Martin Luther 24, Westminster 14 - I'll give it to the Blue Jays; they kept it close in this one. On the scoreboard, anyways. The Knights rushing game still dominated though, racking up 384 yards on the ground. The two-headed RB monster of Joshuah Kren and Austin DeNoyer showed its face, with Kren rushing for 205 yards and 2 TDs while DeNoyer piled up 191 yards. Martin Luther K/P Micah Otto nabbed UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week by nailing all 3 PATs he attempted along with a 33-yard field goal and 3 punts inside the 20. The Wyatt Ellis-Travion Mosby connection was good for 2 TDs for Westminster, and they put up a valiant effort, but it wasn't enough to knock off the eventual conference champions. The Knights keep rolling, and it remains to be seen if they will be stopped by another UMAC opponent in 2019.
St. Scholastica 34, Greenville 40 - This was for sure the game of the week, maybe even in the running for game of the year. The Panthers started out strong, building a 27-6 lead by the third quarter before the Saints got their butts in gear and came back to tie the game at 27 just thirteen and a half minutes later. The fourth quarter was a back and forth battle, but a St. Scholastica drive stalled at the Greenville 11-yard line with just 0:52 left in the game, and the Panthers held on tight to proudly take home the dub. Saints QB Zach Edwards earned UMAC Offensive Player of the Week by going full on comeback mode, throwing for 509 yards and 3 TDs along with a rushing TD, with WR Mitchell Adrian catching 11 passes for 202 yards and 2 TDs and WR Reese Jansen catching 5 passes for 108 yards and a TD. For the Panthers, QB George Harris impressed, throwing for 179 yards and 4 TDs, but a two-headed rushing monster arose in RBs Paul Garrett (23-173-2) and Christian Moss (17-128) to spur the Greenville offense to the victory. St. Scholastica had 4 defenders pile up 11+ tackles, including LB Eric Soderberg, who led the game with 18 tackles, and also recovered a fumble. Greenville DL Anthony Esquivel captured UMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors by compiling 12 tackles, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and 3 QB hurries en route to leading the Panthers to their first victory over the Saints since 2010.
Crown 27, MacMurray 45 - The wide margin in this one was a little bit of a shock to me. The Storm have been doing a great job defensively, and although they were going up against a top UMAC offense, I thought they'd be able to keep it closer. Although the game didn't really get out of hand until the fourth quarter, Crown gave up 639 total yards to the Highlander offense, led by QB Bobby Tedesco, who threw for 430 yards and 6 TDs and rushed for 84 yards and a score. MacMurray WR Demetrius Curry showed why he earned 2nd team All-UMAC in 2018 by catching 5 passes for 211 yards and 4 TDs, while WR Ian Leib also caught 4 passes for 123 yards and a score. On the other side of the ball, Storm QB Jared Gilmore also had an impressive day, throwing for 342 yards and 3 TDs. Two Crown WRs also topped the 100-yard mark, with David McIntosh catching 8 passes for 132 yards and a TD and Cole Mistrietta catching 9 passes for 106 yards. Defensively, Crown kept their interception streak going with a pick by Corey Huard (who also tallied 7 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, and 1 PBU), making it 6 games in a row with a defensive interception; they currently rank #4 in DIII football with 15 interceptions. Unfortunately for the Storm, it wasn't enough to keep up with the Highlanders.
Northwestern 23, Minnesota Morris 13 - While I'll refrain from saying this game was boring, as I was not in attendance, the box score strikes me as dull. Eagle RB Payton Bowdry led the team offensively, rushing for 135 yards and 2 TDs. The Cougars were able to out-gain the Eagles in total yards, 414 to 389, due to the strong performance of utility QB Drew Shipley, who threw for 341 yards and a TD while also rushing for a TD. They came within a field goal in the fourth quarter, with Morris WRs Mark Chapman and Branden Carlson both surpassing the 100-yard mark in receiving, with 6 catches for 175 yards and 9 catches for 108 yards respectively, but it wasn't enough to lift the Cougars over the Eagles. Northwestern LB George Obitz led the defense with 12 tackles and an interception. I don't even know what else to say about this game, I'm falling asleep as I'm writing this. Feel free to enlighten me on any other facts about this game that make it sound better than the box score does.
Week seven is loooong gone now, and my Week Eight Review is around the corner, but I hope this post staved your thirst for UMAC football-related content. Tune in next time for me to be super late with all of my other reviews too!
2 comments:
A partial explanation as to Crown's poor defensive play had to do with their top tackling linebacker being ineligible to play for the first half (due to another questionable targeting call the week before (same referee crew as the Northwestern game mind you)) and their top coverage back Sebastian Alvarado being pulled out of coverage to fill in at backer. The majority of Curry's monster day came in the first half and he was held to 2 catches (one being a quick slant touchdown, but I digress) in the second half. Either way though it came down to Maccmuray's offense outperforming Crown's.
That sounds about right. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!
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