FEW CHANGES AT THE TOP IN AFCA DIVISION III COACHES’ POLL

WACO, TEXAS— The first 13 spots in this week’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll remain unchanged from a week ago as the nation’s top teams all scored impressive victories over the weekend.

The Mount Union Purple Raiders remain the No. 1 team in the country after rolling past Wilmington, 59-0, on Saturday. Mount Union is averaging 60 points per game on offense through six games this season. No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor also improved to 6-0 with a 70-14 win over Louisiana College. No. 3 St. John’s blanked Gustavus Adolphus, 40-0, to up its record to 7-0. No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater is 5-1 after a 26-14 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh. No. 5 Wheaton slipped past CCIW rival Augustana (Ill.), 28-24.

Capital remains at No. 6 after taking down No. 15 Ohio Northern, 24-6. No. 7 Central (Iowa) is 7-0 after a 24-17 win over Coe. No. 8 Washington & Jefferson stormed past Westminster (Pa.), 58-18 to move to 6-0 on the year. No. 9 Salisbury also topped the 50-point mark with a 56-20 win over Morrisville State. No. 10 Wabash edged Wittenberg, 24-17.

St. John Fisher holds steady at No. 11 after a 48-2 win over Norwich. No. 12 Wesley improves to 6-1 with a 50-7 win over Newport News. No. 13 Occidental is 5-0 after downing LaVerne 45-7. Alfred moves up two spots to No. 14 with a 35-7 win over Utica. St. Olaf is 6-1 after surviving a 52-51 shootout against Concordia-Moorhead.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point jumps six spots to No. 16 after a 26-23 win over Wisconsin-Stout. Idle Rensselaer is up one spot to No. 17 and will meet Merchant Marine this weekend. St. Norbert also moved up one spot to No. 18 with a 26-24 win over Midwest Conference rival Carroll (Wis.). Wartburg is up two spots to No. 19 after a 13-7 win over Loras upped its record to 5-1. Bridgewater (Va.) moves up three spots to No. 20 after a convincing 76-28 win over Guilford.

Unbeaten Muhlenberg climbs four spots to No. 21 after blanking McDaniel, 43-0 on Saturday. Trinity (Texas) moves up two spots to No. 22 after rebounding from its first loss a week ago to defeat DePauw, 43-28. Montclair State is the first of three newly-ranked teams this week at No. 23. The Red Hawks defeated Kean, 27-12. Whitworth breaks into the rankings at No. 24 after a 48-7 win over Lewis & Clark. Waynesburg rounds out this week’s poll at No. 25 after downing Bethany (WVa.), 45-7.

Conference Breakdown: Ohio (Mount Union, Capital), Wisconsin (Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Atlantic Central (Wesley, Salisbury), Iowa (Central {Iowa}, Wartburg), Minnesota (St. John’s, St. Olaf), America Southwest (Mary Hardin-Baylor), Centennial (Muhlenberg), Empire 8 (St. John Fisher, Alfred), Illinois-Wisconsin (Wheaton), Liberty (Rensselaer), Midwest (St. Norbert), New Jersey (Montclair State), North Coast (Wabash), Northwest (Whitworth), Old Dominion (Bridgewater), Presidents (Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg), Southern California (Occidental), Southern Collegiate (Trinity).

Head-to-Head
No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater visits No. 16 Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a battle for first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Whitewater won last year’s meeting 31-13 at Whitewater leads the all-time series 56-30.

Poll Points
Mount Union has held its first six opponents to an average of 4.0 points per game and has outscored its last four opponents 227-3. The Purple Raiders have not surrendered a point in their last 10 quarters of play ... Montclair State runningback Jeff Bliss rushed for a career-best 165 yards and a touchdown in the Red Hawks’ 27-12 win over Kean ... Whitworth ran for 395 yards and six touchdowns in the Pirates’ 48-7 win over Lewis & Clark ... Waynesburg is 6-0 for the first time since 1967 ... Mary Hardin-Baylor rushed for 420 yards and eight touchdowns in its 70-14 win over Louisiana College ... St. Norbert has won 24 consecutive regular season games ... St. Olaf receiver Horace Gant broke the school’s career records for receptions and receiving yards and needs one more touchdown catch to break the career mark in that category ... Muhlenberg is 6-0 for the first time since 1946 ... With 3.5 sacks against Newport News, Wesley’s Bryan Robinson became the school’s career leader in sacks with 44.5 ... Occidental rolled up 498 yards in total offense in its 45-7 win over LaVerne ... Salisbury has topped the 40-point mark four times this season ... St. John Fisher held Norwich to just 77 yards in total offense.