What are the Top Division 3 Football Matchups of Week One?

Hello, Justin Berendzen from Draft Diamonds (@jrberendzen on Twitter) with my top 5 matchups up in week one.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Saint John’s University (Minnesota)

This matchup is between two teams with very good recent histories I expect a battle here. Saint John’s offense has senior tight end Alex Larson who comes from Woodbury, Minnesota had 476 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns last season. Junior defensive back Egon Hein had 58 tackles and 12 PBUs for the Warhawks in 2021. Offensively Whitewater has senior wide receiver Tyler Holte who had 792 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Defensively for the Johnnies they have senior defensive back Cayden Saxon who had 22 tackles and 4 PBUs in 2021.

Muhlenberg College at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

This matchup is also possibly going to be a battle between the other 2 teams that made playoffs and had good playoff runs. Mary Hardin-Baylor is led offensively by senior quarterback Kyle King who had 2,682 passing yards and 35 touchdown passes in 2021. Defensively for the Mules, they have senior defensive back John Lohrer who had 40 tackles and 4 interceptions last season. Muhlenberg’s offense has senior wide receiver Michael Feaster who had 1,241 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021. For the Crusader’s defense, they have senior defensive back Titus Dunk who had 39 tackles and 5 PBUs last season.

John Carroll University at Washington and Jefferson College

I think that this will be a competitive matchup these 2 teams had decent teams last year. John Carroll’s offense has grad running back Demerius Goodwin who had 604 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns last season. Drew Ehrlich senior defensive back held 67 tackles and 4 interceptions for the Presidents in 2021. Washington and Jefferson offensively have senior running back Joey Koroly who had 630 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns last season. Bricker Thiel senior defensive lineman held 40 tackles, 14 TFLs, and 8.5 sacks in 2021 for John Carroll.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at DePauw University

This matchup should be a fun one. Junior running back Gus Baumgartner had 836 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns for DePauw in 2021. Defensively for the Fightin’ Engineers senior linebacker Michael Stevens held 81 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, 5 PBUs, and 3 forced fumbles last season. Rose-Hulman’s offense has junior wide receiver Daniel Huery who had 789 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns in 2021. Defensively for the Tigers, they have junior linebacker Brevon Gude who held 60 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, and 5 sacks last season.

Framingham State University at SUNY Brockport

Both these teams have talent so this should be a very underrated matchup. SUNY Brockport has junior running back Rashad Law who had 322 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns last season. For the Rams defense they have senior defensive back Cully Curran who had 59 tackles and 8 PBUs in 2021. Junior running back Devaun Ford had 862 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns last season for Framingham State. For the Golden Eagles defense they have senior linebacker Ben Damiani who had 76 tackles, and 10 TFLs in 2021.