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Mount Union 28 by Dick Ross |
TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT In past years, I've been able to buy a block of tickets, early, so that friends could sit together. This year, when I started calling, I don't think that Baldwin-Wallace had even thought about having tickets printed. They put me off several times, telling me to contact Mount Union but, from previous experience, I doubted that the best seats were being sent there! After being put off several times, the
appointed day finally arrived. I was at the ticket window when Ursprung Gym opened but the only ticket that I got, that day, was a $15.00
parking ticket from a campus
Made me think about how Baldwin-Wallace hired the guy who ran LTV into bankruptcy, to head their highly regarded MBA program, and I began to wonder if he was branching out into ticket sales and "PR" for the college. B-W also prides itself on its affiliation with the "American Language Academy" which brings in students speaking "English as an alternate language." The ALA is probably a good argument for regular updating of your web site, if you have one. As of gameday they were still bragging on their successful alumni with Arthur Anderson & Co. Because of the short trip, there's no
lengthy travelogue this week, just the observation that our hot and very dry
summer has led to an early fall, with many trees already turning dormant,
while temperatures still linger the 70's and 80's. Mount Union might just have easily been playing in Mount Tabor, except for a coin flip of a coin in 1836. Though a sturdy Methodist and strongly opposed to gambling, among other vices, John Baldwin, winner of the coin toss, preferred Berea. Baldwin is credited with the discovery of the local sandstone along the banks of the Rocky River, which became the basis of much local industry, quarrying and transforming the stones into grindstones, millstones and construction materials. In 1845 Baldwin brought a Methodist
seminary to town, offering land, building materials and cash.
Berea's rock solid economy lasted nearly 100 years, until the invention of Carborundum grinding wheels. As artificial abrasives and the increasing use of steel and concrete in construction undermined the town's industrial base, Metropolitan Cleveland grew out to meet and suburbanize the town, though it still manages to maintain its own separate flavor. As game time approached, we adjourned
to our seats in the stadium. Our first opponent claimed to have the
best stadium in Division III, by virtue of having a lot of seats.
Others may have scenic views or more classic settings, but George Finnie
Stadium, which opened in 1971, is among the nicer and best B-W, who had been very careful not to provide any "bulletin board" material for the visitor's locker room, nevertheless made their entrance NBA style from an inflatable tunnel with a smoke machine, accompanied by the Mid-Park High School marching band. For a school that prides itself on it's music deptartment, culture, and annual Bach Festival, I find it a bit odd that they can't be bothered by a marching band. Apparently it's tough to play Bach, march and chew gum at the same time. As spectators continued to file in,
the crowd grew to 9,127, the second largest crowd for a college game in the
history of the stadium. The largest, 10,000 in 1998, also involved
Mount Union. For that game,
John Baldwin may have won the coin
toss, but his "Institute" boys did not. The game had been billed as a
battle of defenses so that Mount Union, in white, elected to kick off to
Yellow Jackets who wore their UPS brown jerseys over yellow trousers with
yellow helmets. The bad news is that Baldwin-Wallace, moving south,
was able to "take it to the highway" in eight plays for 75 yards. B-W
drove mostly on the ground, Mount Union's #8 So. QB Zac Bruney of
Martin's Ferry, filling in for injured Sr. QB Rob Adamson of
Akron/Manchester, was also his team's second leading rusher, to #31 Sr. RB
Dan Pugh who stepped up into Chuck Moore's tailback spot and had a career
high 40 carries for 220 yards, from scrimmage, plus
another 120 on returns and pass receptions. Dan's not quite as quick
or as slippery as Chuck and, of course, he doesn't have #31 blocking for him
but he did step up, bigtime, carrying the load providing most of Mount's
offense in the first half. The first quarter ended with a Pugh/Bruney
drive that ended in the second period, when Pugh got only two, from the
three, on 4th down. Mount's Defense, lead by #89 Sr. DE Matt Campbell
of Massillon/Perry
The extra point by #11 So. Chad Teague from Orrville, tied the game at seven. B-W came back with a steady, sustained and well executed 11-play, 81-yard drive, spreading the defense laterally, and creating some nervousness in the visitors section as the "Killer Bees" went back up by seven. Dan Pugh stepped up, in the next
series, also. After returning the kick 42 yards, he carried the ball
six of eight plays, including the touchdown that returned the score to
"even" as the sun slipped, slowly, behind the press box. The Mid-Park band show was built
around the theme of the Doobie Brothers song "Long Trains Running" - an
appropriate anthem in Berea. This city has always been a railroad
town, from the New York Central days but, in recent years most of the
Pennsylvania Railroad traffic that ran out of Alliance west
towards Fort Wayne, now runs northeast, through Atwater to Cleveland, and
also passes through Berea. Because of these changes, massive "grade
separation" projects are underway in town, that will likely snarl traffic
for years. The second half began with a Dan Pugh
return and running the ball, though this time he had help from Zac Bruney
passes to #25 Jr. WR Nick Sirianni of Jamestown, NY and #82 Sr. TE Randall
Knapp of Kent/Field and a run by #46, Jr. RB Brian Miller from Orrville.
