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Mount Union 39 La Crosse 14 by Dick Ross |
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Last Saturday was a beautiful 60 degree day in Northern Ohio, appropriate for the 40th anniversary of the day that Camelot died, on an otherwise pleasant Friday afternoon, in Texas. If you were alive that day, it is a sure bet that you remember exactly where you were, when you heard the news. I was up the back steps at the SAE house, on South Union Ave., in Alliance. Even though we are enjoying our own Camelot on the hilltop, the words that Richard Burton sang, obviously, do not apply: "Winter is forbidden before December & snow may never slush upon the hillside... in Camelot."
Playoff football has almost become a traditional event, in Alliance, on the
Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Two days of continual cold rain had
turned to snow, overnight Friday, producing many trees and bushes
covered
with ice and snow, that looked like some sort of white chocolate or sugar
coated confection.
The extra hour allowed for an extra cup of coffee and a visit to the
bookstore. Many lingered in the lounge to watch the Bowling Green -
Toledo football game. Few, who had a choice, went to the stadium
early, as the delay allowed temperatures to rise slightly above freezing.
Heading up the hill to the stadium, I gave thanks for the covered stands
with their back wall holding firm against the almost 20 mph wind out of Today marks our fourth meeting with the University of Wisconsin @ La Crosse, a town just inside the Minnesota-Iowa corner of Wisconsin, up against the Mississippi River. We lost to them in the 1992 semifinals in conditions that could only be described as "Arctic," and in 1995, in Alliance. We finally got them in the famous 1996 "Pee Wee Herman" game, in Madison, Wisconsin, when the TV station forgot to shut off the "canned" program and switch to the live feed of the football game.
The school in La Crosse opened in 1909 as a two year teachers school,
growing to an enrollment of 645 by their twenty-fifth anniversary, in 1934,
when they became La Crosse State Normal, a four year school. The
University's sports teams were known as the Indians from the 1930's until
1990, when they The visitor's colors are maroon and gray, same as those of our last Stagg Bowl opponent, Trinity (TX). Today La Crosse wore white shirts with maroon lettering and gray helmets with a stylized Eagle. Mount Union, in their usual playoff black tops, with purple helmets and trousers, won the toss and elected to receive. Although the north end flags still stood straight out to the east, the covered stands must have produced on field winds from the south, as that's the end the Eagles chose to defend.
Mount Union took the initial kick and headed toward Hartshorn Street with
Jr. QB Zac Bruney of Martins Ferry, Jr. RB Ricky Ciccone, of Coshocton and
Sr. RB Brian Miller of Orrville before they were stopped at the Wisconsin
38. Sr. Caleb Chappelear of Norwalk, got to do something he didn't do
much in the regular season, punt. Even though Chappelear put it into
the end zone, La Crosse got as far as the Mount 13 Sr. QB Jesse Burghardt of Uniontown/Lake then came out to take his turn at quarterback. Burghardt saw some action in the season finale at Wilmington a couple weeks ago after sustaining a foot injury in the John Carroll game in week six. He still looked a bit rusty, as his first play was an interception, returned inside the five-yard line. The next play was a four-yard touchdown run by La Crosse running back Andrew Mocadlo, who had served prior notice of his intention to win the game. The Purple Raiders have started from behind before and didn't panic. With six and a half minutes left in the quarter, Sr. Mike Miller of Cuyahoga Falls set the offense up at the 30 following a 29-yard kick return. Bruney led a 70-yard march, all on the ground, and capped it with a four-yard "naked" bootleg into the home side corner of the endzone. Jr. PK George Wilders of Loveland/Kings added the point, to tie the game.
FIRST QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 7, WIS-LA CROSSE 7 The score held until the four minute mark of the second quarter, when half the defensive line was chasing La Crosse quarterback Steve Tennies, Sr. DT Josh Ludwig of East Liverpool was officially credited with the "hurry" as Sr. LB Anthony "Train" Frate of Mentor picked off the wild throw and rambled 48 yards down the home side for the score in the north end. It was the defense's fourth touchdown of the year. With plenty of time remaining, Mount Union wasted one opportunity after blocking a punt near midfield but cashed in on a second when Mike Miller handed the ball to the offense at the visitor's 25 with a second blocked punt and 35 seconds to go in the half. Bruney rushed for 10 yards and a half the distance penalty took it to the seven-yard line. Bruney then tossed it out to Sr. WR Randell Knapp of Kent/Field, fully extended and diving right to left across the back of the end zone. My view was blocked by all the people including the nearest referee, arms extended signaling "Touchdown" until a second referee came in from Sebring, signaling incomplete. Knapp came back to the bench writhing in full body agony, from the call, and had to be "talked down" by his teammates. It was the second "catch of the day" the refs had taken from him - the first was an earlier sideline call.
