Hillsdale 63, Notre Dame 14

Not much to say here other than this was a case of utter domination by the Chargers. It was a short afternoon for the starters, and yet Anthony Mifsud still threw four TD passes and Joe Glendening had 102 yards and a score on the ground (plus one receiving). Hillsdale's defense got into the act as well by registering four interceptions and returning three of them for touchdowns.


Michigan Tech 35, Findlay 10

I mentioned in my preview that I just had a hunch that Tech would do well in this one. I'm not sure I expected a result so lopsided but when you see that Findlay QB Clay Belton completed only 42% of his passes to go along with two interceptions, there was a lack of execution for the Oilers than any team playing in Houghton must have in order to win. Tech also turned the tables on UF...a week after the Oilers controlled the clock and the pace of play at Saginaw, the Huskies possessed the ball for more than 38 minutes and put a premium on everything the Oilers when they were on offense. Four rushers had at least 42 yards on the ground for Tech, including Cedric Barber who found the end zone twice.


Northwood 35, Tiffin 14

Thanks to a thunderstorm that dropped hail on the field, this game took more than four hours to complete. Once the "Al Roker Interlude" was completed, The Woodies then withstood a third quarter comeback attempt by the Dragons to seal up a 4-0 start. Aaron Shavers led the way for the Timberwolves by throwing three touchdown passes, and Cameron Jackson chipped-in with 107 yards on the ground.


Ashland 42, Northern Michigan 13

Northern QB Ryan Morley had a better day statistically than he had in his first two GLIAC games. He even threw TD passes on the game's first and last plays from scrimmage. Unfortunately for him and his Wildcat mates, the other 59 minutes-plus were dominated by the visiting Eagles. Ashland QB Taylor Housewright threw four TD passes for the second straight game to lead the way as Ashland cruised to the easy victory. Housewright's TD tosses found four different receivers, and the Eagle scoring was rounded-out on the ground with TD's from Anthony Taylor and Jordan McCune.


Grand Valley 46, Ohio Dominican 41

The big story going into this one was Isiah Grimes getting his first start at QB for Grand Valley after the Lakers lost Heath Parling for the year last week. Despite a performance that was better at some times than others Grimes managed to throw for 316 yards and three TD's, including the game-winner (to Darryl Pitts) with just over a minute to go. The stories coming out of this one are a Grand Valley defense that was historically porous, and the adversity that the Lakers must face after losing multiples starters due to injury over the course of the game, several of which are likely gone for the season. Despite trailing by 20 entering the fourth quarter, ODU fought back valiantly to take a one-point lead. They fell short in the end but still managed to rack up 630 yards of offense, thanks in large part to a school-record 298 yards rushing by Brandon Schoen. Charles Johnson had another big day for Grand Valley, catching eight passes for 177 yards and a TD.


Saginaw Valley 51, Lake Erie 24

The Cardinals bounced-back from last week's disappointment with a throttling of Lake Erie. Jonathon Jennings threw for an eye-popping 511 yards and three TD's, but had a hand in up-staging his own amazing performance. How is that? Well, his favorite target on the night was Jeff Janis, who set a school and GLIAC record with 300 receiving yards. Janis caught twelve balls in all, including a TD as the Cardinals used a 21-point third quarter to put the game well out of reach.


Ferris 20, Walsh 14

For the first time this season, the Walsh offense got some serious work done. The Cavaliers out-gained and out-possessed Ferris, and got key performances by RB Toba Olarewaju (164 yds, TD) and WR Anthony Schrock (6 rec, 103 yds, TD). Despite those efforts, the Cavs were done in by a pair of fourth quarter fumbles that erased their one-point lead. Bulldog LB Tayo Moss returned the first miscue 82 yards for a TD, and the second set up a short-field and FSU cashed-in with a 34-yard TD drive. Walsh answered with the Schrock TD, but could not regain the lead thereafter.


Wayne State 38, Malone 14

Wayne registered touchdowns on five of their first six possessions to start the game, and the Warriors cruised from there to pick-up the win on the road. Quarterback Mickey Mohner found James Jackson for a pair of scoring tosses, and Toney Davis added two more TD's on the ground for Wayne. Malik Felton rushed for two TD's for Malone in the loss.


Well, the cross-over section of the GLIAC slate is now complete. As expected, the North out-performed the South by notching an 18-6 mark. There are five South clubs that are winless in league play thus far, as opposed to four North teams that are currently unbeaten. We should see a lot of that start to sort itself out, however, as teams in the South will finally start to get some wins (it's math, folks...has to happen). In addition, the scenario of the North "beating up on each other" seems likely to unfold as well. It's not guaranteed to shake out like that, but based on what I've seen I'd call it likely.

For my money at this point, the team facing the most pressure might be Ashland. Three of their four wins are over quality opponents, and it's hard for me to see a game remaining on their schedule where they won't enter as the favorite (at least based on what we've seen so far). Why is there pressure on them, then? Well, six of their remaining seven opponents currently sit at .500 or worse. It won't stay that way, of course, but there's little arguing that their strength-of-schedule will take some sort of a hit with all of the losses the South has thus far. Going undefeated (or at least 10-1) might be the only real way to ensure they overcome that and make the playoffs. That doesn't leave much margin for error. That said, based on what the Eagles have shown thus far they appear more than capable of making a result like that happen. We shall see. Long way to go, folks. It's always fun to see what happens in this league, and 2012 should be no exception.