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Mount Union  59
Ohio Northern  28

                                                                     by Dick Ross

GRAY NOVEMBER SKIES...

THE TRAIN DOESN'T GO THERE ANYMORE

     Thanksgiving week in Cleveland saw temperatures from the mid forties down into the teens, with 2-3 inches of snow in Cleveland - up to two feet or more, east towards Erie and Buffalo, and a "dusting" in Alliance.  On Game Day dawn came slowly, behind the cloud cover.  Although the sky got brighter as we
headed south, kick off temperature was at least fifteen degrees shy of the forecast mid fifties.

     After a while, it gets tough enough finding something original to say about teams we play every year.  Today's game against Ohio Northern is our fourth in two years, the Polar Bears are a fellow Methodist institution, of about 3,200, in Ada, Ohio.  They are known for their Law School and programs in Pharmacy and Engineering.  It would be easy to describe Ada as "the middle of nowhere," but probably inaccurate and unfair.  Ada is, in fact, a suburb of nowhere, the actual center is located somewhere in the nearby cornfields and, I'm told, is actually visible from the upper floors of some of the campus buildings.   One of the good things about this location is that ONU has almost unlimited room to expand, while many OAC schools are "hemmed in," without room to grow, within their current boundaries.

     When I started at Mount I'd never heard of Ohio Northern, but I soon met students from Northern, Wooster and other schools while riding the Pennsylvania Railroad to school and back home.  A train from Pittsburgh to Chicago still stops in Alliance, but it follows the old C&P line northwest through Atwater, Hudson, Bedford and Cleveland and avoids The "Fort Wayne" line through Canton, Wooster, Crestline, Orrville and Ada.  Except for the distance, Ohio Northern, further out on the same railroad line as Wooster,
should have been a natural early rival.  When Larry Kehres took over as Mount's head Coach, in 1986, the two schools were "even up" (12-12-1) in twenty-five meetings.  Since then the Raiders have not lost, in 18 meetings.

DOWN BY THE STATION EARLY IN THE MORNIN'

     Even though the students were on Thanksgiving weekend break, parking was still hard to come by, the buffet was well attended; although officially retired, Lloyd Davidson was still on hand with his bottomless coffee pot.  In spite of Internet football friction between the schools, quite a few ONU Alums were breaking bread with their Purple counterparts, in the Kresge Dining Commons.

     Lunchtime conversation included a Canton Repository report that the Otterbein Cardinals are thinking of officially changing the team's nickname to the "Otters."  As I wrote last year, many opponents have referred to Otterbein teams as the Otters, for years, in the spirit of kindly little Emmett Otter of Christmas cartoon fame.  In recent times, however, the Westerville teams have grown teeth and could take pride in sharing the name of a smaller relative to the Badgers and Wolverines, who tend to cause real problems for that other Columbus area team, named for an inedible nut.  One other factor, considered in the possible name change, is that over 200 sports teams including the Arizona NFL Team and the Saint Louis Baseball Team, are named "Cardinals."   Otterbein, if they should approve the name change would be number one of one, among teams named "Otters."

     Playoff games, with their noon start, made breakfast a bit more hurried.  There is a valid reason for the earlier start; the games must be played 'till there is a winner (three of today's contests required Overtime). Darkness on good days now comes at about 5 P.M. and many Div. III fields do not have lights.

     The Polar Bears, whose colors are burnt orange and black arrived in white jerseys, black trousers and helmets.   They are, as I've mentioned before, the only Div. III team that I've seen with pro style names above the numbers on the backs of their jerseys.  No question that they are putting a lot of time and talent into their program and that, with the construction of a new on campus stadium, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the OAC.  We've seen the Polar Bears in black tops and in white; I'm told they have a set of bright orange jerseys, which we haven't seen yet.  Mount Union dressed for the playoffs with the black jerseys, purple numbers, outlined in white, purple pants and, a new twist, white sanitary socks.

     While I was eating, there was a bit of heavy rain, but by procrastinating a bit, I was able to make the covered stands, untouched by the weather.  The game began with short, tentative possessions by each squad, but after Mount got pinned deep in the South end ONU was able to produce a quick, short field, score to get on the board first, with an 8 yard run by their # 2 Jamal Robertson of Dayton.  Mount retaliated quickly, tying the score at 7, with a 9-yard pass play to our # 2 WR Sr. Adam Marino, who made a diving catch across the West sideline of the North end zone.  # 1 Jr. Rodney "Poco Tigre" Chenos of Galloway/Hilliard Davidson added the extra point and, three minutes later, a 37-yard field goal to give Mount a three point lead; the Purple machine never looked back.

