|
| R.J. Garrison caught a 59-yard touchdown pass as part of Belhaven's big third quarter surge against archrival Millsaps. Belhaven athletics photo |
Belhaven turned the tables on its cross-street rival, while Marietta avenged an end-of-season loss and Trinity (Texas) avenged a Week 1 loss from last year among nearly a dozen games played on Thursday night, Sept. 4, opening night for the 2025 Division III football season.
The Blazers, who are so close to archrival Millsaps in Jackson, Mississippi that one could easily walk the distance, put the Majors away with a big third quarter and scored 22 consecutive points to put the game away in a 49-24 win. The victory came in front of a packed house at Belhaven Bowl Stadium. Caleb Gallashaw ran for two touchdowns and caught a third on a wheel route, while TJ Hatch ran for a 15-yard touchdown on a reverse. Freshman quarterback Grant Bizjack had rallied his team with a touchdown drive at the end of the second quarter, hitting Greg Donaldson over the middle for a 19-yard score on the final play of the half, b'ut Millsaps (0-1) went three-and-out and failed twice on fourth down in the third quarter as Belhaven ramped its lead back up.
Marietta got its season off to a much better start than the previous season finished, as the Pioneers dominated the time of possession and held off Westminster (Pa.), defeating the Titans 12-8. At the end of last season, Westminster beat Marietta 27-13 in the Extra Points Bowl. Vante' Hodges ran for 171 yards on 37 carries and Benny Lewis went for 12 carries and 54 yards in the win. The Pioneers got Tom Kaufman a win in his Marietta head coaching debut. Marietta ran 83 plays and held the ball for 41:27, compared to 41 and 18:33 for Westminster.
Trinity avenged last year's season-opening loss at home to Texas Lutheran and improved to 20-14 in the all-time series between the two schools. Today marks Trinity's fourth win in the last five meetings, with the only blemish being last year's first game. Trinity (Texas) knocked Texas Lutheran quarterback Caden Bosanko out of the game and the Tigers held the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the second half. Trinity scored on its opening possession of the game to take the early lead, then Texas Lutheran tied the game with a score of its own early in the second quarter. The Tigers then scored 19 points in the second quarter, taking a 26-14 lead on a 47-yard field goal by Hayden Rhoades with less than 10 seconds left. That proved to be the final points of the game and Trinity held the Bulldogs offense to just 83 yards in the third and fourth quarters.
Howard Payne managed just 255 yards of total offense, but it held Pacific to 174 yards, including just 25 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries for All-America running back Brody Bantolina. The Yellow Jackets came away with a 21-13 win. ... The Mayor's Cup got off to a rollicking start, but it didn't get very far. The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania rivalry game between King's and Wilkes got to the end of the first quarter with King's leading Wilkes 3-0, but lightning stopped the game in its tracks and it will be resumed on Saturday at noon. ... Coe won for the 25th consecutive time in the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi River, rolling over Cornell 62-6.