WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER WINS TOP 5 MATCH-UP WITH MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR TO SHAKE UP AFCA DIVISION III COACHES’ POLL

WACO, TEXAS— The Top 5 in this week’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll has a new look this week after Wisconsin-Whitewater downed Mary Hardin-Baylor in a late-season non-conference match-up of highly-ranked teams on Saturday.

The homestanding Warhawks defeated UMHB 41-14 to move up one spot to No. 3 in this week’s rankings. Mount Union remains in firm possession of the top spot after pitching its fourth consecutive shutout, a 37-0 blanking of then-No. 14 Capital. St. John’s (Minn.) climbs one spot to No. 2 after downing arch rival St. Thomas, 51-34. Wheaton moves up one spot to No. 4 after rolling past Elmhurst, 48-7. Central (Iowa) rounds out the Top 5 after the Dutch pushed their record to 9-0 with a 40-14 win over Cornell (Iowa).

Washington & Jefferson climbs one spot to No. 6 this week after slipping by then-No. 21 Waynesburg, 22-21. Mary Hardin-Baylor falls to No. 7 after its loss to Whitewater. No. 8 Wabash is 8-0 following the Little Giants’ 21-0 win over Wooster. Wesley is up two spots to No. 9 after downing then-No. 8 Salisbury, 20-13. St. John Fisher remains at No. 10 after the Cardinals beat Utica, 38-0.

St. Norbert is up four spots to No. 11 after the Green Knights dispatched Beloit, 55-9. Muhlenberg made a five-spot jump to No. 12 with a 29-24 victory over Dickinson. Rensselaer climbs three spots to No. 13 after winning a double-overtime thriller, 20-14, over Worcester Tech. Wartburg is up four spots to No. 14 after a 41-5 win over Simpson. Salisbury tumbles seven spots to No. 15 after its loss to Wesley.

Trinity (Texas) climbs four spots to No. 16 after the Tigers scored a miraculous 28-24 win over Millsaps. Trinity successfully completed 15 laterals on the game’s final play to score the winning touchdown. Bethel (Minn.) is up six spots to No. 17 after a 28-10 win over Hamline. The College of New Jersey also jumped up seven spots to No. 18 after a 30-0 win over Cortland State. Linfield is up five to No. 19 after a 37-6 win over Menlo. Capital tumbles six spots to No. 20 after its loss to Mount Union.

No. 21 Case Western Reserve is one of three new teams in this week’s Top 25. The Spartans are 8-0 after a 35-3 win over Chicago. Alfred falls nine spots to No. 22 after its 41-22 loss to Hobart. Mount St. Joseph returns to the rankings this week at No. 23 after a 10-0 win over Defiance. Franklin makes its first appearance in the Top 25 this year at No. 24 after a 52-33 win over Manchester. Waynesburg falls four spots to No. 25 after its loss to Washington & Jefferson.

Conference Breakdown: Ohio (Mount Union, Capital), Wisconsin (Wisconsin-Whitewater), Atlantic Central (Salisbury, Wesley), Heartland (Mount St. Joseph, Franklin), Iowa (Central {Iowa}, Wartburg), Minnesota (St. John’s, Bethel), America Southwest (Mary Hardin-Baylor), Centennial (Muhlenberg), Empire 8 (St. John Fisher, Alfred), Illinois-Wisconsin (Wheaton), Liberty (Rensselaer), Midwest (St. Norbert), New Jersey (College of New Jersey), North Coast (Wabash), Northwest (Linfield), Presidents (Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg), Southern Collegiate (Trinity), UAA (Case Western Reserve).

Head-to-Head
There are no match-ups of Top 25 teams this week.

Poll Points
Mount Union is surrendering an average of 3.0 points per game and has not allowed a touchdown since its second game of the season ... St. John’s quarterback Alex Kofoed became the 18th Division III player to pass for more than 10,000 yards in his career on Saturday ... Wisconsin-Whitewater scored 24 points off of five turnovers in its win over Mary Hardin-Baylor ... Wheaton held Elmhurst to -10 yards rushing in the Thunder’s 48-7 win ... Central quarterback Tim Connell threw for a career high 325 yards and four touchdowns in Central’s win over Cornell ... Wabash linebacker Adrian Pynenberg had 13 tackles in the Little Giants’ win over Wooster ... Wesley’s Sean Matthews had 14 tackles in the Wolverines’ overtime win over Salisbury ... Muhlenberg quarterback Eric Santagato threw a career-high four touchdown passes to rally the Mules from a 17-0 deficit to a 29-24 win over Dickinson ... Rensselaer’s 21-14 win over Worcester Tech was the 101st meeting between the two schools. RPI has won the the last 11 meetings and leads the all-time series 53-43-5 ... Wartburg rolled up 459 yards in total offense in the Knights’ win over Simpson ... Bethel quarterback Ben Wetzell moved to fourth place on the school’s all-time passing list on Saturday ... The College of New Jersey recorded its first shutout since 2004 when it blanked Cortland State, 30-0, on Saturday ... Linfield extended its college football-record string of winning seasons to 52 with its victory on Saturday.