FIRST QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 10, OHIO NORTHERN 7

FREIGHT TRAIN, FREIGHT TRAIN GOIN' SO FAST

     The second quarter opened with a punt by ONU Sr. QB #15 Shane Franzer of Coldwater, Ohio.  Franzer is always dangerous from punt formation as he's not just a good kicker, but is always a threat to pass or run.  This time he did kick and set up a 6-play 77-yard Raider drive.  The final play started right
in front of me as Mount's "Hogs" (Offensive Line) blasted the Bears front and, almost in slow motion, # 10 Jr. RB Chuck Moore of Mogadore broke one, two and three tackles then turned on the afterburners for a forty yard score, as it started to rain again.  Adam Marino apparently aggravated an old injury on this drive and did not play again.  One of the amazing things about Mount Union's teams is their depth: # 18, Sr. Steve Gehlert of Worthington, who made the playoff team as a "Utility Player," back-up QB; TE and WR and holder for place kicks, stepped up and filled in for Adam, quite nicely, with 5 catches for 87 yards and a TD.  The young man seems to be a real team player and it was nice to see him get his chance to play.

     It's hard enough to beat this team, if you do everything right; at this point "Da Bears" started helping: ONU's next possession was a single pass play to Raider Soph. LB # 17 Chris Kern of Fairbault, Minn.  The Purple and Black attack said "Thank You" with a four-play 64-yard TD drive, which included a 53-yard catch by Marino and three rushes by Moore, to cover the final eleven yards, upping Mount's total to 24.

     The next Northern drive stalled and as the Raiders started back # 16 Sr. QB Gary Smeck of Lancaster was "bothered" by ONU linemen, then fumbled as he was hit in the back.   Northern's # 92 DL Sr. Scott Sweat of West Chester/Lakota grabbed the ball on one bounce and rumbled 46 yards for the score; amazing as guys with numbers in the 90's don't usually run that far.

     Mount's offense sputtered on their next two possessions with an interception and penalties but the visiting special teams set Mount up for a "bang-bang" end to the half.  With one minute left the Bears fumbled a punt, recovered by Chris "Minnesota Slim" Kerns.  Mount covered 49 yards in 7 plays, Chuck Moore banged across the last and longest yard line with 15 seconds left.  The ensuing kick off bounced off an ONU up-back and, according to the official stats, was recovered by # 26 Soph. DB Justin Burton of Salem/West Branch.   With time and timeouts running out Coach Kehres eschewed a 47-yard field goal, although # 1 our "Little Tiger" was seen lobbying hard along the near side.   The Coach had Smeck throw three times into the end zone from 30 yards out, the final try finding Sr. WR Steve Gehlert, with no time remaining.

HALF TIME SCORE: MOUNT UNION 38, OHIO NORTHERN 14

THIS TRAIN IS BOUND FOR GLORY:   

    Half time entertainment at D III playoffs usually consists of MUCaw wrestling the visiting mascot, since Northern didn't bring their Bear this year, even that was missing.  One of the Northern buses pulled up behind the concrete stands and started loading for the long trip back to Ada.

     As the second half opened the sun came out, on the backs of the white shirted visitors, and produced a full rainbow which hovered over McMaster Hall and the spire of the new Chapel.  Mount took a while to get going but eventually Chuck Moore got his fourth TD of the day finishing a 58-yard drive with a one-yard dive.  He then pulled on an overcoat and watched, with the rest of us, as # 31 Soph. Dan Pugh of Norwalk/St Paul went 54 yards in seven plays for the first of his two TD's on the day.

THIRD QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 52, OHIO NORTHERN 14

     Mount pretty much turned the game over to the defense led, as usual, by # 49 Sr. LB Jesse Pearson of Columbus/Troy, at the half.  I would be remiss, during this season, if I did not mention that # 20 Jr. DB Alex Ginch of Grove City, Pa picked up some "stats" on defense and special teams.  The Bears managed two TD's in the final period and Dan Pugh got his second, to round out the scoring.  The rain held off, while we got out of town, but followed us all the way back to Cleveland.

FINAL SCORE: MOUNT UNION 59, OHIO NORTHERN 28

     Next week's opponent will be Wittenberg, who survived a scare from Hanover.  The Tigers will be looking to avenge their 1998 21-19 Quarterfinals loss in Alliance and have vivid memories of a late
game long run by their Casey Donaldson, which was called back, on a penalty.  The ticket office number is 330-821-6759, opening at 9:00 A.M. Monday, to confirm your seats.   It should be an interesting afternoon - see you there.

Dick Ross
Class of '66