No. 4 Henderson State 60, Ouachita Baptist 52 (3OT)
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. -- It will go down as one of the greatest games ever played in the history of the Battle of the Ravine as No. 4 Henderson State beat Ouachita Baptist 60-52 in triple overtime at A.U. Williams Field.
A standing room only crowd of 9,648 watched the two teams go back-and-forth before Gary Vines intercepted a Benson Jordan pass in the end zone in the third overtime to secure Henderson's second consecutive undefeated regular season.
Henderson State head coach Scott Maxfield improved his record to 6-2 against the Tigers. Maxfield has the best winning percentage among all HSU coaches who have faced OBU at least four times in their career. In his ninth season at HSU, only Sporty Carpenter (8-9-2) and Jimmy Haygood (8-8-2) have more wins than Maxfield against OBU.
Leading 31-21 at the end of three quarters, OBU rallied back and took a 35-31 lead after an 8-yard run by Chris Rycraw and a 67-yard punt return by Etauj Allen with 5:48 remaining in the game.
Kevin Rodgers, who completed 29 of 43 passes for 460 yards and six touchdowns, did not panic and orchestrated a 15-play, 78-yard scoring drive. On 3rd-and-goal from the 5, Rodgers hit Israel Valentin for the go-ahead score with 1:08 left to play.
Jordan then put a drive together of his own and was able to get the ball into field goal range for Matthew Ehasz, who booted a 24-yarder as time expired to force overtime.
In the first OT, it only took Henderson four plays to score as Rodgers connected with Darius Davis for a 9-yard score.
OBU, 7-3 on the season, then answered as Rycraw scored from 8 yards out to make the score 45-45.
The Tigers then regained the lead in the second overtime possession as Jordan scored on a 1-yard run.
Again, Rodgers went to work hitting Davis on a fourth-and-5 for 17 yards down to the OBU 3. After three failed attempts to get into the end zone, Davis' number was called again on fourth-and-goal as Henderson's all-time leading receiver made another acrobatic catch to tie the score at 52-52.
In the third overtime, Rodgers and Corey Chappell connected for a 16-yard gain down to the OBU 10. The Reddies then turned to the ground game as Daniel McCoy gained two yards on his first attempt, and then scored on an 8-yard run.
Davis then caught the two-point conversion, tipping the ball up and pulling it down to give the Reddies the 60-52 advantage.
OBU moved the ball down to the Reddie 11 before the Tigers were called for an offensive pass interference call, putting the ball back to the 26. On fourth-and-18 from the 21, Jordan's last pass was tipped and pulled down by Vines, much to the delight of the Reddie faithful who flooded A.U. Williams field in celebration.
No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato 73, Upper Iowa 7
FAYETTE, Iowa -- Top-rated Minnesota State-Mankato secured its second consecutive undefeated regular season Saturday afternoon as it downed Upper Iowa 73-7.
With its win, MSU-Mankato improved to 11-0 on the season and has now won its past 22 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games dating to Week 1 of the 2012 season. The win also gives the Mavericks the NSIC regular season championship for the second consecutive season.
MSU-Mankato posted a new single-game-high 73 points, breaking the previous record of 70 points set against Peru State (2007) and Upper Iowa ('12).
The Mavericks dominated on offensive side of the ball all day long as they posted touchdowns on each of their first 10 drives.
The Maverick rushing attack accounted for 526 of MSU-Mankato's 633 total yards of offense. MSU-Mankato's 526 rushing yards finished just 11 yards shy of the single-game record of 537 rushing yards set against North Dakota in the 1986 season. `
Senior Jon Wolf finished his day with a career-high 201 rushing yards to go along with two rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Mitch Brozovich also made an impact at the quarterback position, rushing for four rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Chad Zastrow notched a career-high 162 rushing yards, as well, to go along with one touchdown carry.
While the Mavericks offense kept rolling, the MSU-Mankato defense also didn't miss a beat as it limited the Upper Iowa rushing attack to -2 rushing yards, and 161 passing yards on the day. The Peacocks managed just 13 first downs as Upper Iowa was kept scoreless until the 3:31 mark of the fourth quarter.
Upper Iowa's lone score of the game came on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cole Jaeschke to Lucas Hefty.