Dan was called again from three yards As the fourth quarter opened, Zac Bruney hit #5 Sr. TE Josh Liddell, of Bemus Point, NY, over the center to the 20. Some of us were starting to compute the yardage for a field goal, but the guys on the field were not. Bruney hit Randall Knapp in the left corner for six. Pugh did not get the touchdown, but now that the lead was 12 the team, following the coaching handbook, lined up for the two-point conversion. Guess what? Up, into the air, Pugh for two! After the kickoff Mount's defense held for the "three and out" and it looked like we were finally going to get some "separation" on these guys, until Zac was intercepted, immediately, on a "run and gun" type play. B-W came back, spreading our defense.
Just when it looked like we might have them, Jr. RB Mark Anders, from North
Olmsted, swept 13 yards, for a touchdown, on a 4th and six. There were still seven minutes left on the clock, with a seven-point lead, and things began to get a bit nervous, through the kickoff and an exchange of punts B-W got the ball back, one last time, 63 seconds left. B-W's Larlham moved his team out to the B-W 43, 4th & five, no timeouts left. Clock stop on an incomplete pass, Mount called time with 16 seconds left. The visitor's side stood for the final
play, but it wasn't. Larlham threw for a 13-yard first down, out of
bounds, clock stopped at nine seconds. Ball at the Mount 45.
Still standing and chanting, looking across, the B-W side seemed much more
composed. Final Play? No, short incompletion. Six seconds
to go. The snap, Larlham drops back, fades to his right, chased by one
or two guys in white, everyone else headed for the end zone, he winds up and
throws - long enough - straight enough.... Triple zeros filled the clock as the
ball floated into all that brown and yellow in the southwest corner.
Next Week, Homecoming vs. Muskingum at
1:30 - A celebration of the first game at the newly renovated Mount Union
Stadium, which opened, as Hartshorn Field, November 1, 1913, with a 7-0
victory over Case Tech.
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cop. Among the boxes checked was
"improper stickers" he didn't say which ones he objected to - the
"USMC-Vietnam Vet," the purple Alumni Tag - or the six-time national
championship
"clinger" in the back window.
Baldwin-Wallace was formed in 1913 through merger with Wallace German
College, founded in 1863, by a rival quarry operator. By tracing its
roots to the 1845 seminary, the school formed by the merger manages to
outdate O. N. Hartshorn's upstart "select school" by a single academic year.
is
of their brilliant green "Magic Carpet," a sort of sponge rubber playing
surface, which is also home to the contests of Berea Schools and high school
playoff games. Seating for 7,800 is provided by two matching concrete
stands, much like our visitors stands, except that the first rows are
elevated by about five feet so that the seats, down front, are good ones,
and not looking at other peoples backsides.
Baldwin-Wallace hired the Cuyahoga Falls
marching band, and seated them on the visitors side. Unfortunately for
the hosts, many of the Band members knew, or knew of, Adam Marino and other
Mount Union players. The uninhibited enthusiasm of the "Black Tigers"
from the visitors side may have helped turn the tide in that one. Adam
is now, I understand, Mr. Marino in the Cuyahoga Falls school system, while
fellow Fallsite Jim Ballard got some playing time with the CFL Toronto
Argonauts last weekend, and Sr. CB Mike Miller, still nursing an injury, was
spotted on the sidelines - wearing his #13 over street clothes. There
are currently three Millers on the Mount Union team, two from Orrville, but
none are related.
using an "option" style offense, lead by their
#8 Jr. QB Dan Larlham of Brimfield/Walsh Jesuit, who was able to spread the
field, draw Mount's pursuit into the center, and pitch run or pass outside
with some regularity. Larlham, who seemed to enjoy running himself,
had the highest number of carries on the team and was the second leading
ground gainer for B-W.
dug
in, and held B-W to three and out, forcing the punt, inside their own
10-yard line. Five plays later, Pugh got a second chance from the
one-yard line and, this time, put it across.
TURNING OUT AND BURNING OUT
Suddenly, a single white clad figure was in the middle of all of it, #17 Sr.
DB Chris Kerns, wrapped around the ball, gun sounds, Mount wins. To
steal one more line from the "Eagles," it was as if he was "Standing on a
corner in Fairbault, Minnesota - such a fine site to see!"