2024 Lycoming vs Wilkes

Wilke's Donell Mackey-Woodson & More Deliver Crazy Football Stats In Week 7

Wilke's Donell Mackey-Woodson & More Deliver Crazy Football Stats In Week 7

Here’s a look back at some of the over-the-top, beyond-belief performances across the college football world from Week 7 of the 2024 season.

Oct 15, 2024 by Briar Napier
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Like record-setting passing days? Rare or unusual offensive performances? A trio of interceptions from the same player in the same game?

Video Game Numbers, FloCollege’s weekly recap of the most absurd statistical showings across the college football world, has all of those examples and more in this week’s edition.

With essentially every conference in the sport in the thick of league play, we’re beyond the games in which a strong team is roughing it up and stat-padding against a lesser nonconference opponent. Basically, what we’re saying is that games being played at the moment have as high of stakes as they’ve had all year — yet we’re still seeing some big-time individual showings that sometimes only look possible in video games.

Here’s a look back at some of the over-the-top, beyond-belief performances across the college football world from this past weekend:

Dante Chachere, QB, Portland State (12-for-26 passing, 216 yards, three touchdowns, 13 carries, 202 yards, three touchdowns at Idaho State)

Just the second game of 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in the FCS in six years, Chachere had plenty of fun inside the ICCU Dome this past Saturday as he led the Vikings to their first win of the season in a 42-38 triumph over the Bengals.

The conductor behind a big comeback win on the road (Portland State entered the second half facing a 31-21 deficit), Chachere was involved in all six of PSU’s scores, with a 62-yard touchdown run in the first quarter making Vikings coach Bruce Barnum exclaim in the school’s game recap — in the spirit of Video Game Numbers — how “That stuff doesn’t happen on EA Sports.”

Chachere’s three first-half touchdowns weren’t enough for PSU to avoid a double-digit gap to make up at the half, but the Vikings had the lead less than five minutes into the second half, anyway, as Chachere threw a 50-yard dart to Branden Alvarez and had a 53-yard rushing score on PSU’s first drives of the third quarter.

Idaho State’s answer through a rushing touchdown early in the fourth got it back in the lead, but Chachere once again responded as he connected for a 21-yard touchdown with Eric Denham with 11:34 to play. The Vikings’ defense held on from there, ensuring that one of the greatest individual performances in program history would end with a win — and that PSU’s winless streak to start the season was finally over.

AJ Richardson, LB, Norfolk State (18 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception vs. Towson)

Richardson was a FCS Freshman All-American last year for the Spartans, and there’s been no sophomore slump so far for one of the country’s leading tacklers (70 total, third in FCS).

Still, even by his lofty standards, Richardson’s performance this past Saturday in Norfolk State’s near-win over Towson was truly something special. 

Though the Spartans dropped their third consecutive game in a 28-23 loss, Richardson’s 5.5 stops for loss (with two of them being sacks) terrorized the Tigers’ offense as he helped make life difficult for Towson quarterback Sean Brown, who threw three interceptions.

And speaking of picks, Richardson was involved in one of Brown’s interceptions as he got a big takeaway late in the fourth quarter. With the Spartans needing a spark down 28-16, Richardson got in front of a Brown pass and returned it 32 yards to the Towson 38-yard-line with 4:16 to play. 

Norfolk State’s offense ended up scoring on the drive to make it a one-score game, giving the Spartans some life late, but the Tigers picked up a crucial third down on the game’s final series to ice it.

The loss dropped the Spartans to 2-6 on the season, but the good news for NSU is that the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title race is wide-open as the majority of conference games begin this weekend. If Norfolk State is to make a second-half push, expect Richardson to be heavily involved behind it.

Colin Johnson, QB, UNC Pembroke (29-for-43 passing, 514 yards, seven touchdowns vs. West Liberty)

Playing their first game at home since August, the Braves upon their return to Pembroke this past Saturday put on a record-breaking show in a 67-20 romp over West Liberty for their second straight victory after an 0-4 start.

