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Mount Union 54 Wilmington 6 by Dick Ross |
DREAMIN' IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE Members of the group refer to
each other as "Friends." Their religious services and various sects,
within the main body, are referred to as "meetings," and their churches are
called meeting houses. The Society originated in England about 1648, as a protest to
the elaborate ceremonies practiced by the Church of England. With a belief in a
simpler life and an "Inner Light," the presence of the spirit of God in every
man, their members were severely persecuted, but their
Once regarded as a slur, the
name "Quakers" comes from an address made by their founder George Fox in which
he called upon his followers to "tremble at the word of the Lord." Today
the appellation is embraced by the group and is used for the sports teams of several of
their institutions, as well as many Our team was winless in three
years and, I guess, that "Skip" figured that if he scheduled a school small
enough we might have a chance. We arrived to find that soccer was the primary sport
at Wilmington and that WE were the homecoming game! We left Wilmington, that year,
as we had arrived: still looking for our first victory. Today, I met Dave in the dewy
dampness of early morning Seville, Ohio where the green of I-76 from Akron fades to the
red of US-224 for the trip west to Tiffin, but we were headed southwest on I-71 this day.
Like many other Mount Union traveling fans, we arrived in Wilmington earlier than
expected. Instead of the predicted noon or later arrival, we made it before eleven,
to a campus, which seemed almost deserted by a "Fall Break" weekend, and had
time to walk around while waiting for the dinning hall to open at noon. Wilmington's campus has the feel of a school larger than its current 1200; everyone we met was very friendly and helpful, in spite of the fact that we had absolutely overrun their territory. They even went to the trouble of hiring a purple clad band, from Cincinnati Aiken, to welcome us and painted a big "M" in the center of their field. (Guess that it may have been a "W" from their side.) On one topic our hosts turned
as laconic as a Gary Cooper Quaker: whether their fine Sr. QB Adam Ryan of
Cincinnati/Elder, who suffered a concussion in Wilmington's game against Otterbein, two
weeks ago, would play. The nice young woman selling programs answered our question
with the wink of a twinkling eye. I think she knew, but was not saying. The
young man warmed up with the team, keeping us guessing until the last moment. When
the teams came back out for the coin toss, he was wearing khaki slacks with his green and
black jersey, not the black football pants of his Interstate Route 76 is the
direct route from Lodi to Philadelphia, picking up its current designator during the
Bicentennial twenty-five years ago. Passing through Akron and touching Mogadore,
hometown of Sr. RB #10, Chuck Moore, who picked up interstate speeds motoring north to
south with the opening kickoff. His strongest challenge was a brisk headwind as he
went 94 yards, down the far side, escorted by # 22 Jr. Dustin Blake of West Jefferson.
# 1, Rodney Chenos of Hilliard/Davidson, came on to make the score 7-0, with only
18 seconds expired.
Wilmington was determined to
keep the Mount Union side guessing as long as possible. # 6, backup QB Tony Baer of
Fredericktown/Highland opened the game under center, but was immediately replaced by Fred
Collins, listed as a RB, a burly kid out of Lima, who proceeded to run a direct snap
multiple option offense. Adam Ryan was the player who suffered the injury but #14,
Jonathan Cain, of Dayton/Dunbar, who had been setting records at wide receiver was also
hurt. Wilmington quarterbacks completed only six passes on the day, three of them
to white shirted Mount Union men; only one, for two yards, went to Cain. Quarterback Collins seemed determined to make a game of it. Mostly on the ground, dialing his own number he led the team to the Mount Union 19, where # 23 Sr. LB Jason Perkins forced a fourth and one, with a hit heard to the back rows of the visitors stands. Collins, who also plays on all of the Quakers kicking teams, walked away, but Perkins appeared to be knocked out. He eventually got up and walked off, but if he returned, I did not see it. Perkins' spot in the lineup
and his position as the team's leading tackler were filled by # 45 Sr. LB Stan Watson of
Austintown/Fitch. Wilmington converted the fourth down and seemed bound for glory
until a
On the ensuing kick off # 5
Jr. TE Josh Liddell of Bemus Point, NY rumbled 45 yards to other 13-yard line.
Following an exchange of penalties # 7 Jr. Rob "Rifleman" Adamson, who seemed to
have the touch from the start today, hit # 6 Derrick Leach of Summerfield/ Shenandoah to
extend the string of games with a passing touchdown, which extends back to the year Jim
Ballard transferred from Wilmington to Mount Union. Jim still owns several lines,
some of them not good, in the Wilmington record book from his freshman year there.
Mount got the ball back, via a punt, to midfield and drove to the seven where Wilmington forced a fumble after a 22-yard completion. Sloppy play by both sides consumed much of the second quarter until Mount got the ball at the Wilmington 25, following a fumble. Fourth and seven saw the return of the famous "inside screen" play, dating from the days of Ballard and Bubonics, but this time to Chuck Moore who had the first down with the catch but scooted for the second touchdown for both himself and quarterback Adamson. Wilmington got the ball back
with two minutes left and used more than half of it before punting, I guess that they
forgot that Rob Adamson has been at his best with the "two minute drills"
already this season. The Raider offense wasted no time taking advantage. Moore and Pugh took turns carrying the ball into the north end zone, Chuck had the final carry for his first rushing touchdown of the day.
