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Mount Union 62 Wilmington 0 by Dick Ross |
BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL
On a cold, gray day, the rain started misting on the windshield almost as soon as I headed south. Solo today, the rapidly shedding, moist hills were mostly leather brown and black with splotches of bright yellow and just a bit of green remaining. Today was
"Parents Day" in Alliance, the new section of the Campus Center dinning room
was blocked off for a student/parent luncheon and there was also a
presentation in the "Campus Grounds." There was a slight pause in the rain and the temperature climbed through the mid thirties, as we headed to the stadium. A stiff, chilling, breeze blew in from the direction of Wilson Hall and caused the flags to stretch out towards the north corner of the covered stands. Our Ohio Athletic Conference guests were the Quakers of Wilmington College founded, in 1870, in Wilmington, Ohio near Cincinnati. As the name of the team suggests, the school owes its existence to the "Religious Society of Friends." The "Friends" do not consider themselves as a church and their assemblies, which are known as "meetings," consist of worship, meditation, discussion and business.
The "Friends" believe in a simpler life, non violence and an "Inner Light," the presence of the spirit of God in every man. The Quakers have long been known for pacifism and humanitarian works. Wilmington College's program of study includes an Agriculture program, including Equine studies, and "herd management" and a "Peace Studies" minor in the Religion/Philosphy Dept. The modern day Quakers arrived, at the end of a five hour bus ride, and took the field wearing white jerseys, with green "serif" numerals, black trousers and green helmets with a stylized, cocked hat, "Quaker" in a New England Patriots style "swoosh." Mount Union took
the field in, what looked like, a new set of purple jerseys with white
trousers. Only the second time that I recall the white pants, at home,
since the 1995 playoff loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse, in that combination. White shirted Wilmington kicked off to #31 Sr. RB Dan Pugh of Norwalk/St Paul who went 69 yards into the north end, setting the tone of the game, though Mount was to march backwards on this drive, ending up with a punt by #12 Jr. P/QB Jesse Burghardt of Uniontown/Lake. After a short series, which included one first down, Wilmington punted the ball back. Fr. WR Scott Casto of Uniontown/Green wearing #84, streaked 72 yards, down the far sideline, for a touchdown in the northeast corner. Unfortunately, he left a yellow hankie in his wake and the play came back, so this is the only recognition he'll get for it. Mount rebounded from the penalty, starting from their own 36, with Pugh on a 36-yard sweep to the left, followed by two passes from #7 Sr. QB Rob Adamson of Akron/Manchester to #82 Jr. WR Randell Knapp of Kent/Field, then Pugh for the touchdown. Six points plus the conversion by #11 So. PK Chad Teague of Orrville, put Mount up by seven. Moments later
Teague kicked off, a line drive which bounced off the front of one Quaker
and off the back of another until our new #10 So. DB Jesse Clum of
Greenville landed on it at the north 28-yard line. One play later,
Adamson found #6 Sr. WR Derrick Leach of Summerfield/Shennandoah for six
more. Teague
On Wilmington's
next attempt they tried a short run and one long pass, which #17 Sr. DB
Chris Kern of Fairbault, MN picked off and returned to the Quakers 26-yard
line. Once more, Purple required only one play to score, this one a
26-yard Adamson to Pugh handoff. Dan's second touchdown tied Chuck
Moore's MUC/OAC single season touchdown record of 24, set last year; he
broke the record on the next series with a 45-yard run and was behind the
bench, thanking #75 Jr. OT Larry Kinnard of Alliance and the rest of his "O"
line. Mount Union got
the ball, the squads switched ends, and I was just starting to settle in
when, suddenly the play came out of the north and was directly in front of
me. Adamson "aired one out" that must have been at least 40 yards in
the air. Leach hauled it in, on the fly, directly in front of section
three, peeked over his shoulder and followed the west sideline into the end
zone. Shortly thereafter, Wilmington punted again. Casto got only two yards on this return, this time, but Pugh picked up 58 yards on consecutive runs of 11, 13, 32 and 2 (all he needed) yards, for his 26th touchdown of the year, as the extra point went through and umbrellas and rain gear began to appear, on those in the open. Pugh rushed twice more, breaking Russ Kring's 1986 single season rushing record and took a seat, while #8 So. QB Zac Bruney came in and optioned one over to Knapp, on a reverse, for a 28-yard rushing touchdown, Mount's seventh. Burghardt came
in at quarterback for the final series which featured a pass completion to
#25 Jr. WR Nick Sirianni of Jamestown, NY and a run by #42 Sr. RB Vince
Ilacqua of Willoughby/Lake Catholic, each for 14-yard first downs.
Good to see, as both young men had missed a lot of time on the sick and
Mount Union's band put on a fine show of patriotic music for the half, titled "Songs of Glory," which included "This is My Country," "Proud to be an American" and concluded with a rousing "Stars and Stripes Forever" while the band formed a human replica of "Old Glory" with each member holding strips of red, white and blue cloths. It was announced that Mount had placed six men on the Academic All-OAC Team and that #5 Sr. TE Josh Liddell of Bemus Point, NY and #89 Sr. DE Matt Campbell of Massillon/Perry were among the Regional Finalists for the National Academic All-American Team. Burghardt spent
most of the third quarter at quarterback, with #29 So. RB Jeff Strauch and
#34 So. RB Rick Ciccone getting some chances, but all the scoring was by
Teague on field goals of 22 and 32 yards, when Mount got to close to punt.
At least three season records were set by two guys today: Dan Pugh set new
records for touchdowns, points and yards gained and Matt Campbell set a new
record for "Tackles for Loss," which he had previously shared. #13 So. QB
Robert McDavid from Canal Winchester/Pickerington and #36 Jr. RB Michael
Deitrick of Seven Hills/Normandy teamed to drain the fourth quarter, as the
crowd slowly melted to the parents day reception at the "Campus Grounds,"
which featured hot dogs and a jazz "Combo." Compliments to
both the Cheerleading Squad and to the Band who not only stayed to the very
end, but played as the crowd filed out. Well, we do know
a bit - playoff brackets have been announced. Mount Union was selected
as the # 1 "seed" in our region and will have a "bye" week Nov. 23rd,
hosting a second round game in Alliance, Saturday, November 30th and should
be at home, throughout the playoffs, until the championship game,
Ticket telephone lines are open Monday for season ticket holders and football parents only: (330) 821-6759. After the dust settles a bit, the general public may call the same number beginning Tuesday. Telephone orders must be secured by a major credit card, and picked up with cash or check. The NCAA sets
playoff ticket prices: this year they are $9.00 for the covered stands and
press box reserve section (east stands) and $8.00 for all other reserved
seats.
Dick Ross
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The term
"Quaker," once regarded as a slur, comes from George Fox, the group's
founder. Convicted of blasphemy against the Church of England, in
1850, he suggested that it was the judge who should "tremble at the word of
the Lord." Not surprisingly, with such an attitude, Fox was imprisoned
at least five times.
WHEREVER MY HEART LEADS ME
