Hey Gang. My apologies for the lateness (or lack) of the Recaps these last couple of weeks. My weekend schedules were haywire...and frankly, I really didn't think that folks paid much attention to those. However, some of you have specifically requested them so again, my humblest apologies. Here they are for this past weekend...better late than never, right?

Ferris State 35, Wayne State 24

Ferris fumbled away three straight possessions in the early going, and Wayne promptly turned those mistakes into a 21-0 lead. But much like when the Bulldogs played GV a few weeks ago and spotted the Lakers a 17-0 advantage, Ferris dominated the rest of the game and wound up winning rather convincingly. Wayne was held to just 302 total yards despite having both Toney Davis and Desmond Martin over 100 yards on the ground (Davis had all three WSU TD's). Ferris QB Jason VanderLaan continues to cause problems for opposing defenses, as the freshman racked-up 244 yards and two TD's on the ground. He also threw for another score.


Northern Michigan 21, Northwood 13

Don't look now, folks, but Northern has won two of three after their dismal start. It's no coincidence that the tides turned a bit for the 'Cats when Cody Scepaniak took over the offensive controls. The senior QB was the catalyst again this one accounting for all three scores (two throwing, one rushing) and running over the NU defense for 133 yards on the ground. When throwing he found a big-play partner in Christian Jessie who had 126 receiving yards, including scoring catches of 60 and 55 yards.


Ashland 42, Findlay 21

On paper, this was the last real test on the Ashland schedule. They passed with flying colors, physically dominating the trenches: they sacked Clay Belton three times while Taylor Housewright went virtually untouched, and the Eagles out-gained UF 277 to 103 on the ground. Anthony Taylor did most of the heavy lifting with 24 carries for 165 yards, and Jordan McCune was the drive closer finding the end zone four times on carries that were each of 11 yards or less. Housewright was masterfully efficient hitting on 12 of 16 on the afternoon for two scores, and he still has yet to throw an interception this season.


Notre Dame 36, Malone 19

We talked last week about how NDC's defense has struggled all year. For nearly two quarters in this one, things looked about the same as they allowed two TD's to the league's lowest-scoring offense and trailed 16-0. Truth be told, the Falcon offense had a hand in that as all of the points they allowed had to do with giveaways or safeties allowed by the O. From there, however, Notre Dame completely turned the tables and outscored the Pioneers 36-3 the rest of the way. Ray Russ had a big return to the line-up tossing five TD passes, and Pedro Powell used his 245-yard performance to take over the league lead in rushing.


Ohio Dominican 31, Tiffin 14

Mark Miller had perhaps the best passing day of his young career, throwing for 284 yards and and a score to lead Ohio Dominican over Tiffin. Dan Pitts also threw it well (286 yards, 2TD's) in the loss, but where ODU really had an advantage over the Dragons was on the ground. They out-gained Tiffin 216 to 77 and used that balance to pull away in the second half after TU had tied the game at 14 in the second quarter.


Saginaw Valley 34, Michigan Tech 23

This was one of the better-played games of the weekend. Neither team turned it over, and the two clubs combined to commit a scant four penalties. The difference? JJ-Squared was at it again and Tech simply had no answer for it. Jon Jennings was at the top end of his meter connecting on 26 of 33 for 342 yards and three TD's, and running for a fourth score. All three TD passes went to Jeff Janis, who collected 226 of Jennings 342 passing yards...but perhaps most impressive was his school record 18 receptions on the day. Within the confines of the contest, Janis set school records for receptions in a single game and single season, and he also set the new single-season mark for receiving yards. Pretty impressive on those last two, as he still has two games left on the year.


Grand Valley 42, Hillsdale 23

After suffering through a two-game swoon a few weeks ago, the Lakers seem to be back on course after an impressive display at recent nemesis Hillsdale. With the exception of a three-and-out in the fourth quarter, every Grand Valley drive made it inside the Hillsdale five-yard line. Six wound up as TD's, the other two were lost fumbles. That pair of mistakes aside, the Chargers seemingly had no answer for a Laker offense that saw Mike Ratay (110 yds, TD) and Kirk Spencer (100 yds, 2TD's) lead the GV ground attack to 287 yards on the afternoon. The health of Isiah Grimes appears to be improving as well as he was an efficient 16 of 21 for 259 yards and two TD's. While Hillsdale's Joe Glendening still managed his typical "day at the office" (157 yds, TD), the Lakers were able to keep him from taking over the game as he has to so many opponents over the last three years.


Lake Erie 27, Walsh 20 - OT

On the strength of big rushing days from Steve Smith and Toba Olarewaju (141 and 127 yards, respectively), Walsh led for most of the evening...including into the fourth quarter. However, LEC was able to tie it up and then claim the win in the extra frame. Anthony Elias led the way for LEC with 106 yards rushing and two TD's, one of which was the game-winner in OT. The host Cavaliers had leave Fawcett wondering about "what could have been" as they failed to cash in on a pair of second-half FG tries, the last of which came from only 24 yards out with less than two minutes to go in regulation.