Top 25 Upsets – NAIA – The 14th-ranked Azusa Pacific Cougars suffered their 1st loss of the season on the road against the Webber International Warriors 13-10. The Cougars are now 4-1 and the Warriors are hoping to be ranked in the next poll…The #21 Dakota Wesleyan Tigers were upset by the unranked Midland Lutheran Warriors 21-19. All in all it was a good day to be an unranked team called the Warriors taking on a ranked foe with a feline mascot.
Top 25 Upsets – NCAA Division 3 – Just one very minor upset in the rankings on Saturday as the #16 Linfield Wildcats defeated the #15 Willamette Bearcats in a 35-7 beatdown.
Top 25 Upsets – NCAA Division 2 – The 16th-ranked Edinboro Scots were hammered at home 18-0 by the unranked IUP Crimson Hawks…The #13 Tusculum Pioneers fell on the road to the unranked Mars Hill Lions 45-39 and completing our hat-trick of unranked D2 teams beating ranked opponents are the Humboldt State Lumberjacks who hosted the 12th-ranked Central Washington Wildcats in a 25-24 upset.
The Notre Dame Falcons And NWOSU Rangers Rule The World – The NAIA’s Notre Dame College Falcons are only in their 1st year of intercollegiate football and this week logged their 1st upset of a higher-division team, and a road upset at that! They beat NCAA Division 2’s Central State Marauders 16-13 in an Instant Classic. The NW Oklahoma State Rangers meanwhile had a much easier win in another NAIA upset of a D2 team. The Rangers crushed the Missouri S&T Miners 43-14 in their own house.
“It’s Not News If A House Isn’t On Fire” Dept – The Top-ranked teams in the divisions Balladeer’s Blog covers all won big yesterday. In the NAIA the Sioux Falls Cougars had their 1st shutout of the year as they rolled over the NWU Prairie Wolves by a score of 44-0. The Cougars are 5-0 and continuing their quest to threepeat as National Champs in football…In D3 the Whitewater Warhawks crushed the Platteville Pioneers 49-17. D3’s 2nd-ranked Mt Union Purple Raiders also won big over the 8th-ranked Ohio Northern Polar Bears 27-0.The possibility for a 6th straight Warhawks vs Purple Raiders clash for the D3 title is still very much alive…D 2’s MN-Duluth Bulldogs rolled on the road, eviscerating the MSU-Moorhead Dragons by a score of 56-7.
Reach For The Brass Lantern – The Cumberlands Patriots get to keep the Brass Lantern for the 5th straight year following a win over the Union Bulldogs (Somewhere the spirit of Joe Hill is weeping) The Brass Lantern is the trophy those 2 intense rivals play for, and this game will be examined more closely in my next Nuggets entry.
Whose Turn Was It To Beat The Clan? – The Dixie State Red Storm became the latest American team to defeat the Simon Fraser Clan. The Red Storm won in a 28-21 Instant Classic in the Clan’s back yard. Simon Fraser is 1 of the Canadian schools that play in the USA‘s lower divisions.
Bear Market – The Ursinus Bears are off to the quietest 5-0 start I’ve ever seen. Yesterday they stayed perfect by winning at the Gettysburg Bullets 49-39. Their combination of a perfectly apt nickname and really cool helmets have always made them a Balladeer’s Blog favorite!
We Went To A Football Game And A Baseball Game Broke Out – This week’s entry is the Muskingum Muskies’ 3-0 win over the Wilmington Quakers. If this season provides us with a 2-nothing game I plan to do a feature article on it! I’m kidding.
They Shoot Football Players, Don’t They? – This week’s Marathon Game Award goes to the Triple Overtime Instant Classic between the CW Post Pioneers and the West Chester Golden Rams. The Pioneers won by a score of 39-37.
“Our Division Can Beat Up Your Division” Dept – In the ongoing rivalry between the NAIA and NCAA Division 3 there was only 1 game yesterday. D3’s Whitworth Pirates defeated the Menlo Oaks 20-7.
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