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Hunter Wolfley, Cole Kirk Put Up Video Game Numbers In Week 2

Hunter Wolfley, Cole Kirk Put Up Video Game Numbers In Week 2

Here’s a look back at some of the best college football stat lines from the FCS and Divisions II and III levels in Week 2.

Sep 12, 2024 by Briar Napier
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We saw a six-touchdown game on 25 involved plays from a quarterback and a five-score day from a wide receiver who did it on just nine catches.

Such was Week 2 of college football, which was as wild as ever even with the season still in the process of getting out of its months-long hibernation.

Division III kicked off this past week, which meant that its teams were able to join its Divisions I and II counterparts in putting up some wild stats on the gridiron — and did they ever put some up.

If any of these stats make you wonder if they were achieved on a low difficulty in College Football 25, they weren’t — and there are plenty more like it coming throughout the season on FloFootball:

Here’s a look back at some of the best college football stat lines from the FCS and Divisions II and III levels in Week 2:

Elijah Steward, WR, Lafayette (15 receptions, 244 yards, one touchdown vs. Monmouth)

Late in a thrilling 40-35 Leopards victory (shown live and exclusively on FloFootball), Steward saved the best of what was already an eye-popping day at Monmouth for last.

A game-winning 42-yard touchdown pass from Lafayette signal-caller Dean Denobile to Steward with 36 seconds left put the icing on the cake of the wideout’s monster 15-catch day in West Long Branch, which saw the Leopards stunningly score 14 points in 17 seconds of game time to turn a seven-point deficit with under a minute left into an unlikely win in regulation.

Steward, who set the school record for receptions in a game during the victory, was obviously a menace all afternoon in the passing game as his rapport with Denobile was on point. Still, Lafayette had scored all four of its touchdowns leading up to the final minute’s mad dash on the ground, finishing off drives with powerful running rather than an aerial attack.

Then came the game’s final sequence, which forced the Leopards to air it out.

With the game tied at 28-28, Monmouth’s Sone Ntoh found the endzone at the end of a 17-yard run with 1:54 to play, giving the Hawks the lead. Just over a minute later, Denobile connected with Chris Carasia for a 12-yard touchdown, but a risky call to go for the win with a two-point conversion failed as Lafayette found itself down 35-34 and kicking the ball back — until the Leopards recovered an onside kick.

A short time later, Steward got his deserved trip to the endzone with an electric go-ahead score, and when Lafayette then intercepted a pass on the ensuing Monmouth possession to seal it, one of the most legendary offensive performances in program history was completed in sweet circumstances.

Highlights: Lafayette Vs Monmouth

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Paxton DeLaurent, QB, Southeast Missouri State (34-for-63 passing, 376 yards, six touchdowns vs. Tennessee-Martin)

The Redhawks’ game plan was a simple one: let DeLaurent sling it.

After a thrilling 45-42 victory in double overtime, it’s safe to say that the call to let DeLaurent throw it 63 times worked.

SEMO completed a comeback for the ages against UT Martin by trusting in DeLaurent in the game’s late stages, rallying from 14 points down with under nine minutes to play in regulation as its senior quarterback threw a pair of touchdown passes to force overtime.

The Redhawks then opened the extra period with another DeLaurent touchdown toss, though the Skyhawks responded with a score of their own to take it to double OT. When UT Martin missed a field goal on the first possession of the period, however, DeLaurent completed a 22-yard pass to set up kicker DC Pippin with a 37-yard field goal that he buried to win it for SEMO.

DeLaurent’s six touchdown passes (all of which were from 20 yards or less as he helped ensure that the Redhawks didn’t waste redzone opportunities) set a school record and confirmed SEMO’s survival Saturday after it ran the ball for a measly -11 yards, meaning that DeLaurent threw for more yards than the Redhawks had total (365) for the game.

Not bad at all for the SEMO passing attack, which now moves on to face rival Southern Illinois in the War for the Wheel next week in Carbondale.

Cole Kirk, QB, Delta State (16-for-21 passing, 301 yards, four touchdowns; 115 rushing yards, two touchdowns vs. Missouri S&T)

When Kirk is having games like he did this past weekend for the Statesmen, who needs Patrick Shegog?

One of Delta State’s biggest question marks entering the 2024 season was how it would handle being without its former star under center in Shegog, the two-time Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year and last year’s Conerly Trophy winner (given to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi). 

Kirk, in powering DSU past Missouri S&T by a 55-18 margin to get the Statesmen to 2-0 to start 2024, helped ease those concerns by being dialed in and wickedly efficient last Saturday.

Between throws and rushing attempts, Kirk only was involved in 25 of Delta State’s offensive plays against the Miners, but he accounted for a total of 416 all-purpose yards as he maximized his effectiveness both through the air and on the ground. 

