Interesting to see Lycoming finally do something. Before today, the Warriors had gone 4-12 since wide receiver Ricky Lannetti died of a staph infection the night before the 2003 national quarterfinals. Sometimes tragedies such as a death of a coach or player have lingering effects. Hopefully Lycoming can get back to respectability.

And that win came against a team I was thinking might be the best in the East region before today. The two-headed backfield monster of Alex Baez and Jamie Donovan combined for just 15 carries, with Donovan limited to one carry with injuries.

Then again, Ithaca might still be the best team in the East considering Rowan’s struggles today and the loss of Mike Orihel. If it’s temporary, that’s one thing, but long-term it’s a big blow to the Profs.

Nobody has run the table in the WIAC since UW-Stout did so in 2000, but the way this Whitewater team is rolling, it seems possible. Their schedule wraps up with what is traditionally the bottom three teams (Oshkosh, River Falls and Platteville) at home and a trip to Stout, although Oshkosh is 2-1 and has already beaten Stout, so the Titans can’t be forgotten.

Congrats to Linfield, extending its own record for consecutive winning seasons — it’s now 50. A half-century over .500 is great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a record that someone can easily chase, nor has Linfield been in any danger lately of failing to have a winning season. Since it’s not much of a surprise, it’s hard to get all excited over it outside of McMinnville, Ore. Sorry.

Lakeland finally got past Concordia (Wis.) for the first time in five years and has three games (one against Aurora, one game back) left to decide the IBC title. I still remember their weeping and gnashing of teeth from Lakeland’s staff (two or three coaches ago) on the Selection Sunday conference call in 1997 after they went 10-0 against weak competition and justifiably did not make the tournament. (Picture making the North Region field without an automatic bid — not likely.) They’re a few steps away from getting their first chance.

Saw Johns Hopkins on Friday night against Gettysburg. They do have a defense worthy of a couple of playoff wins, but I am not sure who is going to score for them. Gettysburg came in allowing opponents 38 points a game and Johns Hopkins managed 14 — on a blocked punt and one long pass play. That isn’t going to get it done nationally, although if the Blue Jays face another Mid-Atlantic team in the playoffs they might just win, because nobody else in the subregion is that good either.

Interested in:
The whole stretch run for the IIAC, which should be interesting again. Central travels to Wartburg in Week 10. Coe has already beaten Central and lost to Wartburg. Luther’s not out of it yet.
Benedictine quarterback Efi Eyo. Man, this guy has been everywhere, started off at I-AA Fairfield, played at McDaniel, was in camp at Catholic, finally gets a W today for Benedictine, 22-13 against Eureka. Long, strange trip … or something like that.
UW-Oshkosh. Are they for real? no. Real enough to cause trouble down the stretch in the WIAC? You betcha.

Concerned about:
Thiel. Needed double OT against Waynesburg and has four games left against teams that are all at .500 or better right now.
Union. Hail Mary to beat 2-4 F&M? And you want to be my latex salesman …
Bridgewater. That’s a lot of points given up. Surely they knew when Guilford put up 45 on Hampden-Sydney that the Quakers weren’t to be taken lightly. So Guilford scored 46 on Bridgewater.

Oh, and Ferrum and Trinity (Conn.) still have Division III football programs. Now you can’t complain that we’re not talking about you. All those Ferrum gripers out there, hey, I voted for you the last three weeks. You’re barking up the wrong tree.

The upper midwest should be the focus this weekend, with Top 15 teams squaring off in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. But neither game is necessarily going to wrap up the WIAC and MIAC races. No. 5 St. John’s takes its 6-0 mark to No. 13 Concordia-Moorhead, where both teams could use a little practice hanging onto the ball. St. John’s has turned the ball over 20 times in six games, while Concordia-Moorhead fumbled it 10 times last week alone, losing eight of them. They’re also the top two scoring defenses in the league, allowing 10.8 and 14.0 points per game.

In Wisconsin, No. 10 UW-La Crosse hosts No. 7 UW-Whitewater. This is a rare game for the WIAC in Week 7, two teams that have combined for one loss, and are unbeaten against Division III teams.

Those games are obvious big games, as is the other Top 25 matchup, with No. 22 Carthage at No. 16 North Central. Here’s some others:

Friday Night Audios: Of course, even though we always call this Looking ahead to Saturday, we can’t ignore Friday’s games this time around. Ferrum (6-0) puts its unbeaten record on the line against Methodist (4-1) tonight at Franklin County HS, a home game for Ferrum. And Johns Hopkins (5-0, 2-0 Centennial) hosts Gettysburg (2-3, 1-0) tonight as well. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast online, check our Scoreboard page for links.

Can’t look ahead: No. 3 Hardin-Simmons hosts No. 11 Mary Hardin-Baylor a week from Saturday, but can’t be caught napping on East Texas Baptist this week. Similarly for Ohio Northern against Otterbein in advance of next week’s game at Mount Union.

Playing favorites: Bowdoin is a surprising 3-0 and now hosts Hamilton, a game it would be expected to win even in a normal season. How will the Polar Bears handle success?

This never happens: Kenyon hosts Allegheny this week, and the Lords are actually ahead in the NCAC standings at 2-0 to the Gators 1-1.

Explain this one: When cardiac kids Albright and Delaware Valley play each other, how will it end? Will it end? If it’s boring, does the loser have to go with Susquehanna to the Liberty League? (And yes, this is apparently more than just Post Patterns rumor.)

Didn’t you used to be good? Springfield travels to Plymouth State. These teams have combined for three wins this season, one against first-year program Becker. When this year’s seniors were beign recruited, Plymouth State was in the process of going 7-3. Springfield averaged almost nine wins over the past three seasons.

Words are yummy: Back in our preseason Kickoff special, I predicted that Southern Oregon would be the team that loses to Linfield by the fewest number of points. Hey Raiders, gotta keep it under 15 points. Best of luck with that. Weren’t you supposed to be better than 0-5? Yikes.

But regardless of what happens tonight (I’m heading to Johns Hopkins), my day has already been made. Picked up the local paper and saw D3football.com cited on the front page of the sports section in a story on Frostburg State defensive lineman Kevin Culbert. Of course, it was the Oct. 4 edition, but that’s what was sitting in the lobby of my daughter’s school.