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Mount Union 58 Wilmington 0 by Ric Brienza |
Mount Union won its 52nd consecutive football game, defeating Wilmington 58-0 at Williams Stadium in Wilmington, to finish the regular season 10-0 overall and 9-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. The victory gave the Purple Raiders their 12th consecutive conference football championship and 15th overall.
Mount Union wasted little time taking the lead following the opening
kickoff. Zac Bruney connected with Ricky Ciccone from nine yards out,
capping a five-play, 48-yard drive less than three minutes into the game,
giving the visitors all the points they would need. George Wilders extra
point made it 7-0. Mike Miller’s 47-yard kickoff return, setting the Purple
& White up at the Wilmington 48, was probably the key play for the score. Anthony Frate recovered a fumble on Wilmington’s first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, setting the Raiders up at the Quakers 29-yard line, but Mount Union was turned away when Bruney threw a pass that bounced off one of his receiver’s hands and was intercepted on the goal line.
Wilmington managed one first down before punting for the first time in the
contest. On its 13 possessions in the game, the Quakers punted nine times,
fumbled twice, threw one interception, and had the half end the other
possession. Wilmington never really threatened to score, getting into Mount
Union territory just twice in the contest, driving to the Raider 38 in the
second quarter and to the Raider 49 in the third. Mount Union’s second score came on a 34-yard pass from Bruney to Randell Knapp, capping a three-play, 59-yard drive that took just 43 seconds to complete midway through the first quarter. Wilders PAT made it 14-0. Jesse Burghardt saw his first action at quarterback since the John Carroll game due to an injury in that contest. He led the Raiders to their next touchdown, an 11-yard pass to Nick Sirianni with just under two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Wilders kick made it 21-0, capping a seven-play, 61-yard drive. Mount Union gained 167 yards on 20 plays in the opening stanza, while the defense held Wilmington to minus three yards on ten plays.
First Quarter Score: Mount Union 21, Wilmington 0 The Raiders added two scores in the second quarter on touchdown runs of one yard from Ciccone and seven yards on a reverse from Knapp to up the ante to 35-0 at halftime. Ciccone’s touchdown capped a six-play, 51-yard drive while Knapp’s score ended a five-play, 25-yard drive that started following a five-yard Wilmington punt. Wilders booted both extra points.
Mount Union scored touchdowns on five of its seven first half possessions
with the interception and a fumble ending the other two. The fumble came at
the Quaker 13 as Knapp lost the ball while fighting for extra yards on a
pass play that had covered 38 yards. The Purple & White generated 285 first
half yards on 32 plays while holding the Green & White to just 52 yards on
30 plays, including zero passing yards. Halftime Score: Mount Union 35, Wilmington 0 The Purple ‘D’ forced the Quakers to punt following the opening possession of the third quarter and then put together a nine-play, 85-yard drive that sealed the deal, opening up a 42-point advantage. Burghardt’s second touchdown pass, from seven yards out to Joe Bugara, capped the scoring march and Wilders added the PAT. Mount Union’s final touchdown came with three and a half minutes remaining in the quarter as Michael Deitrick took it over from a yard out, capping a seven-play, 60-yard drive. Chad Teague nailed the extra point to give the Raiders a 49-point lead.
Through three quarters Mount Union had 483 yards of offense on 50 plays to just 93 yards on 45 plays for Wilmington. Third Quarter Score: Mount Union 49, Wilmington 0
Mount Union added three fourth quarter field goals as Teague connected from 28 and 22 yards out and Wilders added a 21 yarder to make the final score a 58-point margin. The three-point kicks came following drives of 69, 38 and 59 yards, and were attempted as much to keep the score down as they were because the offense was stopped. The final drive of the game ended the way 106 of the last 107 have for Mount Union, with the victory formation as the Purple Raiders have now won 52 straight football games.
Final Score: Mount Union 58, Wilmington 0
Bruney, Burghardt and Michael Jorris combined to complete 22 of 29 passes for 370 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Robert McDavid also took some snaps at quarterback but did not attempt a pass. Knapp caught a game high four receptions for 131 yards and the one score. E.J. Lilly rushed seven times for 52 yards to lead a Raider ground attack that produced 238 yards. Ken Whitfield led the defense with 10 tackles, while Frate recorded two quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries for the Raiders. Jesse Clum added an interception.
Mount Union finished with 608 total yards, an average of 9.1 yards per play,
while Wilmington managed 104 total
yards, an average of 1.9 per play. The defense posted its fifth
shutout of the season and allowed Mount Union's current 52-game victory streak is the longest active win streak in all of college football, and is just two wins shy of tying the overall mark set by the Purple Raiders from 1996-1999 when they won 54 consecutive football games.
Mount Union received a number one seed and first round bye in the NCAA
Division III playoffs and will begin defense of its national championship at
Mount Union Stadium on November 29th against the winner of next week’s first
round match-up between Concordia (WI) and Wis-La Crosse.
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just 60 points during the 10 regular season games, an average of only six
points per contest.