October 22nd, 2022 8:00pm
Week eight of the Division II season delivered surprisingly little drama. A couple of ranked teams lost, including a couple of previously undefeated teams but none of the results were especially shocking. Let's look at the headlines, news and notes.
By Chuck Bitner, national columnist
Photo: Gannon coach Erik Raeburn receives the Niagara Cup for winning the annual battle with Erie, PA rival, Mercyhurst
Before I get into the wrapup, remember that the first release of the regional rankings that will eventually determine the playoff field will come out on Monday. If you are new to the process, check out this column to get up to speed on the essentials you need to know. Be sure to watch Inside D2 Football Sunday night at 8pm, eastern for our projections and discussions.
#2 Angelo State wins battle of Unbeatens in Lone Star Conference
Angelo State is the last undefeated team remaining in Super Region 4. Coming into the game at 7-0, The Rams and Texas A&M-Kingsville were both looking to assert themselves as the team to beat in the LSC. In reality, I felt coming into the game that Angelo is the team to beat and they proved that. Texas A&M-Kingsville's red zone defense was the only thing that kept this from being a runaway. The Javelina's forced three field goal attempts, one of which was missed from an easy distance. The Rams definitely left some points on the field, but also left little doubt that the road to the LSC title goes through San Angelo. This game was total domination. TAMUK would have been shut out if not for a pick-6 in the 34-7 decision. Angelo State's remaining schedule is Simon Fraser, Central Washington and Midwestern State. Central and Midwestern and no pushovers but they're respective seasons are not going very well. The Rams have a good chance to finish the season unbeaten.
#21 Newberry wins Bishop's Trophy at #19 Lenoir-Rhyne
Newberry raced out to a 17-0 halftime lead at rival Lenoir-Rhyne. That score held until late in the third quarter and then things just went crazy. Lenoir-Rhyne rallied for some points, but Newberry outscored the Bears 21-17 in the final period to get out of Moretz Stadium with a 38-24 win, the Bishop's Trophy and a tie for first place in the SAC Piedmont division with Wingate. The key to the win was simple: Mario Anderdon. The redshirt sophomore running back carried the ball 24 times for 243 yards and a pair of scores. His performance led the Wolves to a 282 yard day on the ground. After an in-state rivalry game with Limestone next week, the Wolves will have another critical divisional showdown in two weeks at Wingate.
Winona State upsets undefeated #11 Sioux Falls
Winona State trailed visiting Sioux Falls 17-7 in the third quarter but the Warriors scored the final 13 points of the game to stun the Cougars. It was a defensive game, with neither team eclipsing 300 yards of total offense. As with many close games involving two good teams, turnovers and penalties were major factors. Sioux Falls was penalized nine times for nearly 100 yards and threw a pair of second half interceptions. The first INT killed a scoring opportunity and led to an 80 yard Winona State scoring drive. The second ended the Cougar's final drive of the game. USF standout running back Thuro Reisdorfer saw limited action before leaving the game with an injury. After his departure, the Coo had to go almost exclusively to the pass and it changed the game. Winona's MItch Snitker led the Warrior defense with 14 total tackles, 11 of which were solo. Sioux Falls was the last unbeaten team left in the NSIC. The loss throws the doors wide open in the south division. With three rounds down, Winona State is the only 3-0 team in the south.
#10 Ashland stays perfect with home win over Tiffin
Ashland used a balanced offense and strong defense to run their record to 7-0. Tiffin got within one point in the third quarter but the Eagles finished with a pair of second half TDs and the defense closed it with a late turnover on downs. There weren't a lot of individual standouts for Ashland but they rushed for 215 and passed for 217 against a very good Tiffin defense. Ashland is 5-0 in the GMAC, a game ahead of Tiffin. Ashland's remaining schedule is Hillsdale (4-4), Lake Erie (3-5) and Kentucky Wesleyan (2-6). They've done a good job of taking games one at a time but at this point, I really like their chances of finishing the year 10-0.
