Rivalry Week lived up to the hype. We had some great contests and a lot of spirited competition. I had the good fortune of being able to attend both the Hillsdale/Wayne contest, as well as the Ferris/GV game. While the weather was a bit grey, it was still an awesome day of football driving around the state of Michigan. I saw great student-athletes playing a game they love for their schools, families out enjoying the games, and a color tour along I-96 that was really quite something. If you haven't been to a game yet this fall, make sure you get out a see one soon! It's definitely worth the investment of a Saturday afternoon or evening, and your local school, alma mater, etc benefits from having folks on campus supporting their missions. Great stuff all the way around.


Findlay 41, Tiffin 17

The Oilers handled their business from the outset, and all but had this one put away by the break. Monterae Williams had his best game of the season with 138 yards and two TD's on the ground, and led an attack with great balance that saw Clay Belton throw for nearly 300 yards and three TD's to three different receivers. Dominique White ran for 109 yards and score for Tiffin in defeat.


Saginaw Valley 28, Northwood 20

Northwood did a lot of what they needed in order to win this game. They controlled the pace of play, winning the time of possession battle and limiting the number of times the high-powered Cards had the ball. They also won the turnover battle four to two, including returning one of those takeaways (a 53-yard INT return by Joe Bitterman) for a TD. So where did The Woodies fall short? Well, they made into the Saginaw Valley red zone six times and were only able to post 13 points on those six possessions. Not cashing in on scoring chances won't get it done, especially when the Jennings-to-Janis connection does anything similar to what they have of late...yep, plenty similar as the pair connected for three first half TD's and the Cardinal defense held off any T'Wolf comeback attempts. Janis finished with 11 grabs for 183 yards and the afore mentioned three TD's. Cameron Jackson had 107 yards rushing for Northwood.


Wayne State 24, Hillsdale 21

Much like Northwood, Hillsdale also did a lot of what they needed to win. They out-possessed Wayne by more than ten minutes, and out-gained them by a sizable margin. Where did the Chargers fall short? Well, they LOST the turnover battle (4-1), and gave up multiple big plays (including a Gerren DuHart 82-yard INT return TD) that Wayne was able to turn into points. Give credit to the Warriors for cashing in on their opportunities, and not making any major mistakes that cost them. In addition to the four takeaways, the Wayne defense notched four sacks, six tackles-for-loss, and broke up three passes. Mickey Mohner and Toney Davis found the end zone on the ground for WSU. The Charger offense was led by Joe Glendening's 122 rushing yards. Anthony Mifsud had a bit of an off-day throwing the ball, but ran for 90 yards and a pair of TD's.


Michigan Tech 41, Northern Michigan 17

Tech raced out to a 34-0 advantage prior to the break, and pretty well put things on auto-pilot from there. The SuperiorDome crowd was kept quiet by a terrific receiving performance by Matt Curtin who hauled in seven balls for 171 yards and three first-half touchdowns, as well as a stifling Tech defense that limited the Wildcats to only 43 yards rushing. Christian Jessie notched both of the NMU touchdowns, one on a 15-yard run and the other on a 77-yard reception.


Ashland 44, Ohio Dominican 21

These two traded blows for the first 30 minutes, and ODU held a one-point edge at recess. It was all Ashland after that however, as the Eagles held the ball for nearly 23 minutes in the second half and notched a convincing result. Despite this game being close for a while, Ashland was certainly the stronger of the two clubs. In addition to holding the ball for most of the game, they never turned it over, out-gained ODU two-to-one, and ran 40 more offensive plays. Taylor Housewright had another solid performance with 285 passing yards and a couple of scores, but the Eagle ground game really made the big difference. Anthony Taylor led the way for that ground attack with 128 yards and two TD's, and was complimented beautifully by Jordan McCune's 115 yards and two more scores. Brandon Shoen (109 yds, TD) and Ronald McCloud (5 rec, 119 yds, TD) led the Panthers in the loss.


Walsh 34, Malone 7

Walsh beat their arch-rival with an offense that was, well, "old-school Northwood style". The Cavaliers only threw the ball seven times, and had as many interceptions as they did completions (two). This was a result after Pat Riepma's heart as the Cav's pounded out 319 yards on the ground, held the ball for 32 and a half minutes, and played stifling defense on their way to the easy win. Toba Olarewaju did the bulk of the heavy lifting for Walsh, toting it 28 times for 195 yards and four touchdowns.


Lake Erie 38, Notre Dame 35

After surviving two early turnovers and a 14-point second quarter deficit, Notre Dame kept "hanging-in" and eventually took a four-point lead in the fourth quarter. Their perseverance wasn't rewarded, however. Lake Erie closed the game out by scoring on the next possession forcing a Falcon punt, and then running out the last 4:41 of the clock with a ten-play drive. The Storm had 353 yards on the ground, led by 232 yards and two scores on only 23 carries by Anthony Bilal. Pedro Powell had another nice game on the ground for NDC with 114 yards and a score.


Ferris 40, Grand Valley 24

Plenty of folks (including myself) wondered whether or not the porous Grand Valley defense would eventually wind up costing the Lakers a game. It did last night. Even after jumping out to a 17-0 lead, GV had no answer for the Bulldog ground attack that gashed the Lakers for 457 yards. QB Jason VanderLaan led the way with 185 yards and two scores, and he got plenty of help from Korey Ringer (131 yds, TD) and Jamaal Jackson (107 yds, TD) as Ferris knocked off their arch-rival for the first time since 1999. Despite giving up big yards several times already this season, the Grand Valley offense has been so good that they could out-gun their opponents. The Lakers didn't have it last night, going scoreless in the second half. Kirk Spencer led GV with 83 yards and a TD on eight carries.