In terms of who was the ringleader behind it all, it was Johnson — who has been one of D-II’s most entertaining gunslingers over the past two weeks — swinging the hammer and pulling off one of the best single-game passing performances in the country this season.

Johnson’s passing yardage and touchdown marks against the Hilltoppers were both school records as UNCP as a whole tallied up 675 yards of total offense, also a school record. Three of Johnson’s touchdown tosses came in a high-octane second quarter in which there was 34 combined points scored, with the Braves’ signal-caller finding three different receivers (Que Kennedy, Josh Jenkins and Josiah Hayes) for house calls of 62, 33 and 40 yards, respectively. 

All three of those wideouts finished with two touchdown catches from Johnson, with the quarterback ending his standout day in the fourth quarter with a short-yardage score to Jaquan Albright before the Braves’ backups took over. Combined with his outing in an Oct. 5 win at Wheeling (20-for-28 passing, 324 yards, four touchdowns), Johnson’s arm is on fire and he’ll look to keep it rolling this Saturday at Fairmont State.

Barrett Hudson, RB, Austin College (11 carries, 240 yards, three touchdowns at Lyon)

On the surface, an 11-carry day for a running back isn’t usually something worth highlighting.

But not many tailbacks who’ve had an 11-carry day had days like Hudson did this past weekend in the Kangaroos’ first win of the season, a 35-17 triumph at Lyon College. 

Despite just 11 touches, the 5-foot-7 true freshman made the most out of his opportunities as he averaged a whopping 21.8 yards per carry against the Scots and had three scores of 70 yards or more, taking it to the house from 71 yards twice and then doing it again from 75 yards out as Hudson had more yards on the ground then either quarterback in the game had through the air.

Hudson’s second of his two 71-yard scampers came with under two minutes left in the game to clinch the Roos the game, and after never having a game previously this season in which he tallied more than 83 rushing yards, Hudson instead nearly tripled his career high in a single day while additionally having the first multi-touchdown game of his career.

With the proverbial monkey off of its back and a win on the board, Austin will face Texas Lutheran for the second time in three weeks this weekend with the hope that Hudson can keep his electric showings going another week, especially considering that the Bulldogs won the first meeting, 43-34, on Oct. 5.

Donell Mackey-Woodson, CB, Wilkes (Three interceptions, two touchdowns, one tackle vs. Lycoming)

Sure, Wilkes’ back-to-back 50-point scoring performances against Juniata and Lycoming to begin Landmark Conference play (winning 54-7 and 53-28, respectively) were impressive, but we’re not talking in this entry about how many points the Colonels’ offense can put up on the scoreboard.

Instead, we’re talking about how the defense gets involved in the scoring, too.

With a hat trick of interceptions against Lycoming, Mackey-Woodson, a senior defensive back from Connecticut, became D-III’s standalone leader in picks through Week 7 with six interceptions through six games as he got his first turnovers since getting a takeaway against St. John Fisher back on Sept. 28.

Getting a trifecta of interceptions probably would’ve been enough for Mackey-Woodson to make this week’s edition of Video Game Numbers, anyway, but he instead decided to make it no debate that he would be chosen.

Of those three interceptions, Mackey-Woodson returned two of them back to the house in the second half, beefing up Wilkes’ 29-7 advantage at the break and making sure that there would be no late comeback from the Warriors. He accounted for two of the Colonels’ three third-quarter scores, taking one pick back 47 yards to the house with 11:18 left before one-upping himself with 1:46 remaining in the frame, going nearly coast-to-coast with a 98-yard catch and run to help get Wilkes over the 50-point mark once again.

Wilkes could be the Landmark’s best challenger this season to powerhouse Susquehanna, which it faces in two weeks, but in the meantime, don’t be surprised if we see another big-time day from Mackey-Woodson and other Colonels this week against a Keystone team on a four-game losing streak.

