NCAC Weekly Release (9-4-12) - Football

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The 2012 North Coast football campaign opened last weekend with three league squads capturing victories, highlighted by Allegheny’s dramatic 17-14 come-from-behind victory over Wooster in a non-conference contests between NCAC foes. Non-conference matchups continue this weekend, including a non-league contest between Ohio Wesleyan and Denison in Granville.

ALLEGHENY earned a 17-14 come-from-behind victory over Wooster in a non-conference matchup between NCAC squads on Saturday. Gator senior Bill Devlin (Natrona Hts., PA/Highlands), who finished with a game-high 10 tackles, helped lead a strong team effort that limited the Fighting Scots to 38 yards of offense in the second half as the Gators rallied for the road victory. Allegheny will play in front of a national audience next week as its contest against Carnegie Mellon will be shown live on Fox College Sports (Pacific) to go along with national coverage online at ESPN3.

DENISON  was idle last week.

DEPAUW was idle last week and will open its 125th season of intercollegiate football this Saturday with its first-ever meeting against St. Olaf.

HIRAM was upended in its season-opener against Westminster by a 28-0 margin.

Despite 98 rushing yards from senior Brett Williams (Chesterland, OH/West Geauga), KENYON dropped its opener against Bluffton, 20-0. In addition to Williams’ effort on offense, the Lords’ defense was led by junior linebacker Kolin Sullivan (Mentor, OH/St. Ignatius) who racked up 12 total tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack, while also forcing one fumble.

OBERLIN won its season-opener for the third year in a row, taking down Earlham, 33-3. The Yeomen defense forced six turnovers in the game, highlighted by senior cornerback David Kalgren (Curwensville, PA/Curwensville) returning two interceptions for touchdowns (47, 43). Sophomore kicker Erickson Andrews (Oberlin, OH/Oberlin) connected on a school-record four field goals (35, 24, 48 & 28), while junior running back Moses Richardson (Summerville, SC/Pinewood Prep) rushed for a career-high 142 yards and one score and also hauled in four receptions for 38 yards.

OHIO WESLEYAN was idle last week.

WABASH, which was idle last week, moved up two spots to No. 8 on the D3football.com Top 25. The Little Giants opened the season at No. 10 on the D3football.com preseason poll, which marked the highest preseason ranking for a Wabash squad in the history of the web site’s poll.

For the second consecutive season, WITTENBERG opened the season with a victory over Capital as the Tigers took down the Crusaders, 44-17, in Bexley, Ohio. Junior quarterback Reed Florence (South Charleston, OH/Southeastern) threw for 320 yards in his first start under center, while junior linebacker Evan Killilea (Columbus, OH/DeSales) led the defense with nine tackles, including two tackles for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Florence completed 17-of-30 pass attempts for 320 yards and two scores, while also crossing the end zone twice on the ground.

WOOSTER suffered a heartbreaking 17-14 loss against Allegheny on Saturday. Junior quarterback Richard Barnes (Painesville, OH/Harvey) completed 21-of-37 pass attempts for 198 yards and two scores and added an additional 51 rushing yards on 14 carries, while senior defensive end Rob Holtz (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) tallied the second two-sack game of his career to help the Fighting Scots’ defensive unit limit Allegheny to 10 first downs and 191 yards of total offense.