INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference football schedule continues into Week 6 with four more hard-hitting league contests lined up this Saturday.
 
The difference between starting 1-0 vs. 0-1 in the league schedule can set the tone for the remainder of the regular season. That means the action will be dialed up to another level on Saturday as the race to become conference champions heats up.
 
Hillsdale, Lake Erie, Findlay and Ashland, are all at home with Walsh, Tiffin, Kentucky Wesleyan and Ohio Dominican, serving as their respective opponents. The stakes are considerable for each team this early in the conference schedule while trying to an impression in Super Region 1 for NCAA Championship consideration.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan gave Ohio Dominican all it could handle in Week 5 and the Panthers (2-3, 0-1) head to Donnell Stadium against the Oilers (3-2, 1-0). It’s Homecoming Weekend for Findlay and the Oilers are looking to build off last week’s win at Lake Erie.
 
Both KWC and UF can air it out and put points on the board in a hurry with plenty of impact playmakers on both sides of the ball. Each program is averaging close to 30 points per game while yielding about the same number of points to their opponents. Findlay has the 4-0 edge in the head-to-head series, but Kentucky Wesleyan will look to narrow that gap much further in this weekend’s showdown.
 
KWC’s all-conference LB Jalen Humphrey is among the league’s best in stops for a loss while the combination of DB’s Shedrick Kirk and Kishawn Walker have been a turnover factory combining for seven interceptions already. Findlay DL Ervin Besingi is the current league leader in tackles for a loss and sacks (5.5).
 
Tiffin finds itself in a position the program is just not used to since becoming a league member after a Week 5 defeat vs. Hillsdale. The Dragons (3-2, 0-1) are looking to halt a two-game slide while matching up against Lake Erie on Saturday. Tiffin still owns the league’s top scoring defense while WR Anthony Lowe accounted for all of the Dragons’ touchdowns last week, including a punt return taken to the house on special teams. He also leads the league with 33 receptions.
 
After a 3-0 start to the year with all of those games on the road, the Storm (3-2, 0-1) were able to manufacture 10 first-half points vs. Findlay but were blanked in the second half. RB Devin Brown is ranked fourth in the league with almost 63 rushing yards per game and DB Tareeq Welch is among a group of players with a pair of interceptions.
 
The clash between Ohio Dominican (4-1, 1-0) and Ashland (2-2, 1-0) is predictably going to play huge implications on the conference title race. Both teams were victorious in the conference openers and are fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball while playing the same caliber of opponents in the non-conference slate.
 
Ashland WR Garrett Turnbaugh is the only receiver in the conference to average over 100 yards per game while ball hawk DB Justin Moore has three picks in the secondary. ODU’s Dauson Dales is already the conference all-time leader in career tackles and he added the program’s leader to his resume in last week’s victory. ODU QB Evan Ernst is still the league leader in completions, attempts and passing touchdowns and he will go head-to-head against two-time conference offensive player of the week Austin Brenner from the other sideline.
 
Hillsdale returns home triumphant after the Chargers (2-3, 1-0) handed Tiffin a loss on the road to halt the Dragons’ 12-game conference win streak. DB Joe Schneider is the most recent conference defensive player of the week and his teammate in the secondary Alex Anschutz remains tied for the league lead in total tackles with 52. Nate Chambers is also second in sacks while tying for the league lead in tackles for a loss.
 
The Cavaliers (1-4, 0-1) find themselves in a strange spot ranking tied for second in the conference in scoring defense but also eighth, or last, in scoring per game on offense. LB Sal Sidebotham is averaging over 12 tackles per game and the offense has a playmaker on the edge with WR Tyre Gray and his 66.8 yards per game receiving.