AFCA Division II Football Rankings For Week 8

Oct. 14, 2024

  1. Harding (Ark.) (30) - Prev. 1
  2. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) - Prev. 2
  3. Valdosta St. (Ga.) - Prev. 3
  4. Ferris St. (Mich.) - Prev. 4
  5. Kutztown (Pa.) - Prev. 5
  6. Slippery Rock (Pa.) - Prev. 6
  7. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) - Prev. 7
  8. Western Colorado - Prev. 8
  9. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) - Prev. 10
  10. West Alabama - Prev. 11
  11. Central Oklahoma - Prev. 12
  12. Colorado School of Mines - Prev. 13
  13. Charleston (W.Va.) - Prev. 14
  14. Colorado St.-Pueblo - Prev. 16
  15. Minnesota St. - Prev. 15
  16. Emporia St. (Kan.) - Prev. 18
  17. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) - Prev. 17
  18. Carson-Newman (Tenn.) - Prev. 23
  19. Indianapolis (Ind.) - Prev. 21
  20. Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) - Prev. 22
  21. Central Washington - Prev. 9
  22. Frostburg St. (Md.) - Prev. 24
  23. West Florida - NR
  24. Southern Arkansas - NR
  25. Henderson St. (Ark.) - NR

Dropped Out: Delta State (Miss.) (19), Findlay (Ohio) (20), Indiana (Pa.) (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Augustana (S.D.), 34; Delta St. (Miss.), 19; Virginia Union, 19; Findlay (Ohio), 17; New Haven (Conn.), 12; Wayne St. (Neb.), 12; Angelo St. (Tex.), 11; Colorado Mesa, 8; Emory & Henry (Va.), 8; Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 8; Assumption (Mass.), 7; Limestone (S.C.), 7; Sioux Falls (S.D.), 7; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 6; Ashland (Ohio), 2; Davenport (Mich.), 2; Wingate (N.C.), 2; West Virginia St., 1.

AFCA NCAA Division III Football Rankings In Week 8

  1. North Central (Ill.) (5-0) (36) - Prev. 1
  2. Cortland (N.Y.) (5-0) (13) - Prev. 2
  3. Mount Union (Ohio) (5-0) (1) - Prev. 3
  4. St. John’s (Minn.) (5-0) - Prev. 4
  5. Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) (5-0) - Prev. 6
  6. Wisconsin-Platteville (5-0) - Prev. 11
  7. Grove City (Pa.) (5-0) - Prev. 7
  8. Susquehanna (Pa.) (5-1) - Prev. 9
  9. Salisbury (Md.) (5-0) - Prev. 12
  10. DePauw (Ind.) (5-0) - Prev. 13
  11. Wisconsin-River Falls (4-1) - Prev. 5
  12. Whitworth (Wash.) (5-0) - Prev. 14
  13. Wartburg (Iowa) (4-1) - Prev. 15
  14. Endicott (Mass.) (4-1) - Prev. 16
  15. Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) (5-1) - Prev. 10
  16. Aurora (Ill.) (5-1) - Prev. 20
  17. Linfield (Ore.) (4-1) - Prev. 19
  18. Hope (Mich.) (5-0)  - Prev. 21
  19. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (3-2) - Prev. 23
  20. John Hopkins (Md.) (4-1) - Prev. 22
  21. Coe (Iowa) (6-0) - Prev. 24
  22. Wisconsin-Whitewater (3-2) - Prev. 8
  23. Randolph-Macon (Va.) (4-1) - Prev. 25
  24. Wisconsin-La Crosse (2-3) - Prev. 18
  25. Springfield (Mass.) (5-0) - Prev. NR

Dropped Out: Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) (17)

Others Receiving Votes: Marietta (Ohio), 93; Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.), 87; Case Western Reserve (Ohio), 74; Berry (Ga.), 65; Wisconsin-Stout, 55; Lake Forest (Ill.), 39; Ursinus (Pa.) 37; Wheaton (Ill.), 31; FDU-Florham (N.J.), 20; Trinity (Tex.), 17; Bethel (Minn.), 16; Wabash (Ind.), 14; Washington (Mo.), 8; Washington & Jefferson (Pa.), 8; Alma (Mich.), 5; Baldwin Wallace (Ohio), 4; Chapman (Calif.), 1; Hobart (N.Y.), 1; John Carroll (Ohio), 1.

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