Labor Day weekend

     These days, school begins in August, as does high school football.  For everyone except astronomers, though, fall arrives no later than Labor Day.

High School Division.  This week Ada faced the mighty ground attack of the Spencerville Bearcats. Ada's defense was up to the challenge, limiting the Cats to around 100 rushing yards on the way to a 35-0 shutout of Spencerville.

Trophy Games.  Colorado State upended Colorado 22-17 to claim the Centennial Cup.  West Virginia captured the Governor's Cup by crushing Marshall 69-34.  #25 Louisville drove 99 yards for a touchdown to open the game and never looked back as they dominated Kentucky to grab Kentucky's Governor's Cup.

Division III.  Johns Hopkins spoiled the season opener for Randolph Macon 36-13.  Washington U. St. Louis foolishly scheduled #1 and defending national champion Wisconsin Whitewater for their season opener and paid for their folly by suffering a 34-0 thrashing at home.  North Carolina Wesleyan kicked a 40 yard field goal in overtime to slip past visiting Ohio Northern 16-13.  Ohio Northern threw four interceptions.

Ranked on Ranked.  Le'Veon Bell ran for 210 yards and two TDs to lead #13 Michigan State over #24 Boise State 17-13 in East Lansing.  Second-ranked Alabama apparently succeeded in rebuilding their defense, because the Tide completely dominated #8 Michigan 41-14 at Jerry Jones's theme park in Dallas.

International Dept.  Notre Dame whipped Navy with a shillelagh 50-10 in Dublin, Ireland, in a home game atmosphere for the Golden Domers.

Say What?  California played Nevada (Reno) to reopen their remodeled stadium.  They should have chosen a weaker opponent, as Nevada shocked the Golden Bears 31-24.

Our Teams Triumphant.  Illinois ate their season opening cupcake, Western Michigan, 24-7.  Arizona State also plundered the bakery shelves, burning Northern Arizona 63-6.  #24 Florida overcame Bowling Green's first quarter lead to overawe BG 27-14.  Virginia stepped on the Richmond Spiders 43-19.  North Carolina annihilated Elon 62-0.  Missouri had two early defensive touchdowns and two punt returns for touchdowns as the Tigers pulverized Southeast Louisiana 62-10.  #16Virginia Tech kicked a last minute field goal to force overtime and kicked another in overtime to defeat Georgia Tech Monday night.

Losses and Moral Victories.  On Thursday night, Vandy gave #9 South Carolina all they could handle before succumbing 17-14.  The refs, probably replacements, missed a serious pass interference violation on the play that ended the Commodores' final drive.  In a less glorious effort, Northern Colorado was crushed by Utah 41-0.  Maryland edged William and Mary 7-6 at Maryland.

Pentagon Papers.  Air Force bombed Idaho State 49-21.

On Probation.  Penn State, before a home crowd of 108,000, had a 14-0 lead early, but could not hold the momentum.  Final score, Ohio U 24, Penn State 14 in (un)Happy Valley.  Ohio State hammered Miami of Ohio 56-10.  Former Ada Bulldog Zac Dysert passed for 300 yards and 3 TDs for the Red Hawks.