CINCINNATI, OH - The College of Mount St. Joseph (1-0, 0-0 HCAC) used a punishing ground attack on Saturday evening in Cincinnati, as the Lions rolled to a season-opening 37-14 win over Wilmington College. The victory was the team's 10th straight win in the all-time series over the Quakers. 

MSJ racked up 312 yards on the ground against Wilmington, while limiting the visitors to only 52 yards rushing. 

Senior running back James Clay (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) led the way with 240 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries.  The senior found the end zone three times in the first half and added his fourth and final score midway through the final quarter. 

Tim Bowman (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota East) and Garrett Breiner (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the MSJ defense with six tackles each.

The Mount was six-for-15 on third down and held Wilmington to four-of-14 on third down.  

Mount St. Joseph will return to the field on September 15 as the Lions travel to Hanover to face the Panthers in each school's HCAC opener.

In other action...

Anderson University (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) could not move the football in a 46-0 loss to rival Taylor University in the annual Wagon Wheel game.  The Ravens offense only gained 25 yards of total offense in the loss, while the Trojans racked up 489 yards.  The Ravens will look to get back on track this weekend as AU faces Grove City on the road Saturday.

Bluffton University (1-0, 0-0 HCAC) opened the season with a 20-0 shutout win at home over Kenyon Saturday.  The Beavers led 17-0 at the half and waited out a lengthy lightning delay in the third quarter to defeat the Lords.  Junior quarterback Tyler Wright (Troy, Ohio/H.S.) was impressive guiding the Beavers' offense in the win.  Wright completed 24 of his 32 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, while adding 20 yards and a score on 10 carries. BU racked up 422 yards and 24 first downs in the win and limited Kenyon to 145 yards of total offense.  Junior running back Airic Steagall (Hillsboro, Ohio/H.S.) rushed for 76 yards on 15 carries to lead the Beavers ground attack.   Bluffton will complete the non-league portion of its schedule Saturday afternoon at Baldwin-Wallace.

Defiance College (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) fell into a hole early and never recovered, falling 55-0 to Albion College at Coressel Stadium Saturday.  The Jackets fell behind 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 41-0 at the break.  Junior quarterback Garrett Teague (Webberville, Mich./H.S.) led the DC offense with 84 yards passing, completing 13 of his 24 passes, while adding 55 yards on the ground.  DC totaled 232 yards of offense and allowed 428 total yards to the Britons offense.  Defiance will travel to Adrian for a 6:00 PM kickoff Saturday.

Earlham College (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) opened the season with a 33-3 loss to Oberlin College on Saturday.  The Quakers offense struggled to move the ball against the Yeomen, mustering only 109 total yards and five first downs.  Oberlin built a 22-0 lead before EC broke into the scoring column with a 29 yards field goal by Ryan Acosta (San Juan, PR/Commonwealth) late in the third quarter.  Oberlin forced six Earlham turnovers on the afternoon and racked up 247 yards on the ground.  Earlham will travel to Kenyon College for a 1:00 PM kickoff Saturday.

No. 13 Franklin College (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) had its hands full Saturday as No. 2 ranked Mount Union entered Faught Stadium.  The Purple Raiders jumped out early and put the clamps on the high powered Franklin offense, earning a 45-7 road win over the Grizzlies.  Franklin fell behind 31-0 before finding the end zone on a 30 yard touchdown pass from Jonny West (Avon, Ind./Speedway) to Kyle Linville (Speedway, Ind./H.S.) early in the fourth quarter.  West finished the afternoon 17-of-37 for 146 yards and an interception, while Linville led FC receivers with 84 yards on five receptions.  Mount Union totaled 421 yards of offense against the Grizzlies defense, including 250 yards through the air.  Franklin will look to bounce back Saturday evening at Butler University.

Hanover College (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) dropped a 51-28 decision on the road against Illinois College Saturday afternoon to open the season.  The Panthers fell in a 16-0 hole at the end of the first quarter and could never quite get over the hump.  The Hanover defense allowed 632 total yards to Illinois College, including 465 yards on the ground.  Quarterback Dexter Britt (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the HC offense, completing 22 of his 36 passes for 180 yards and two scores.  The junior also led the team in rushing, totaling 40 yards on 16 carries.  Senior wide receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) returned to the field after missing last season due to illness, finishing with 10 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.   Hanover returns home to face No. 8 ranked Wabash Saturday at 1:30 PM.

Manchester University (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) opened the season Thursday night at Trine, falling to the Thunder 24-14 under the lights.  Trine scored 10 points with its special teams late in the first half, including a 92-yard kickoff return for a score, to stretch the contest to a 10 point advantage.  The Spartans struck midway through the fourth quarter as junior quarterback Nick Williams (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Elmhurst) scored on an 18-yard run to cut the deficit to three points.  The Thunder added a late touchdown in the final minute to put the game out of reach.  Williams led the black and gold offense through the air and on the ground.  The junior completed 15 passes for 130 yards and added 65 yards rushing on 15 carries.  Manchester will travel to Kalamazoo Saturday at 1:00 PM.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (0-1, 0-0 HCAC) scored two fourth quarter touchdowns before falling just shy in a 29-28 loss to Kalamazoo College in the season opener for both schools Saturday night.  Senior Kyle Kovach (Munster, Ind./Andrean) rushed for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman Jacob Dye (Tipton, Ind./H.S.) hauled in two touchdown receptions to lead the Rose-Hulman offensive effort.  Rose-Hulman amassed 433 yards of total offense in the game, highlighted by touchdown runs of 65 and 60 yards by Kovach.  Quarterback Mitch Snyder (Casey, Ill./Casey-Westfield) finished 21-of-37 through the air for 166 yards and two scores.  Rose pulled within one point with 2:15 left in the contest, but could not convert the game-tying extra point.  The Engineers will travel to Centre on Saturday evening.

For a complete recap of Week 1 in HCAC Football, click here