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Mount Union  41
Baldwin-Wallace  0

                                                                     by Dick Ross

IN THE TOWN OF BEDROCK

IT'S A PAGE RIGHT OUTTA HISTORY

     Once a year, for the last ten years, Mount Union football comes to Cleveland once a year, either to "The Heights" or to "Bedrock"   (Berea).   It's the one time I get to sleep in, eat at home, and make a short drive to the game site.  This day arrived crisp and clear; temperatures was listed in the forties.  Except for the Oaks, most of the leaves in Northern Ohio are on the ground.  My wife, her Dad and I made the short drive to Berea and felt good about making a small donation to park at the Methodist Children's Home, across the street from the Stadium.

     Baldwin-Wallace was founded in 1845 as Baldwin University, one year before Mount Union.  It became "B-W" when it merged with nearby Wallace College, a German school, in 1913.  The older parts of B-W's campus feature buildings made of Berea sandstone from the Baldwin quarries.   In addition to use as a building material, the local stone, highly prized for its fine grain and consistency, was made into grindstones and shipped throughout the country.

     Baldwin-Wallace today boasts a diverse enrollment of 4,500.  Of these 2,900 are Undergraduates; the balance are part time, evening, weekend and graduate students.  B-W's athletic facilities "are among the best anywhere in Division lll."  Don't take my word for it, it's in their brochure!

ON THE CARPET IN BEREA
 
     While I wouldn't trade our venerable covered Grandstand for all the tea in China, George Finnie Stadium, next to Berea High School, is one of the nicest College owned facilities in the world of D3 football.  Listed seating is 7,800, the entrance from Bagley Road is a sidewalk level Plaza, which becomes a Balcony as you pass through the gates.  The Balcony view is spectacular, an Emerald Green field, surrounded by a tan track and nearly identical white concrete stands.  The field looks like a big pool table with white lines and yellow numerals; I'm told that playing on it feels about the same.  Except for the helmet decals, B-W's home uniforms are identical to Rowan's: Brown shirts; yellow numerals and yellow trousers.  Visiting the home of the Cleveland Browns, Mount Union took the field in Paul Brown's favorite uniform, solid white, he felt it made his players look bigger.  Mount's Cheerleaders wore black windbreakers and purple pants but, because of the problems during our last visit, left the big purple flag at home.  This year, B-dubs had a "pep band" in addition to the one they borrowed from the Parma/Valley Forge "Patriots" and an updated version of their bug Mascot.

     We took our seats in the center section of the East stands, looking into a 10 MPH crosswind; we could hear the constant train traffic through town and see the flow of air traffic in and out of Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

     The game got off to a slow start, looking like the tough battle we expected.  After an exchange of punts, Mount drove 84 yards in eleven plays, capped by a two yard "special" by # 31, Soph RB Dan Pugh from Norwalk/St. Paul, into the North (open) end zone.  # 1 Sr. Rodney Chenos of Galloway/Hilliard Davidson came on for the kick that made the score 7-0.

     The Yellow Jackets drove 43 yards, but lost the ball on downs at the Mount 32.  Personally, I thought it was a bit early to go for a Fourth and 9, given the way that Mount's Defense was knocking balls out of the air.  # 16, Gary Smeck Sr. QB in white, came on and put the ball in the air.  An old Baseball announcer used to call a Home Run "Goodbye Mr. Spaulding;" this time it was "Goodbye Mr. Marino" as # 2 Sr. Adam Marino of Cuyahoga Falls pulled down the Ada, Ohio Wilson made football, for a 68-yard score.   As the Quarter ended, the Jackets fumbled the Chenos kickoff and set the Raiders up for Moore, deep in their own end.

FIRST QUARTER SCORE:  MOUNT UNION 14, BALDWIN-WALLACE 0

LET'S HAVE A YABBA DABBA DOO TIME TOO

    The second period opened as # 10 Jr. Chuck Moore dove one yard, for the score, into the South (closed) end zone.  The TD gave Moore a score in 32 straight games; he also picked up his 14th straight 100+ yard game and went over 1,000 yards for the season.  Marino, later, picked up a second TD and became the College's all-time receiving leader, breaking the mark of 3,179 receiving yards set by Ed "the Plague" Bubonics. (1989-1993)

     B-W's first drive of the second quarter also ended with a Mount Union score: # 17 Soph. DB Chris Kern of Fairbault, Minn. picked off a pass by B-W's # 8 Fr. Dan Larlham from Kent/Walsh Jesuit, by way of Michigan State, and returned it 37 yards for the TD.  Chenos upped the count to 27.   Most of the rest of the quarter was back and forth action until the Raiders went 80 yards on four plays, 45 by # 80 Sr. WR Jason Richards of Columbia Station, 31 by Chuck Moore and the balance by Dan Pugh.  B-W held the ball for four plays, punted and the Raiders marched 69 yards, in just over a minute, giving Marino his second TD with only thirty seconds left in the half.

HALF-TIME SCORE:  MOUNT UNION 41, BALDWIN-WALLACE 0

THAT'S ALL FOLKS

     While much of the first team Raider Offense played deep into the second half, the scoring was over for the day, as the Mount Union Defense lead by Seniors Brooks Greenleaf DB of Stow, Sr. Linebackers # 49  Jesse "James" Pearson of Columbus/Troy; # 8 Brian "Butch" Cassidy of Eastlake; Matt "the Oil City Kid" LaVerde of Oil City, Pa. and # 23 Jr. LB Jason Perkins from Wakeman/Firelands, took control.

     As the game ended, players met their families and friends in the closed end of the Field, as gathering clouds and darkness chased the last of us from the Stadium.

     Next week Mount 9-0, closes out the regular season against the 0-9 Student Princes of Heidleberg.  See you there!

Dick Ross
Class of '66