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Mount Union  48
Ohio Northern  24

                                                                     by Larry Faith

Purple Raiders flex muscle with impressive win over Polar Bears

     The Mount Union College Purple Raiders turned in its most impressive performance of the season with a 48-24 victory over talented Ohio Northern before a standing room only crowd at Ada, Ohio on Saturday.   After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders raced to a 21-0 halftime lead only to see the Polar Bears cut the lead to 28-17 early in the fourth period.  At that point the Raiders responded with three straight touchdowns as they flexed their offensive muscle.

     Both Mount Union and Ohio Northern had opportunities to score in the opening quarter but came up empty.  On the second play of the game, quarterback Gary Smeck teamed up with wide receiver Adam Marino on a 45-yard pass completion to the Polar Bear 30-yard line.  Marino made a terrific diving reception as he stretched out in full extension to secure the football.  The drive came to a sudden halt when, on first down on the hosts' 19-yard line, a Smeck pass was deflected and scooped out of the air by Polar Bear defensive back Brad Klaus at the six-yard line and returned back to the 19.  Ohio Northern, led by senior quarterback Shane Franzer, marched 60 yards to the Raider 21-yard line where a fourth and one pass fell incomplete.  Mount Union then moved into Ohio Northern territory where an offensive face mask penalty stopped the drive.

     The Raiders took possession of the pigskin on their own 19-yard line and, on the final play of the first quarter, tailback Chuck Moore rushed for a 12-yard gain and a first down on the Mount Union 31-yard line.  That was the first play of an 81-yard, 14-play drive which concluded on a one-yard touchdown plunge by Moore.  Highlights of the drive were two pass completions of Smeck to Marino for nine and 12 yards and a 10-yard pass to halfback Vince Ilacqua.  After the Raiders stopped Franzer on three incomplete passes, a short punt found the Purple and White back in business on its own 48-yard line.  Smeck hit Marino for 17 yards and then Moore broke loose for 18 yards.  Four plays later tailback Dan Pugh busted across the goal line from three yards out and Rodney Chenos added the point after to give Mount Union the lead at 14-0.

     The Polar Bears marched to the Raiders' 26-yard line before cornerback Chris Kern intercepted a Franzer pass in the Mount Union end zone for a touchback.  The Raider offense was in high gear and Mount Union traversed the 80 yards in eight plays with Moore scoring his second touchdown on a three-yard run.  The key play of the drive was a spectacular one-handed catch by tight end Adam Irgang of a Smeck pass which resulted in a 23-yard gain to the Ohio Northern seven-yard line.  After Chenos's third conversion, Mount Union led 21-0.

     Raider strong safety Brian Cassidy intercepted a Franzer pass on the first play from scrimmage of the second half on the Mount Union 43-yard line.  Smeck completed passes of 14 yards to Marino and 11 yards to wideout Jason Candle.  Pugh busted loose for 14 yards to the ONU six-yard line and on second down, a five-yard Smeck to Marino scoring toss saw the visitors increase the lead to 28-0.  After stopping the Polar Bears on a fourth and one situation at its own 18-yard line, Mount Union took over on downs.  Ohio Northern then forced the Raiders to punt and took possession of the oval on its own 26-yard line.   Star tailback Jamal Robertson then took off through the Raider defense on a 37-yard jaunt.  Three plays later, Franzer connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank VanDresser cutting the lead to 28-7.

     On each of the next two possessions, Mount Union fumbled the football over to the Polar Bears resulting in 10 points.  Smeck was sacked and lost control of the football and it was recovered by linebacker Chad Lorton on the Raider 45-yard line.  Robertson carried the pigskin on three successive plays to the Mount Union 20-yard line.  On second down, Franzer dumped a pass off to wide receiver Tony Mitchell who raced down the sideline for the score and a 28-14 deficit.  After another fumble and recovery by Polar Bear linebacker Brad Lohr, Ohio Northern moved the ball to the Raider 15-yard line where J.R. Cipra kicked a 32-yard field goal narrowing the score to 28-17 early in the fourth quarter.

     Once again, the Raiders flexed their offensive muscle as they scored three touchdowns in nine minutes to put the contest out of reach for the Polar Bears.  Mount Union drove 77 yards in just nine plays and took a 34-17 advantage on a Moore three-yard touchdown.  Highlights of the drive were three passes from Smeck to Marino covering 15, 13 and 15 yards and a 16-yard completion to Irgang.  After holding Ohio Northern, a nine-play 59-yard drive ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Smeck to Moore.  Pugh had carries of 10 and 13 yards on the scoring march.  The final Raider points were set up on a fumble recovery by linebacker Jason Perkins at the Polar Bears 19-yard line.  It took four rushing plays with Pugh scoring from the one-yard line.  The Raiders had its largest lead at 48-17.   Ohio Northern scored with 12 seconds to play on a Franzer five-yard scramble to conclude the scoring at 48-24.

     Mount Union outgained Ohio Northern 564 yards to 433 yards.  Smeck completed 20 of 31 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns while Franzer was 20 of 42 for 247 yards and two TDs.  Moore led the Mount Union ground attack which totaled 275 yards with 137 yards on 23 carries.  Pugh added 129 yards on 22 carries.  Robertson was the leading ball carrier for Ohio Northern with 125 yards on 25 rushes.  Marino hauled in 12 passes for 177 yards for Mount Union while VanDresser led the Polar Bears with five receptions for 53 yards.    Mount Union led in first downs 34 to 24.  Jesse Pearson led the Raider defense in tackles with a dozen.  Perkins, Cassidy and Ryan Belaney each registered seven tackles.  And lets give credit to the offensive and defensive lines.  This game was won right up front at the line of scrimmage.

Notes: Mount Union will move atop the Division III rankings as Pacific Lutheran lost to Linfield 38-28 on Saturday.  Raider head coach Larry Kehres indicated he wanted to give tailback Dan Pugh more carries and his decision resulted in both Pugh and Moore gaining well over 100 yards.  Moore has scored 10 touchdowns already this season.  Smeck has thrown for over 1,000 yards.   It was a perfect day for football for the Raider fans who traveled Route 30 to Ada.   It was especially satisfying to see Mount Union fan and web sight contributor Dick Ross at the game.

Larry Faith