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Mount Union's Sweetest Day

                    October 16, 1999                 by Dick Ross

AS SEEN ON TV  

    I started doing these weekly reports because of the almost complete lack of coverage of Mount Union Football anywhere outside the Akron, Canton and Alliance area. With the near overdose of newspaper stories, starting with "USA Today," on Thursday, and extending to almost every part of the country on Friday and Saturday, this week's report seems almost unnecessary.    

     Hopefully all of you got to see a bit of the story, either in your local paper, the feature on ESPN "Game Day;" the live broadcast on WBNX Channel 55, or the ESPN and ABC "cut ins" and half time reports, from Alliance. I hope you all got to share in the sense of building excitement; the crowd; the gamut of bright fall colors behind the scoreboard and the Wable-Harter Building, with the glimpses of the bright copper spire of the new Chapel and the two fresh new dorms, beyond the North end of the Stadium. Chapman Hall
didn't get its picture taken Saturday, the multicolored foliage was still a bit too thick to see it from the Stadium, but the local advertisers who contributed to the scoreboard certainly got their money's worth. Our nameless dowager, the 1913 Covered Stands, built the same summer that Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais perfected the forward pass as life guards at Cedar Point, finally had her glorious day on National TV, in the brilliant October sunshine.

    My Mom, four years younger than the covered stands, had not planned to make the trip with me this Saturday, until my Aunt and I convinced her that this was to be one of greatest days in Alliance, since McKinley's funeral train passed through, on the way to Canton. On the way down Mom chided me that she hadn't been around for McKinley's train, but allowed that she and her brothers had gone down to her Grandfather's back yard, north of Main Street, and placed pennies on the tracks, when Warren G. Harding's funeral train came through town, in 1923. Mom also recounted the story of Sweetest Day, from a report she gave to one of her clubs.

SWEETEST DAY 

    Sweetest Day was actually started, in Cleveland, in 1922 by a group of civic minded businessmen, as a day set aside to spread cheer among the unfortunate and orphans, shut-ins, and the aged in nursing homes; to remember friends, relatives and associates whose kindness and helpfulness we enjoyed
throughout the year. In the early years, children from orphanages were taken to a show at the Palace Theater in Cleveland; those who could not make the trip were given boxed candies.

    World War II travel restrictions and the changing nature of orphanages brought an end to the theater trips, but the Sweetest Day Committee continued to operate: some years up to 10,000 boxes of candy were collected and distributed by Tower Candy, on West 70th Street and American Legion Posts in
the area, with the theme "make someone happy."

    Calling on industrial customers this past week, I noted that the Tower Candy Company building and sign are still there, but the building is vacant, so I'm not sure of the status of the "Committee" but, if you are a woman, or have a woman in your life, you don't need to be told what Sweetest Day has become. Since Mom is a product of Alliance, I took her Red Carnations, before the trip; my wife got Roses.

    All week, with the building excitement, it seemed like Saturday would never arrive. The trip from Cleveland seemed to take almost no time at all, under cloudless skies, through the peak of fall scenery and unseasonably warm mid seventy degree temperatures. Arriving at the Campus before 11:00, it was easy to guess that today was special: tailgating parents in the freshly paved lot on Hartshorn Street, west of the Stadium, were sharing space with the Media and satellite uplink trucks, and parking was already hard to come by. In addition to the large crowd expected for football, today was also "Ohio Poetry Day" on Campus and Professor Emeritus Lyle Crist was very much in evidence.

    Even though this weekend was "Fall Break" and many of the students had departed for a four day weekend, the crowd for Lloyd Davidson's Brunch was the largest I've ever seen, with the Board of Trustees meeting in the new greenhouse end of the Dinning Commons and the football team, partially curtained off in the side room, to the right of the entry door. Not to imply that I've acquired any influence on Campus, but moments after I expressed disappointment on the lack of "Tater Tots" in the buffet, a full tray appeared, as if by magic!

    After a relaxing breakfast and lunch with family and friends, it was time for the short trip to the Stadium. More than thirty minutes before game time all of the programs for the game were sold and all of the seats were filled. The PA announcer noted that general admission ticket holders would now have to stand behind the end zone fences. The crowd eventually reached 7,132, a record for a College game at Mount Union, though the Alliance Aviators regularly drew more during their glory days of the fifties and sixties.

    Otterbein College, today's opponent, was founded in 1847, Westerville, Ohio, by the United Brethren Church. They became Ohio's fifth United Methodist College, when the Churches merged, some years ago. Although officially named the Cardinals, Otterbein has been known around the OAC as "the Otters," after kindly little Emmett Otter of Christmas cartoon fame, and a play on the school's name. This year, the Cardinals have grown teeth and could actually take pride in the Otter name: a nasty marine mammal who feeds primarily on fish. They enter today's game with four victories, as many in five games than in any full season since 1982, when they won five of nine. Their victories include B-W, at home, and the Muskies of Muskingum: they feasted on "fish" in New Concord, to the tune of 48-22. The "sole" defeat was by John Carroll, in University Heights, in a game that Otterbein led for all but the last few seconds.

    Otterbein's Head Coach A. Wallace "Wally" Hood is the father of Mount's Basketball Coach, Lee Hood, and has two other sons in coaching. He also has two Mount Union Alums on his coaching staff: Dave McLaughlin '83 and Dave Smith '77 lead Otterbein's offense.