He got the party started early with an 89-yard keeper for a touchdown on the Statesmen’s second play from scrimmage, then finished the half with another rushing score to go along with touchdown throws to star running back Kelvin Smith (24 yards) and Jaylen Green (53 yards). Kirk added two more passing scores in the second half to Smith (24 yards again) and Carter Coullard (16 yards) before being pulled late in the fourth with DSU up big.

Kirk will be featured all season on FloFootball (along with the rest of the GSC, one of Division II’s top conferences), so if you want to see more of him and the rest of the Statesmen in action, stick around.

Hunter Wolfley, RB, Juniata (223 rushing yards, four touchdowns vs. Gettysburg)

Sure, the Landmark Conference — a Division III league that sponsored football for the first time last year — may have an early reputation as a conference being ruled by top-25 team Susquehanna, but don’t think for a second that there aren’t ballers elsewhere in the league.

Case in point: Juniata’s Wolfley is the national rushing leader in D-III football following its first games of the 2024 season this past week.

Though the Eagles were unable to get the win in a 61-41 barnburner against Gettysburg in their season opener, that didn’t stop Wolfley from scampering for 223 yards on the ground in a game that featured two 200-yard running backs (Gettysburg’s Michael Zrelak finished with 214 yards on the ground).

Wolfley had two of his touchdowns in the first five minutes of the game, scoring from three and 71 yards out to put Juniata (which only won one game in 2023) ahead 14-0 to start the shootout. He then added a 10-yard burst before the first frame ended to put the Eagles up 21-7 after one.

Even though Wolfley had another long touchdown run of 65 yards in the second quarter, Juniata’s scoring dried up and Gettysburg was eventually able to catch up and surpass the Eagles in a wild game that was streamed live and exclusively on FloFootball — as much of the Landmark’s football season will be. That doesn’t diminish Wolfley’s stellar performance out of the gate, however, especially when taking into account that the senior’s career-best season rushing total is only 547 yards.

Highlights: Gettysburg vs Juniata

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Dawson Schaffer, WR, Hamline (nine receptions, 272 yards, five touchdowns vs. Crown)

When you’re approaching 300 yards receiving in a single game and over half of your catches accounted for scores, yeah, you probably deserve a spot on this list.

The North Dakota native absolutely exploded in his debut game for the Pipers after transferring in the offseason from fellow D-III program Concordia (Minnesota), catching a single game school-record five scores — all of which came by halftime — as Hamline rolled past the Polars by a 35-14 margin in its 2024 season opener this past weekend.

Schaffer had touchdown grabs of eight, 33 and 66 yards from quarterback Alejandro Villanueva by the end of the first quarter, then added two more for good measure of eight and 94 yards in the second quarter to put Hamline in front by a commanding 35-0 scoreline at the half. Keep in mind that the 6-3 junior had a career high 11 touchdowns with Concordia last season, meaning that through one game with the Pipers he is already nearly halfway to that mark. 

Is an eye-popping average of 30.2 yards per catch — like Schaffer had this past weekend — sustainable across a whole season? Probably not, especially considering that Hamline will welcome a playoff team from a year ago (Minnesota Morris) in Week 2, but it’s abundantly clear that defenses facing the Pipers are going to need to key on Schaffer in the pass game for the rest of the year after his breakout day in a new offense. 

Division 2 College Football Rankings - D2football.com Poll

  1. Harding (1-0) - Previous Rank: 1
  2. Central Missouri (1-0) - Previous Rank: 2
  3. Pittsburg State (2-0) - Previous Rank: 3
  4. Grand Valley State (1-0) - Previous Rank: 4
  5. Valdosta State (2-0) - Previous Rank: 5
  6. Colorado Mines (1-0) - Previous Rank: 6
  7. Minnesota State (2-0) - Previous Rank: 8
  8. Ferris State (1-1) - Previous Rank: 9
  9. Kutztown (1-0) - Previous Rank: 10
  10. Central Washington (0-1) - Previous Rank: 7
  11. Slippery Rock (1-0) - Previous Rank: 11
  12. Delta State (2-0) - Previous Rank: 12
  13. Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0) - Previous Rank: 13
  14. West Florida (1-0) - Previous Rank: 14
  15. Indianapolis (1-0) - Previous Rank: 16
  16. Western Colorado (1-0) - Previous Rank: 19
  17. Ouachita Baptist (1-0) - Previous Rank: 17
  18. Augustana (1-0) - Previous Rank: 21
  19. Henderson State (1-0) - Previous Rank: 22
  20. Minnesota Duluth (1-0) - Previous Rank: 23
  21. Fort Hays (2-0) - Previous Rank: 24
  22. Virginia Union (1-1) - Previous Rank: 18
  23. Bemidji State (1-1) - Previous Rank: 20
  24. Charleston (2-0) - Previous Rank: 25
  25. CSU Pueblo (2-0) - Previous Rank: NR

Watch D2 Football On FloFootball

Here's the D2 broadcast schedule on FloFootball for week 3 of the college football season. Subscribe to watch. 

Friday, September 13

All Times Eastern. 

Saturday, September 14

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