We are in the thick of it, people. Week 5 of the D3 Football season came and went without much flurry. Oshkosh trampled Whitewater, Mount Union steamrolled Ohio Northern, and just about every top-ranked team walked away with a victory.
Well, save for Wheaton, which somehow lost to Illinois Wesleyan, 14-10. It happens.
Anyways, onto the Top Six — yes, six — Plays of Week 5. Vote for your favorite in the poll below, which we will leave open until Thursday at noon Pacific so you can decide a winner.
Let’s do this thing!
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CHAPMAN’S AMAZING GAME-WINNING DRIVE
67 seconds, 56 yards, 1 game winning score! Relive the final drive! #d3fb #ChapmanU #weCUpanthersjQuery17209271896649850866_1506953096146?? pic.twitter.com/BumcDkVWuF
— Chapman Athletics (@ChapmanSports) October 1, 2017
Maybe it’s not fair to highlight an entire series, but Chapman’s football team needed to travel 56 yards in 67 seconds to score a touchdown to snag a 42-40 win over Pomona-Pitzer.
And man, what a beautiful drive — pass incomplete, complete pass to Joe Mudie for 11 yards, pass complete to Jacob Isabel for 11 yards, pass complete to Isabel for 9 yards, PENALTY, pass complete to Dominic Vaccher for 23 yards, pass complete to Vaccher for 6 yards, pass incomplete, pass incomplete, Mudie rush for 1-yard for the touchdown. Game over. QB Ricky Bautista orchestrated that drive, and finished the game with 182 yards and 2 TDs.
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BLOCKED FG LEADS TO WILD TOUCHDOWN
Hey @SportsCenter, check this out! This is how you end a first half! Blocked field goal, a lateral and 94yd TD! #SCTop10 #TrueBlue #d3fb pic.twitter.com/27c3cwxf88
— George Fox Athletics (@GFUAthletics) October 1, 2017
It’s not often you see a lateral pass made by a defense, but that’s exactly what George Fox did in its 27-7 win over Pacific. A blocked field goal led to a chaotic turn of events as one George Fox defender scooped up the ball, then made a wild lateral pass. Luckily for him, the ball was then picked up by Charles Riga, who returned it 94 yards for the touchdown.
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TRICK PLAY LEADS TO JUNIATA VICTORY
Relive the last play of @JuniataFootball's 42-41 OT victory against McDaniel. A little trickeration for the W #wingsup #d3fb @d3football pic.twitter.com/kaPW1W8ehr
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) October 1, 2017
A little trickery goes a long way, as Juniata found out in its 42-41 OT victory over McDaniel.
A Juniata touchdown in the bottom of the first overtime period set the score at 41-40 in McDaniel’s favor, and the Eagles decided to just win the darn thing. They lined up for a two-point conversion, and moved their QB, Austin Montgomery, out from behind center to line up next to the receivers. RB Matt Lehr took the direct snap, then handed the ball off to Jake Notestine, who tossed a floater to Montogmery in the end zone. Game. Set. Match.
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WILD SCRUM LEADS TO 27-YARD TD
Play of the Week – @d3football @HEROSportsD3FB Justin Banks fumble recovery for an E&H TD #BlueCollarGoldStandard pic.twitter.com/4bztOFR9k9
— E&H Football (@EHCFootball) October 1, 2017
Don’t you just love a crazy mad scrum? A fumble by Washington & Jefferson led to massive pile that for all the world looked like nothing more than sheer madness.
Yet, somehow, Emory and Henry's Justin Banks emerged from said chaos and scampered 27 yards for the first TD of what turned out to be a high-scoring affair. Emory and Henry ended up winning 45-42. So that TD, which occurred on the third play of the game, ended up being one of the game’s most important plays.
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KASPER TO MENTKOWSKI FOR RECORD-BREAKING OSHKOSH PLAY
@d3football @BKasp12 to @sammentos2 for 96 yards to make it 7 to 0 against UWW breaking 123 year old school record. pic.twitter.com/nrCOwotOpJ
— Papa Mentos (@jalusam) October 1, 2017
In what turned out to be a slight letdown in terms of heavyweight battles between historic rivals, UW-Oshkosh thrashed UW-Whitewater 37-20, but at least they did so with style.
Near the end of the first quarter, with the score knotted at zero, Brett Kasper, standing inside his own red zone, connected with receiver Sam Mentkowski on a 45-plus yard pass. Mentkowski then shook off his defender and raced into the end zone for what turned out to be a 96-yard score — or, the longest pass play in Oshkosh history, according to everyone.
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HEMPHILL BREAKS TACKLES FOR 89-YARD SCORE
@HemphillJaquan ties the D3 football touchdown record in style. One away from t-2nd all time in NCAA. @jhofeditz @SportsCenter @HSUAthletics pic.twitter.com/r3Tnktx0qI
— edwards Ω (@MathewEdwardss) October 1, 2017
How does a player score 7 touchdowns in a single game? Well, ask Jaquan Hemphill.
The Hardin-Simmons RB exploded for 293 yards and 7 TDS — yes, 7 TDs — and helped his team thoroughly trash East Texas Baptist 80-42. One of his best plays came early in the third quarter. With his team leading 42-21, and settled on its own 20-yard line, Hemphill somehow exploded through a legion of tackles and cruised to an 89-yard score. Seriously, watch this play unfold and then let me know how many times you lost sight of the elusive running back.
If this impressed you, you can also vote for Hemphill to be the D3 Football HERO of the Week.[divider]
Which Week 5 highlight was the D3 Football Play of the Week?
