The top four remains unchanged in this week’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll but several schools made big moves with wins over the weekend, including two teams that jumped into the Top 25 after not being ranked in last week’s poll.
Mount Union remains the No. 1 team in the country after a 51-12 win over Muskingum. The Purple Raiders picked up 30 of 40 first place votes. Wisconsin-Whitewater remains No. 2 following a 60-7 road win over Puget Sound. The Warhawks received the remaining 10 first place votes. Mary Hardin-Baylor holds steady at No. 3 after a 46-0 blanking of McMurry. No. 4 Capital kept pace with Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference, posting a 48-28 win over Wilmington. Muhlenberg jumped two spots to No. 5 after a 42-21 win over Gettysburg.
Wabash drops one spot to No. 6 despite a 55-13 win over Kenyon. North Central is up one to No. 7 after defeating Olivet 37-7. NCC’s CCIW rival Wheaton is up two spots to No. 8 after a 47-7 victory over Hope. No. 9 Washington & Jefferson improved to 4-0 on the season with a 49-21 win over Grove City. St. John Fisher was the big mover this week, up four spots to No. 10 after downing then-No. 9 Ithaca, 37-6 on Saturday.
Hardin-Simmons is up to No. 11 after slipping past Mississippi College, 35-27. No. 12 Cortland State is 3-0 after a narrow 32-28 win over Kean. Trinity (Texas) is up three spots to No. 13 following the Tigers’ 35-10 win over Colorado College. Trinity’s SCAC rival Millsaps is No. 14 this week after a 49-2 win over Rhodes. Idle Wisconsin-Eau Claire remains in the No. 15 spot this week and will return to action against Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday.
No. 16 St. John’s (Minn.) rebounded from its upset loss to Concordia-Moorhead a week ago to defeat Gustavus Adolphus 21-17. No. 17 Redlands, No. 18 Wesley and No. 19 Case Western were all idle over the weekend and all will return to action this Saturday. Wartburg climbed three spots to No. 20 after a 37-14 win over Cornell (Iowa).
Delaware Valley breaks into the Top 25 at No. 21 this week after knocking off then-No. 6 Salisbury, 41-27 just a week after defeating nationally-ranked Wesley. Willamette also makes its 2008 debut in the rankings this week at 22 following a 44-0 win over LaVerne. Salisbury falls to No. 23 after its loss to Delaware Valley. Illinois Wesleyan was idle and remains at No. 24. Central (Iowa) remains at No. 25 after a 13-12 road win over Albion.
Conference Breakdown: Illinois-Wisconsin (Wheaton, North Central, Illinois Wesleyan), America Southwest (Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons), Atlantic Central (Wesley, Salisbury), Empire 8 (St. John Fisher), Iowa (Central {Iowa}, Wartburg), Ohio (Mount Union, Capital), Southern Collegiate (Trinity {Texas}, Millsaps), Wisconsin (Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Centennial (Muhlenberg), Middle Atlantic (Delaware Valley), Minnesota (St. John’s), New Jersey (Cortland St.), North Coast (Wabash), Northwest (Willamette), Presidents (Washington & Jefferson), Southern California (Redlands), UAA (Case Western).
Head-to-HeadNo. 11 Hardin-Simmons visits No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor in an early-season showdown in the American Southwest Conference. Both teams are 2-0 in conference play. The winner of this game has gone on to capture at least a share of the ASC title every year since 1998.
Poll PointsDelaware Valley quarterback Mike Isgro threw for 297 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in the Aggies’ upset of then-No. 6 Salisbury. Isgro surpassed the 4,000 yard passing mark for his career with that effort ... Willamette amassed 506 yards in total offense, including 329 on the ground, in its 44-0 win over LaVerne ... Saturday’s 21-17 win over Gustavus Adolphus was the 590th game in St. John’s (Minn.) head coach John Gagliardi’s coaching career, the most in college football history ... Millsaps quarterback Juan Joseph threw a school-record six touchdown passes in the Majors’ 49-2 win over Rhodes ... Trinity (Texas) quarterback Bryant Wilson has thrown nine touchdown passes in the Tigers’ first three games ... Cortland State scored 22 fourth quarter points to rally from a 14-10 deficit and post a 32-28 win over Kean ... Hardin-Simmons safety Matt Warnasch posted a career-high 15 tackles in the Cowboys’ win over Mississippi College ... In just his fourth career start, St. John Fisher quarterback Tim Bailey completed 15-of-20 passes for 315 yards and one touchdown along with one rushing score in the Cardinals’ 37-6 win over then-No. 9 Ithaca.