No. 2 Northwest Missouri State 51, No. 19 Missouri Western State 21
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Second-ranked Northwest Missouri State beat No. 19 Missouri Western State 51-21 on Saturday to win the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Northwest finished the regular season 11-0 overall and 10-0 in the MIAA, going through the conference undefeated for the first time since 2006.
Missouri Western finished the year 8-3 and 7-3 in the conference.
Northwest started the day off with a seven-play, 80-yard drive capped off by quarterback Trevor Adams' 1-yard scamper. After Clint Utter score on a 6-yard grab from Adams, the Bearcats went up 14-0 which is where the first quarter ended.
The Griffons responded with a 12-play, 85-yard drive that took up more than six minutes to start the second quarter after Northwest turned the ball over. Raphael Spencer scored on a 1-yard run to cut the Bearcats' lead in half. The Bearcats went ahead 21-7 after Reuben Thomas' 25-yard touchdown reception.
Missouri Western had a chance to cut the lead even more late in the opening half, but a blocked field goal gave the Bearcats the ball, and they finished it with another score. Kicker Simon Mathieson made it 24-7 right before half with a 36-yard field goal.
In the third quarter, a three-and-out hurt the Griffons chances of completing the comeback. Northwest made it worse after Adams scored from 2 yards out with 9:33 left in the third stanza. Another score added on to the 24-0 run for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats were led by Robert Burton's 16 carries for 105 yards.
No. 3 Colorado State-Pueblo 38, Western State 13
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Colorado State-Pueblo came into the game on Saturday in a familiar position; being in control of its own destiny in the final week of the regular season.
All it had to do was get past the Western State Mountaineers during the fifth annual Hall of Fame Game
The ThunderWolves defeated the Mountaineers 38-13, clinching the outright Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title for a third consecutive season and all but securing the top spot in the NCAA Division II playoff seeding.
"It's pretty special, we've done something only a few teams ever done," head coach John Wristen said. "If you told us when we started this in August, this chapter of this team, I didn't know whether we were prepared to do it. These kids kept playing, and playing hard each week and we kept getting better. I'm very proud of them."
Early in the third quarter, wide receiver Paul Browning broke the single-season receiving mark of 994 yards, which was set by John Trahan in 1982, following a 38-yard touchdown reception.
"It was a goal for [Saturday], but I tried not to focus in on," Browning said. "I tried to focus on getting this win so we could get another championship."
Browning finished the game with five receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown, finishing the regular season with 50 receptions for 1,012 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The ThunderWolves (11-0), who came into the game as the ninth-ranked team in Division II in total offense with 519.2 yards per game, finished the game with 511 yards total.
In addition to Browning's record-setting performance, QB Chris Bonner, who is also a Harlon Hill award nominee, finished the game with 309 yards and two touchdowns on 17-for-24 passing. Bonner finished a record-breaking regular season with 3,116 yards passing, 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth 39, Northern State 7
ABERDEEN, S.D. -- It wasn't the start Minnesota Duluth had anticipated, but the finish is all that mattered for the Bulldogs on Saturday. Northern State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead by marching 87 yards on three plays, but UMD pretty much took control after that as the No. 5 Bulldogs rattled off 39 consecutive points and whipped the Wolves 39-7 to close out the 2013 regular season.
The win was the eighth in a row for UMD, which improved to 10-1 and all but assured itself a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs for a sixth consecutive year.
Freshman quarterback Drew Bauer registered a rare touchdown double -- running 8 yards for one score and hauling in a 15-yard pass from sophomore wide receiver Justin Fowlkes on a trick play for another six points -- while Austin Sikorski rushed 14 times for a game-high 129 yards and found the end zone once. With that effort, he surpassed 1,000 yards for the first time in his career (he now has 1,102 yards on the season) and cracked the 100-yard rushing barrier for the 10th time as a collegian.
Half of the passes Bauer completed on the day (he was 16 of 26 for 171 yards) landed in the capable hands of junior wide out Zach Zweifel, who equaled a career-high with eight receptions. The Bulldogs, who led 19-7 at the half and 25-7 after three quarters before icing the game with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns by senior running back Chaz Thomas and senior wide out Austin Selvick, rolled up 468 yards of total offense (260 on the ground).
On the other side of the football, UMD limited the Wolves (4-7 overall) to just 57 rushing yards and 205 yards overall.
