I'm sure we've all heard of the "Streetcar named
Desire." The Heidelberg team arrived in a large tour bus with "BLISS"
in large letters on the front and sides. (Bliss Transportation of Fostoria, Ohio).
On this fortyish degree day, with medium high gray clouds, the single bus was an
early indication of how things would go; most schools bring two buses.
The trip to Alliance had been
uneventful. There was a large crowd of "Visitation Day" High School
Seniors and parents, but most, apparently, had already heard of Mount Union football and
choose to head home after their very nice lunch at the Kresge Dining Hall; the crowd was
reported as 3,723. As I climbed the hill to the Stadium with several friends, we
noticed that the steel framework of the Gulling conditioning center looked complete,
behind the home stands.
From the 1920s, Heidelberg
athletic teams have been know as "The Student Princes," a fact which gained them
some national notoriety. The name, according to legend, came from a college PR guy
who spotted a billboard for the black and white movie, while traveling for the college.
The movie, based on an operetta by Sigmund Romberg and a play by Dorothy Donnelly,
was about a German Prince who was placed at the German Heidelberg University, in an
attempt to end his isolation. In recent years, the name has become increasingly
"dated" and a bit politically incorrect, because of its "sexist"
nature. The 'Berg, German for Mountain, was officially adopted as the school
nickname last year, although the college says that it had appeared on team uniforms for
more than 25 years. Personally, it seems that while "The 'Berg"
might inspire terror in a Titanic movie, it leaves most people asking if it comes with
fries and a Coke. On the plus side, Heidelberg has also abandoned their infamous
"Punkinhead" orange helmets of a few years back, and took the field in solid
white uniforms, with a script 'Berg on their white helmets and
an orange stripe, outlined in black, on the trousers.
Although DA 'Berg is winless
this year and hasn't beaten Mount since 1988, sports, especially college sports, tend to
be cyclical. Under Coach Paul "The Fox" Hoernemann the Princes were
102-18-4 from 1946 to 1959, with five OAC Championships.
THE CURTAIN RISES
# 69 Sr. OL Mike Kelleher of Lockport, NY destroyed the
cheerleaders "good luck" banner and lead the solid purple clad Raiders onto the
field. Mount took the opening kickoff and traveled 66 yards in a bit over three
minutes. # 2 Sr. WR Adam Marino broke Ed Bubonics single season (1993) record for
receptions, (74) and went on to new total of 77, before the day was done. According
to a Cleveland Plain Dealer story, Friday, Ed Bubonics is now a HS Assistant Coach, in
Solon, Ohio. The scorecard lists a # 2, Fr. Aaron
Bubonics from Eastlake/North H.S., I wonder...? The 'Berg held the ball for only 5
plays, and a nullified interception by # 13 Soph. DB Mike Miller of Cuyahoga Falls, the
ref. threw a flag, a marker and then his cap; what do they do next, drop their pants?
The whole business resulted in a 15 yard penalty against the home team, but two
plays later, # 17 Soph. Chris Kern of Fairbault, Minn. intercepted and landed at almost
the same spot on the MUC 27. Mount then marched the field in 11 plays: the drive
featured runs by # 10 Jr. RB Chuck Moore of Mogadore, # 16 Sr. QB Gary Smeck of Lancaster
and a one-yard TD by # 31 Soph. RB Dan Pugh of Norwalk/St. Paul.
Although the count was now
14-0, Chuck Moore came to the sidelines with a bruise to one of his surgically repaired
knees and was done for the day, ending his streak of 100+ yard games and games with at
least one TD.
Heidelberg looked like they
planned to make a game of it, and came back quickly, with a ten-play 74-yard drive,
scoring 15.1 seconds before the end of the quarter.