Minnesota State controls #14 Augustana
Minnesota State jumped on Augustana early and never let up. The Mavericks had a 21-0 early lead before the Vikings finally showed some life shortly before the half. The Mavs then used a patient run game and a defensive score the build the lead to as much as four touchdowns, ultimately winning by a final of 35-14. It wasn't necessarily a great offensive performance but it felt like a vintage Mankato defense, as they held Augie to just two yards rushing and sacked the quaterback 7 times. Even if you take out the negative plays, Augie grossed only 60 yards on the ground. Augustana was undefeated a couple of weeks ago but are now playing for their post season lives at 6-2 and sitting in fourth place in the ultra-tight NSIC south, right behind Minnesota State.
Here are some more news and notes from around the nation
#4 Ferris State showed some signs of a hangover. The Bulldogs fell behind 10-0 to Michigan Tech and didn't take the lead for the first time until midway through the third quarter. They would eventually hang on for a 28-20 win. Is there anything to be worried about for Ferris? I don't think so. A little hangover from last week isn't shocking. especially being at home a week after hosting the largest crowd to ever see a game on campus. Saturday's announced crowd of 4914 isn't bad at all, but probably felt a little deflating after last week's overflow crowd of nearly 13,000. The Bulldogs did hold Tech to -26 rushing yards and outgained them 405-271. Also worth noting, QB Mylik Mitchell did not play.
#17 Benedict kept rolling with a shutout win at Morehouse. The Tigers are still undefeated and in a good position for the playoff rankings. Their strength of schedule is taking a slide with a three week stretch against Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta and Allen.
Upper Iowa got their first win of the season. The Peacocks beat Minot State at home, 33-22.
West Virginia Wesleyan also got into the win column for the first time this year with a come-from-behind win over Alderson-Broaddus. The Bobcats trailed their local rival by as much as 16 points but road a 24-point second half to victory. Devin Washington stood out for Wesleyan, grabbing 7 balls for 146 yards and two TDs.
Bemdiji State ran their win streak to six games with a 41-16 thrashing of Minnesota-Duluth. The Beavers started the year 0-2 but may be playing the best football in the NSIC at the moment.
Things are a little crazy in the Mountain East Conference. Concord looked like they were the team to beat, but they lost at West Virginia State on Saturday. Notre Dame is now back on top in the standings at 6-1 in league play, 6-2 overall. Concord is a game back, and tied with them...Wheeling. Yes, Wheeling. This is still a relatively new program in D2 but at 6-2 they have locked up a winning season and are looking for more.
Truman State extended their winning streak to six games. They lost the opener by a point to Davenport, who is still undefeated. The Bulldogs close the season with Quincy, McKendree and Indianapolis. All three are .500 or better.
Tusculum and Mars Hill are each a step closer to a massive battle for the SAC Mountain division. Tusculum beat Emory & Henry 35-9, Mars Hill beat Carson-Newman 44-13. They don't play until November 5 but both have winnable games next week. The Pioneers are 7-1 and possibly about to break into the national rankings. Mars Hill is 5-2. Both are currently 3-0 in the SAC Mountain division.
Gannon beat their cross-town rival Mercyhurst to win in the Niagara Cup for the first time since 2015. Melvin Blanks had five rushing TDs for the Golden Knights. Gannon is now 6-2 and still in the race for the PSAC West and the postseason. The win also secures the program's first winning season since 2015.
After a pretty dreadful start to the year, Millersville has come on strong in the last month. The Marauders have won three of the last four, including upsets of East Stroudsburg and Shippensburg, two programs they have not had much success against in the last two decades.
#12 Virginia Union stayed perfect with a win at Lincoln. The nation's leading rusher Jada Byers ran for 187 yards and four TDs. The Panthers face Chowan next Saturday. With both teams 3-0 in the north division, the winner will claim the division a week early and earn a spot in the CIAA championship game.
That's it for an abbreviated wrap. Its time to start thinking about the first release of regional rankings coming out on Monday. As a reminder, we have a change in procedure this week. For the first release of rankings, the top 10 teams in each region will be named but not ranked 1-10. The 1-10 rankings will begin after next week's action. We will have projections on the rankings to discuss on Inside D2 Football Sunday night at 8pm. Be sure to watch and join in the conversation.