

Jon Mannix was the man on the spot once again on Saturday for the Red Dragons, who got their season off to a much better start than they did in 2014.

Photo by Darl Zehr Photography for Cortland athletics

At the beginning of last season, Cortland State could only seem to find ways to lose, falling to Buffalo State, Brockport State and Morrisville State in the most excruciating ways possible. But the Red Dragons turned it around to finish 5-5 and beat archrival Ithaca on the final play, and today Cortland found a familiar face when it needed it.

On Saturday, Jon Mannix outjumped defenders and pulled in a Hail Mary in the end zone as time expired to lift the Red Dragons past Heidelberg 26-24. Mannix is the same player who caught the winning TD pass in Cortland's last game, last November's Cortaca Jug game where a botched field goal snap led to the holder throwing to Mannix for the winning TD in a 23-20 victory over Ithaca.

The win was one of two by Empire 8 teams over members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Buffalo State rolled at Otterbein in a 29-0 win. The Bengals held the Cardinals to just 114 yards of total offense.

Alma got off to a fast start, as Nick Sullivan ran for a 70-yard touchdown on the Scots' first play from scrimmage and the Scots cruised to a 43-0 win at Finlandia in the Lions' inaugural football game. A crowd of 1,500 showed up and ringed the field as the Lions struggled, but held the Scots scoreless in the second and fourth quarter. It was the first Division III football game played in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Wilmington snapped a 23-game losing streak as the Quakers scored with just over a minute remaining in the game to win 14-10. Austin Jarbo found Brandon Mitchell for his first completion of the game on fourth-and-10, and Mitchell took it 53 yards to the end zone for the touchdown to beat Bluffton.

Which conference had the best opening week?

CCIW (6-1, only L by Carthage) Centennial (8-2) E8 (8-1, but 48-0 L by SJF) MIAC (8-1, L by 8 to top 10 team)







Illinois Wesleyan started its rebound from last year's dismal 4-6 season, defeating Franklin 34-24. Having a healthy Jack Warner under center will probably do wonders for the Titans, as he threw for three touchdowns on 16-for-24 passing. Chase Burton was 35-for-54 in his first start for Franklin, but threw three interceptions and had just 6.0 yards per attempt.

Tyler Ward contributed 258 yards of total offense and accounted for three touchdowns to help Western New England take down crosstown rival Springfield, 34-14, in the second annual Pynchon SAW Game, symbolic for bragging rights between the Springfield city rivals located just 2-1/2 miles apart. Ward was 13-for-20 passing for 145 yards and a 6-yard TD strike to Mark Dietrich, and he rushed for another 123 and scores of 17 and 13.

Matt Pawlowski threw five touchdown passes and the Soup Bowl will stay in Guilford's part of Greensboro, N.C., as the Quakers defeated Greensboro 77-13. His final strike, a 47-completion to Adam Smith, came on the first half's unusual final play. Guilford's Tyler Hunt had a career-long 48-yard field goal negated by a penalty with one second left in the half. After a Quakers' delay-of-game penalty and with no time remaining on the clock, Pawlowski hit Smith with his fifth passing score of the game. Smith finished with eight catches for 158 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

Austin College piled up 605 yards of total offense and took advantage of five Hendrix second-half turnovers to pull away and win a 55-41 shootout over the visiting Warriors. The wild fourth quarter came after a wild first half in which the teams combined for 77 points.

Delaware Valley got touchdowns from four players, including one on defense, as the new-look Aggies opened the 2015 campaign with a 27-24 victory over visiting Montclair State.

Albion scored three touchdowns in the final 2:57 of the game, rallying past UW-Stevens Point 65-52. The Pointers had taken a 45-44 lead with 11:21 to go on a Logan Taylor touchdown catch and held the lead until Mike Czarnecki scored from 6 yards out with just under three minutes left. The Britons added another short touchdown drive after the Pointers turned it over on downs at their own 25, then Jeremy Shephard returned an interception 40 yards for Albion's final score.

Two new regimes faced off in Northeast Wisconsin and it was the new Rockford staff and team rolling past the new Lawrence staff and team 52-17. Lawrence, which starts the season with fewer than 40 players, is running the Fly offense, but it was the Regents who took flight, outgaining the Vikings 605-83.

Wisconsin Lutheran outlasted Lake Forest, defeating the Foresters 38-37 in double overtime. The Warriors converted the extra point in the second overtime for the win. Mitch Skarban caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two TDs in the win. Ripon had just 144 yards of total offense, but the Redhawks scored on a defensive PAT and three St. Scholastica turnovers to defeat the Saints 17-16.

Justice Anderson caught a 54-yard pass -- his only reception of the game -- to put Moravian at the King's 6-yard line and the Greyhounds punched it in three plays later to defeat King's 21-17. The Centennial won another MAC matchup as well, as Susquehanna defeated Lycoming 28-13 to get the Stagg Hat back.

Ryan Allison caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left and Rashad Lofton caught a two-point conversion pass to lift Concordia-Chicago past Beloit 51-50. Lofton had caught a touchdown pass four minutes earlier, as the Cougars scored 16 points in the final minutes to win. Similarly, Catholic rallied from a 23-7 halftime deficit and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 49-yard touchdown pass from T.J. Tutone to Lucas Morley with 14 seconds left to win 34-33.