Starting over at its 20,
Wilmington's next drive was good for minus six. The possession arrow went back to
the visitors, at the 40-yard line, following the punt. With an eight-yard
"assist" from Dan Pugh, the next touchdown drive was all Chuck Moore, who
covered the final 27 in one burst. Chuck scored four times, and had 52 yards as a
pass receiver, in addition to his return yards, he rushed for 102 yards, but a four-yard
loss will allow the opposition to boast that they held him to under 100 (98) net yards,
when he took a seat, before the end of the quarter.
Wilmington's long day
continued into the evening as their nationally ranked Men's soccer team fell to John
Carroll 3-0. As I made the turn from l-71 to I-90, I noticed that the top of the
Terminal Tower has been
Dick Ross
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numbers grew quickly. William
Penn, a Quaker leader, founded the colony of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia in
1681.
the wood of the tree for which the room
was named. Some of the more exotic trees, even then, had only a small plate mounted
on a pine door.
who shared the upper floors of a
recently demolished house at 85 1/2 Rice Street, in Alliance, 35 years ago. The
place was known as "The Rice Pad." As I recall the "1/2" was
Dave's idea, inspired by Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street address. 
mates.
The Wilmington uniforms are topped by a dark green helmet featuring a "swoosh"
Quaker and tri-cornered hat, in the style of the New England Patriots newer logo.
Though it was to our advantage, that he was not able to play, it was sad to see Adam's
record setting senior season slipping away.
Partially because of the long weekend, attendance was only 2892, the majority in
purple. It turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon with bright sunshine and
temperatures reaching up into the shirt sleeves 70's before increasing cloud cover brought
a chill, late in the game. Mount Union contemporaries, just a tad younger, Bill and
his wife Kate Carr Morris sat with us. Bill inquired if we could "can this
weather for later in the season."
Mount Union drove down to the other end before returning the favor, and the ball, to the
home team at its 23. Wilmington enjoyed only a short series before punting to
unlucky, for them, Jr. Mike Miller, a defensive back wearing the number assigned Cuyahoga
Falls players at Mount, 13. A 31-yard return by Miller set the Raider "O"
up for a short series on the 27-yard line and the Mount men quickly took advantage.
# 31 Jr. RB Dan Pugh of Norwalk/St. Paul put the ball in the end zone three plays later.
redemption
by covering most of the ground for the touchdown. Wilmington, however, was now
headed into the wind coming out of the south end of the field, ringed with pine trees, and
the extra point floated off to the left.
Rodney's extra point attempt was partially blocked but, with the wind behind him his
kickoff was outta the park, across the end line for a homer, touchback in football.
This time he was got the ball with 48
yards and 42 seconds to go, covering the distance with passes to # 80 Sr. WR Jason
Richards and Chuck Moore, before a one-yard plunge by Dan Pugh put the Raiders into
paydirt, with two seconds to spare. Rodney came on for the conversion and one more
"no return" kick off.
Collins, was a genuine
"gamer" but repeatedly showed why he was listed as a runner when he drew almost
audible cringes, from his own side, when he set to pass. On the opening drive he
moved his team from its own ten to mid-field, when he decided to go deep. #17 Chris
Kern Jr. CB of Fairbault, Minn. settled under the ball, like a center fielder, made the
catch, at his own 20, circled back to the ten, evaded the entire Wilmington team down the
far side, came back through everybody as he crossed to the nearside and, finally in the
clear, slipped and fell on his upfield cut at the Wilmington 30. Chris raised his
hands in a shrug, as if to say "hey I'm defense!"
Wilmington responded by inserting the listed second string quarterback, who almost
immediately showed why he may not have been the first choice as a "relief
pitcher" by firing a strike directly into the numbers of # 18 Jr. Safety Matt Sotcan
of Alliance, who ran it straight back 26 yards, just about the distance to first base, in
less time than it takes to tell about it. 
Chuck's fourth touchdown was the signal for massive substitutions on both sides, the guys
in bright white were just a bit more obvious than the ones in green and black, and ended
the scoring for the day. On the way home we listened to the Ohio State game on the
radio to make sure we could make it past the stadium before the game let out. While
Ohio was loosing to Wisconsin, we recalled how Mount had won on Wisconsin's field, (though
not against the Badgers), in 1996. Dave and I parted company in Medina County and I
headed for the final lap into Cleveland, listening for the JCU and B-W scores: both won,
as did next week's opponent Capital. Hiram was also a winner, over Oberlin, but the
upset of the day was Lakewood's St. Edward over Cleveland St. Ignatius, by three, in
overtime. 
outfitted with bands of blue and red
lights, with the BP building filling in the center white.