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| A rainy day, a grass field, and a big win for Connor Barry and Christopher Newport. Christopher Newport athletics photo |
Wartburg won a defensive battle against conference rival Coe, Christopher Newport delivered Susquehanna its second consecutive loss and a missed call in overtime led to Alma defeating Hope on Saturday. Check out more in the Week 4 Top 25 recap.
The No. 7 Knights held Coe quarterback Brady Kelly 150-plus passing yards below his average, sacked him four times and picked him off twice as Wartburg defeated the Kohawks 17-7. Coe, which fell to 2-2, had averaged 57 points per game over its first three games. The Knights (4-0) opened the scoring with a long, bruising drive on their first possession of the game, holding the ball for more than nine minutes and converting on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 on a Joey Anderson touchdown run to make it 7-0 late in the first. Coe missed a short field goal that could have cut the lead to four points, and only got on the board in the waning seconds of the game when Kelly ran for a 3-yard score.
The Wartburg defense kept Coe to just 24 yards on the ground, and held Kelly to 211 yards on 28-for-40 passing in the win. The Knights improved to 4-0.
Alma escaped Holland, Michigan, with an unlikely win as the officiating crew missed a call in overtime, helping the Scots defeat the No. 15 Flying Dutchmen 29-26. Alma jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Hope scored on its next three possessions to take a 16-14 lead. Alma (2-2, 1-0 MIAA) responded in the third quarter, as Eddie Williams got loose for a 48-yard touchdown run and Jace Heck tacked on a field goal to give the Scots a seven-point lead heading into the fourth. After punting the ball away midway through the fourth, Hope (3-1, 0-1) picked off Carter St. John to get another chance, and Hope made the most of it, driving 70 yards in 13 plays to tie the game with 22 seconds left.
Hope kicked a field goal on its possession in overtime, and seemed to have the game in hand when the defense jumped on a fumbled lateral on a hitch-and-pitch, leading the Flying Dutchmen to celebrate. But the officiaiting crew huddled and ruled it an incomplete pass, giving Alma another chance, which it converted on a jump pass, giving the Scots a 29-26 win.
Agreed with the broadcast. The game should be over. It's clearly a catch and an intentional lateral, and therefore a fumble, not an incomplete pass. Hope should have had this win in the books. #d3fb pic.twitter.com/4iyzEdLkf2
— D3football.com (@d3football) September 27, 2025
Christopher Newport got its first win against a ranked opponent since 2016, as what was a shootout at halftime was a second-half shutout for the Captains as they defeated No. 13-ranked Susquehanna 41-27. Aaron Angelo returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and the River Hawks (2-2) had a big second quarter on offense behind No. 2 quarterback Tommy Wright, but the Captains (3-0) were in charge in the second half as a 31-27 lead became the 41-27 win. Josh Ehrlich completed just one of four passes and ran for minus-3 yards in the first quarter before being replaced by Wright on the final drive of the quarter, although there was no obvious contact or injury. Meanwhile, Connor Barry had a huge day, throwing for 374 yards and three TDs, and the CNU offense ran the ball right at Susquehanna in the rain in the final 20 minutes of the game on CNU's grass field at TowneBank Stadium.
"The field conditions were certainly not ideal, but I give our kids a lot of credit for the way they played today," CNU coach Paul Crowley said following the win. "We stressed all week the importance of turnovers in a rain game like this, and to force five turnovers against a team like Susquehanna is a really good job."
Grove City's offensive struggles continued, as the Washington & Jefferson defense held the Wolverines to 7-for-27 passing and intercepted Grove City quarterbacks three times in a 34-14 win. Dante DeRubbo had two of the interceptions. The Presidents kept the No. 18 Wolverines off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. Kellan Stahl completed 28 of 41 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns, while Jacob Macosko caight 15 passes for 180 yards and a score.
The game between No. 16 Mary Hardin-Baylor and Division II Mars Hill joined the large number of games which was delayed by lightning this season, and the UMHB offense never found its spark on Saturday, as the Cru fell 21-7. UMHB had just one scoring drive, which resulted in a field goal, and scored the rest of its points on two safeties. The Cru managed just 42 yards on the ground in falling to 1-2 overall.
Baldwin Wallace scored twice in the final minutes before halftime to turn a 14-3 deficit to a 17-14 lead against Mount union, but that advantage was short-lived, as the No. 2 Purple Raiders scored on their first possession of the second half, then tackled on two more touchdowns to take a 35-17 lead on the way to a 42-23 win. Shaun Thomas ran for 84 yards and two scores for Mount Union (3-0, 1-0 OAC), while Mikey Maloney completed 22 of 32 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns. The Purple Raiders defense held BW quarterback Charlie Bubonics, the son of former Mount Union great Ed Bubonics, to 142 yards on 13-for-32 passing.
St. John's kept its shutout streak intact and the No. 4-ranked Johnnies celebrated homecoming with a 63-0 win against Augsburg. On a beautiful day and in front of an announced crowd of 8,134 in Collegeville, Minnesota, St. John's pitched its third shutout in three games this season, as the Johnnies broke up seven passes and got eight tackles for loss in the win. All-America tight end Joey Gendreau had 10 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown, while Dylan Wheeler caught a touchdown pass as well, as SJU completed 25 of 37 passes for three TDs in the win.
DePauw won its 28th consecutive regular season game after scoring on its first four drives of the second half and going away with a 28-0 win at Wittenberg. The DePauw defense held Wittenberg to just 104 yards of total offense and held the ball for 36:37, including running out the last 7:58 of the game and kneeling down in the red zone. Scott Ballentine completed 20 of 33 passes for 172 yards with six going to Robby Ballentine for 51 yards.
After finding itself in a 16-7 hole at the half, No. 23 Central scored 28 unanswered points in the second half and defeated Dubuque, 35-16. The Dutch started fast in the second half with Aidan Pollock's 38-yard kickoff return to the 48-yard line. Seven plays and 52 yards later, Quarterback Hunter Hoffman found wide receiver Nolan Meyer for a 13-yard scoring pass. Central scored on three of its remaining five drives of the second half while forcing four Dubuque turnovers and a pair of punts to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard and complete the 28-0 run. Dubuque had just 70 yards of offense in the second half