American Football Coaches Association Division III Coaches’ Poll
September 30, 2008
| Rank | School (1st votes) | Rec. | Pts. | Prev. | Last Week | Next Game |
|---|
| 1. | Mount Union (Ohio) (30) | 3-0 | 990 | 1 | D. Muskingum (Ohio), 51-12 | Oct. 4 at Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) |
| 2. | Wis.-Whitewater (10) | 3-0 | 963 | 2 | D. Puget Sound (Wash.), 60-7 | Oct. 4 vs. Wis.-La Crosse |
| 3. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) | 3-0 | 916 | 3 | D. McMurry (Texas), 46-0 | Oct. 4 vs. No. 11 Hardin-Simmons (Texas) |
| 4. | Capital (Ohio) | 3-0 | 854 | 4 | D. Wilmington (Ohio), 48-28 | Oct. 4 vs. Marietta (Ohio) |
| 5. | Muhlenberg (Pa.) | 3-0 | 740 | 7 | D. Gettysburg (Pa.), 42-21 | Oct. 4 at Johns Hopkins (Md.) |
| 6. | Wabash (Ind.) | 3-0 | 727 | 5 | D. Kenyon (Ohio), 55-13 | Oct. 4 vs. Allegheny (Pa.) |
| 7. | North Central (Ill.) | 3-0 | 719 | 8 | D. Olivet (Mich.), 37-7 | Oct. 4 vs. Millikin (Ill.) |
| 8. | Wheaton (Ill.) | 3-0 | 711 | 10 | D. Hope (Mich.), 47-7 | Oct. 4 vs. North Park (Ill.) |
| 9. | Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) | 4-0 | 636 | 11 | D. Grove City (Pa.), 49-21 | Oct. 4 at Geneva (Pa.) |
| 10. | St. John Fisher (N.Y.) | 3-1 | 579 | 14 | D. No. 9 Ithaca (N.Y.), 37-6 | Oct. 4 vs. Hartwick (N.Y.) |
| 11. | Hardin-Simmons (Texas) | 4-0 | 571 | 12 | D. Mississippi College, 35-27 | Oct. 4 at No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) |
| 12. | Cortland St. (N.Y.) | 3-0 | 538 | 13 | D. Kean (N.J.), 32-28 | Oct. 4 vs. Buffalo St. (N.Y.) |
| 13. | Trinity (Texas) | 3-0 | 439 | 16 | D. Colorado College, 35-10 | Oct. 4 at Birmingham-Southern (Ala.) |
| 14. | Millsaps (Miss.) | 4-0 | 431 | 17 | D. Rhodes (Tenn.), 49-2 | Oct. 4 vs. DePauw (Ind.) |
| 15. | Wis.-Eau Claire | 3-1 | 404 | 15 | Idle | Oct. 4 vs. Wis.-Oshkosh |
| 16. | St. John’s (Minn.) | 3-1 | 343 | 18 | D. Gustavus Adophus (Minn.), 21-17 | Oct. 4 at Bethel (Minn.) |
| 17. | Redlands (Calif.) | 2-0 | 272 | 19 | Idle | Oct. 4 at La Verne (Calif.) |
| 18. | Wesley (Del.) | 1-1 | 257 | 20 | Idle | Oct. 4 at Frostburg St. (Md.) |
| 19. | Case Western (Ohio) | 3-0 | 250 | 22 | Idle | Oct. 4 vs. Denison (Ohio) |
| 20. | Wartburg (Iowa) | 3-1 | 185 | 23 | D. Cornell (Iowa), 37-14 | Oct. 4 at Buena Vista (Iowa) |
| 21. | Delaware Valley (Pa.) | 2-1 | 179 | NR | D. No. 6 Salisbury (Md.), 41-27 | Oct. 4 at King’s (Pa.) |
| 22. | Willamette (Ore.) | 4-0 | 154 | NR | D. LaVerne (Calif.), 44-0 | Oct. 4 at Whitworth (Wash.) |
| 23. | Salisbury (Md.) | 3-1 | 144 | 6 | Lost to Delaware Valley (Pa.), 41-27 | Oct. 4 at Newport News (Va.) |
| 24. | Illinois Wesleyan | 3-0 | 139 | 24 | Idle | Oct. 4 vs. Carthage (Wis.) |
| 25. | Central (Iowa) | 2-1 | 118 | 25 | D. Albion (Mich.), 13-12 | Oct. 4 at Luther (Iowa) |
Dropped Out: Ithaca (N.Y.) (9); Franklin (Ind.) (21)
Others Receiving Votes: Montclair St. (N.J.), 101; Ithaca (N.Y.), 100; Augsburg (Minn.), 80; Curry (Mass.), 59; Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), 58; Hampden-Sydney (Va.), 50; Monmouth (Ill.), 35; Otterbein (Ohio), 33; Hobart (N.Y.), 28; Rensselaer (N.Y.), 24; Moravian (Pa.), 24; Linfield (Ore.), 23; Washington (Mo.), 18; Franklin (Ind.), 18; Occidental (Calif.), 14; Trinity (Conn.), 12; Rowan (N.J.), 12; Wis.-Oshkosh, 7; John Carroll (Ohio), 7; Bethel (Minn.), 7; Widener (Pa.), 6; Augustana (Ill.), 4; Christopher Newport (Va.), 4; Trine (Ind.), 3; St. Nobert (Wis.), 3; Carleton (Minn.), 2; Wis.-Stevens Point, 2; LaVerne (Calif.), 2; Wooster (Ohio), 2; DePauw (Ind.), 1; Tufts (Mass.), 1; Louisiana College, 1.
Courtesy: AFCA
