHB's four sacks on the night.

SyRus McGowan rolled up 340 yards of total offense and accounted for four total touchdowns as No. 7 Salisbury opened with a commanding 42-21 win vs. the Generals of Washington & Lee. Daniel Clark had four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown while Dario Belizaire caught McGowan's other TD pass and had three receptions for 89 yards.

Nick Semptimhelter, the third of the three quarterbacks on the D3football.com preseason All-America team after Blaha and St. John, made waves on Saturday as well, as he set the NCAA Division III single-game record for completion percentage. Semptimhelter went 25-for-26 passing, throwing for 301 yards as No. 25 John Carroll defeated Waynesburg 48-14. The lone incomplete pass was a drop. The record for quarterbacks who completed a minimum of 20 passes had been held by Mark Petruziello, also of John Carroll, who was 20-for-21 passing against Thomas More on Sept. 6, 2008.