The Bulldogs, who are unbeaten in their past six confrontations with the Wolves, have now won nine consecutive regular-season finales. They also hiked their all-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division record to 36-2.
Missouri Southern State 35, No. 6 Pittsburg State 21
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The streak is no more as Missouri Southern State defeated No. 6 Pittsburg State 35-21 on Saturday in the Sonic Miners Bowl at Carnie Smith Stadium.
Southern (7-3, 5-3 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) won for the first time against PSU (9-2, 7-2 MIAA) since 1993 and for the first time in Pittsburg since 1983.
The Lions rushed for 372 yards and had 415 yards of total offense. The Lions defense forced punts on PSU's first five possessions and held the Gorillas to just 229 yards total, including only 95 yards on the ground. PSU came into the game averaging 239 yards on the ground and 483 yards total per game.
The Southern defense limited Pitt State to just 13 first downs in the game, while the Lions had 22. Southern won the time of possession battle holding the ball for more than 37 minutes, while limiting the Gorillas to a little less than 23 minutes with the ball.
Offensively, Jay McDowell rushed for 119 yards on 23 carries and found the end zone twice. Jocqui Davis and Terrence Allen had a rushing touchdown of their own.
The Lions scored on five of their 11 possessions in the game.
Southern ended the season with seven wins for the first time since the 1993 season when the Lions won the MIAA. The Lions broke school records for rushing yardage (3,684) and rushing touchdowns (42), both of which were set last season. Southern also broke the single-season rushing attempts record with 597 on the season, besting the mark of 581 set last year.
No. 7 Shepherd 41, Concord 33
ATHENS, W.Va. -- Redshirt-freshman quarterback Jeff Ziemba completed 14 of 15 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns, all to junior wide receiver Justin Ford, to lead Shepherd to a 41-33 win against Concord in Mountain East Conference action Saturday at Callaghan Stadium. The win clinches the inaugural MEC title for the Rams.
Ziemba team with Ford on scoring strikes of 31, 45 and 32 yards. Ford had four receptions for 108 yards.
No. 8 Ohio Dominican 40, Malone 13This is the second undefeated regular season in ODU history and will mark ODU's second postseason appearance (2007, NAIA quarterfinals).
ODU put together its highest scoring quarter of the season with 23 first-quarter points.
Brent Wahle capped ODU's scoring with a 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, the longest made field goal in school history.
Brandon Schoen ran for 151 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, while Mark Nichols added 53 yards and three scores on just 11 rushes.
The defense limited Malone to 302 total yards, registering five sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the afternoon.
Sophomore Di'Andre Harrison had three sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He totaled eight tackles on the day. Classmate Sydney Omameh finished with seven tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss and blocked two kicks, and Warren Shields finished with 10 tackles (nine solo).
No. 10 North Carolina-Pembroke 63, Virginia-Lynchburg 0
PEMBROKE, N.C. -- Luke Charles threw for a school-record 433 yards and six touchdowns on 30 of 39 passing to help lead 10th-ranked North Carolina-Pembroke to the program's 50th victory with a 63-0 beating of Virginia-Lynchburg on Saturday at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.
UNC-Pembroke (9-1) matched a school record win total for the second time since 2007 after scoring touchdowns on nine of its 13 drives on the day, including a 35-point, 353-yard effort in the opening half. Virginia-Lynchburg (2-9) was held to just 83 offensive yards on 54 plays, including a paltry 26 yards in the second half.
Charles broke the program's record for passing yards for the fourth time this season, while also shattering a five-year-old record for touchdown passes that he had already tied earlier this season. The performance also gave him the honor of being the first quarterback in program history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a single season (3,361).
Fellow senior Te'vell Williams hauled in four catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns to break his own school record (10) for touchdown receptions in a season, while 10 other players recorded at least one reception, as well. Running back Rontonio Stanley accounted for 115 all-purpose yards (44 rushing 71 receiving) and one rushing touchdown for the Braves.
Sophomore Connor Haskins broke a pair of records by converting on all nine point-after attempts, while also shattering the single-season record for PATs (41).
Ray Baker's 13-yard interception return for a touchdown helped UNC-Pembroke break the program's scoring record for the second time in three weeks.
Virginia-Lynchburg did not convert a third down on 14 attempts.