After the game, Frate talked about how "someone different has always stepped
up" to make the play. This time it was Jr. RB Jeff Strauch from Avon
Lake, also still sore from the John Carroll game and seeing his first action
since that game, who repeated Knapp's route for what would be the first of
his three touchdowns on the day. With seven seconds still to go Mount
fans yelled "Wanna see it again?" even as the kick drifted downwind and off
to the right.
Jr. PK Chad Teague of Orrville opened the second half with a 60-yard kick
into the wind, unfortunately it was returned to midfield where the Badger
State boys staged an impressive 11-play drive to narrow the score to a
spread of six. Mount Union's offense was not able to get started, so
the defense decided to help out again. This time "The Train" (Anthony
Frate) sacked the quarterback and caused a fumble which rolled free, till
covered by So. DT Jesse Wells of Caldwell/Shenandoah, on the two-yard line,
setting up Strauch for his second touchdown of the day. The two-point
conversion play was not successful, and there was no further scoring in the
quarter. Through the first three quarters, defense and special teams
play had kept us in a very physical game.
The Purple Raiders managed to add two more scores, while burning the clock, in the final quarter. The first was a 12-play, 66-yard drive featuring runs by Brian Miller and Strauch, using five and a half minutes of clock before Strauch scored the touchdown on a one-yard plunge. The second drive was 10 plays and covered 77 yards, using more than four minutes before Brian Miller bulled through for the final four yards. With the late start and live TV broadcast back to Wisconsin, the game was nearly three hours old when La Crosse called their final time outs, while their backs worked on their stats. Strauch had a career high 92 yards rushing, with three touchdowns. Bruney was 8 of 17 passing for 96 yards and Knapp gained 80 in three catches but will always add in the two that I mentioned.
The defense was lead by Sr. LB Shaun Spisak of Sagamore Hills/Nordonia, Sr.
FS Matt Caponi of Pittsburgh/Baldwin and Frate who scored nine "hits" and
four tackles for losses, in addition to the exploits already described. The win is the 53rd in our current streak. We can equal our record of 54, next week against Wheaton College of Illinois, who defeated Baldwin-Wallace 16-12, for the trip to Alliance. We played them on Thanksgiving Saturday last year, winning 42-21. Wheaton recently made the news with their decision to allow dancing, for the first time in the 143-year history of the school.
All seating at Mount Union Stadium is reserved. Ticket telephone lines
will open Monday at 9:00 for season ticket holders and player parents, only,
(330) 821-6759. The game will be broadcast on WDPN 1310 AM and WRMU
91.1 FM. WRMU's student broadcasters are web cast through the college
website. Though the students are back in school, there should be
plenty of room. The famous Campus Center buffet will open at 10:00
a.m. and as always, everyone is welcome.
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CAMELOT REMEMBERED
When Mom and I left home just after eight, the snow
had stopped but the roads were wet with slush between the tire tracks.
I made the campus center in time to buy my ticket, just before the doors
opened and the announcement was made that the game would be delayed one hour
to allow for cleaning the field and the stands. As always, in these
situations, I got various stories as to exactly what had happened but the
most reliable seemed to indicate that the large rotating broom that had been
arranged to clear the field was acting erratically and brushing the snow OK
but leaving a coat of ice, underneath. If I had know about the delay,
earlier, I might have taken it a bit slower on through the "S" turns south
of Limaville, beyond the old Lexington school. Whatever the exact
reason, you can be sure that the delay had been approved by the athletic
directors of both schools and the NCAA's "on site" representative.
the west, into the faces of those in the east stands. The crowd of
3,432, small but larger than last year's
gathering on the holiday weekend, filled most of the home side, the season
ticket areas of the visitors side and a small number of Wisconsinites under
the north end of the press box.
became the Eagles. They were merged into the State University system
and adopted their current name in
1971, enrollment peaked at 9,659 in 1986, when it was limited by the
Legislature, and is currently listed at 8,760.
before a sack by Sr. LB
Luke Garland of Washington Courthouse, helped stop the advance and set up a
33-yard field goal attempt, which was blocked by So. DE Justen Stickley of
Massillon/Jackson and recovered, inside a circle of purple, at the 17.