FIRST QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 14, HEIDELBERG 7
Mount opened the second quarter with a 65-yard drive which
featured a 42-yard pass and run by # 42 Soph. Vincent Ilacqua from Willoughby/Lake
Catholic, stepping up in the Running Back rotation; filling in for Chuck Moore. # 80
Jr. Jason Richards of Columbia Station and # 88 Sr. Rob Sondles of Wadsworth
stepped up to cover for # 81 Sr. Adam "Big Red" Irgang who did not play, because
of the death of his mother, earlier in the week. Heidelberg's next possession also
resulted in a Raider score, courtesy of # 4 Sr. Matt "The Oil City Kid" LaVerde,
who made the "pick" and a 31-yard return for the score.
After a Heidelberg drive ended
with a Mike Miller interception at the home 28, Adam Marino caught a Gary Smeck pass,
about 40 yards out, bounced off one tackler, struggled for a while with the guy who had
his ankle, and broke free for 72 yards, and one of his patented one play TD's.
The next 'Berg drive also
ended with an "Int" this time big and lanky Matt "The Oil City Kid"
LaVerde returned it 21 yards, but was tripped up on the 4-yard line. Most teams
would run the ball, hit the line; Smeck hit Rob Sondles with a 4-yard lob to the east
corner of the South end zone. # 18 Sr. Steve Gehlert of Worthington, who has seen
action as a back-up QB, WR and a holder for place kicks, couldn't get the ball down and
centered, so he took it in for two, to up the count to 43. Heidelberg held the ball
for three
plays and punted; we began to see a preview of next year's team as # 22 Soph. RB Dustin
Blake of West Jefferson and # 29 Soph. WR Rourke Skelton of Chelsea, Mich., worked the
ball downfield. Sr. Gehlert also got a couple of completions. Skelton caught
the TD pass to end the scoring for the half.
HALF-TIME SCORE: MOUNT UNION 50, HEIDELBERG 7
STRIKE UP THE BAND!
The Mount Marchers put on a fine show with highlights of their
performances of the season: "Night Train," "Rock N' Roll is Here to
Stay," "Johnny B. Good" and "Woodchoppers Ball." Smeck was
18 out of 21 passing for 281 yards; Mount piled up 350 yards total offense, though the
time of possession slightly favored the visitors. During their playing days,
Borchert and Ballard each donned a white baseball cap to indicate that they were through
for the day - Smeck has a black brimless "Speedo" type cap to send
the same signal. It's fairly ugly, but it must be warmer, and must make his mom feel
good to see it. By early in the second half, most of the first team had found an
overcoat out of the big "Gunny Sacks" behind the bench.
As the second half opened, #
15 Fr. QB Brian Reisert of Cincinnatti/Moeller came in to lead the team; Fr. Brandon
McDowell of Cleveland/Villa Angela-St Joe also saw some action, causing some confusion as
he was wearing # 20, not his program number, 33. Dustin Blake picked up the sole TD
of the second half on a five yard run. There was a bit of a delay on the next
kick-off as Soph. Matt Yacobozzi of Elyria/Amherst Steele, caused a bit of confusion, as,
I believe, it was the first non Chenos kick of the
season, and Matt was not wearing his assigned program number, either!
THIRD QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 57, HEIDELBERG 7
# 1, Jr. Rodney "Tiger" Chenos of Galloway/Hilliard
Davidson has handled all of our punts and place kicks this year and all of the kicking,
except kickoffs, last year. Any questions about the health of our "Poco
Tiger" (Little Tiger) Kicker were answered in the fourth quarter when Rod came on and
nailed a 28-yard north end field goal and started after a biggie 'Berger lineman who Rod
felt had hit him late, 'till cooler Purple heads dissuaded him. He then put the next
kickoff on the ten yard line, and was downfield looking for the guy.
FINAL SCORE: MOUNT UNION 60, HEIDELBERG 7
NO RECOUNT
Looks like we get a "bye" week again, with the 28 team
"playoff" format and the next game will be in Alliance, Saturday, Nov. 25
against an opponent to be named later. Player parents and season ticket holders may
call the ticket office: 330-821-6759 starting at 9:00 A.M. Monday - If they don't hear
from you by close of business Tuesday, you may lose your regular seats.
See you in there - we'll meet in Alliance, after Thanksgiving to polish off whatever
Turkey shows up !