NO ROOTING IN THE PRESS BOX

    Those who were to have seats were already seated for quite a while, when the Mount Marchers took the field in blue and white. They presented a longer than usual pre-game show which included "OKLAHOMA!" as a tribute to the 47 win "Streak." After the Alma Mater and the National Anthem, Otterbein took the field in sacrificial white, with gold helmets, red stockings and numerals. The band played "On Mount to Victory" three times through as the full roster of the purple clad home team streamed through the South tunnel,
to the cheers of the crowd.

    Usually the rule is that there is no rooting in the Press Box, but much of the extra "out of town" press was quietly pulling for the boys in Purple. They had come to cover the new record, without it there would not be much of a story.

    Sr. Brandon Bakos, #19 of North Royalton opened the action with another booming kick off, with Mount defending the South end, Hartshorn Street and the wind behind them. Otterbein quickly stalled, but their # 3 Jr. Brett Dorsett, who handles all of the Cardinals kicking, punted all the way to the Raiders 17. Jr. QB #16, Gary Smeck, who hails from Lancaster, well south of Westerville, quickly reclaimed the ground with a 39 yard gainer to "roomie" #2 Jr. Adam Marino of Cuyahoga Falls, who might have gone all the way except that he had to stretch for the catch and couldn't quite recover. It took eight more plays to score, with another pass to Marino and runs by #10 Soph. Chuck Moore of Mogadore and #29 Sr. Dave Hassey of Boardman. Chuck Moore covered the final six yards into the North end zone with only 5:55 elapsed and #1 Soph. Rodney Chenos of Galloway, came in to add the conversion. MUC - 7, OTT - 0.

MISTER TOUCHDOWN  

    Following another booming kick by Bakos, Otterbein's Sr. QB # 19, Matt D'Orazio of Westerville/St. Francis DeSales came out throwing. Those of you who have been reading these reports know what that means: a completion to #49 in Purple, Jr. LB Jesse "James" Pearson, also from the Columbus area.

    The only difference in this week's script was that Jesse did not go all the way, he was tackled at the Otterbein twenty. After the game, outside his family's huge travel trailer, Jesse's backfield buddy #4 Jr. OLB Matt LaVerde of Oil City, Pa told me that the defense had been teasing Jesse all week, calling him "Mr. Touchdown."  Matt said he felt badly that he had been unable to make the block on D'Orazio, as he feared a clipping or "roughness" call, if he took out the opposing QB.

    After a couple of running plays, it was Smeck to Marino again, for 18 yards, extending the "passing TD" streak to 107 games. Amidst the excitement at John Carroll, two weeks ago, I did not realize that that streak was in jeopardy until the final pass to #81 Jr. TE Adam Irgang of Girard, in the third overtime period. Chenos came on to up today's count to 14.

    Otterbein came back with a long drive, all the way to the Raider 18, where # 6 Sr. DB Brett McLean of Wellsburg, W.Va. made the "pick" to start Mount going the other way. Adam Marino had another of those long catches that almost went for the TD, but this drive would take just a bit more work, and it was the other Adam, Irgang, who caught the end zone quickie for the third TD, allowing the Press Box "extras" to start composing their stories and others to begin preparations for the post game party.

FIRST QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 21, OTTERBEIN 0

    Bakos' fourth kick was not quite as deep, but managed to cause confusion on the Cardinals end and forced them to start at their own 13 yard line, instead of the twenty. After a near Safety on the first play, the Cardinals regained their composure and began to cover ground. As they switched ends I noticed quite a bit of dirt on their Quarterback's back side. NOT a good sign at any time, especially for Visitors, hoping to win, on Hartshorn Street.   

     Otterbein's second quarter drive covered 87 yards in ten plays and consumed 3:33 off the clock. Though they kicked with the wind Mount's return team started the offense at the 35. The first play was a draw. Mount's offensive line AKA "the Hogs" destroyed whatever defense the Cardinals had set up. By the time Chuck Moore came through the center, on the delay, absolutely no one was home. A safety, or two, waved briefly at Moore, as he broke for the near sidelines and six points. Almost a reenactment of his opening kick off return against Albion, in last year's play off game. One play, 65 yards, twenty-two seconds. "THAT" I said to my seatmates, "has GOT to be discouraging."

    A bit of sloppy play followed, including Smeck's third interception of the season: Gary himself made the tackle, but #75 Sr. Center "Big" Tom Bauer of Canal Fulton, was helped off the field, with an ankle injury.  In an unusual move, WR Adam Marino was inserted as a "Center Fielder" as the first half ended, to prevent a recurrence of the Week Four "Hail Mary," with the dangerous combination of D'Orazio and Ben Streby on the field.

HALF TIME SCORE: MOUNT UNION 28, OTTERBEIN 7

HALF TIME HIGHLIGHTS 

    Although the size of the crowd kept most folks in their seats through the half, those very big smiles were on the faces of the kids who brought something to sell. The "Plain Dealer" account went on and on about all the Purple in the crowd, but even they missed one: Theresa Montgomery, accepting an "M" Club award for her husband Don, head of the "Purple Gang" defense, wore an outfit which included purple shoes! Also receiving an "M" Club Award of Excellence were Dr. and Mrs. Harold M. Kolenbrander, entering their final season of Mount Union athletics. Friday night it was announced that the new Information Services Building will be named the Kolenbrander-Harter Center after the Kolenbranders and Steve and Suzanne (Spisak) Harter, Class of 1984, major donors.

    One of the things that amazes me in Alliance, lately, is the wide variety of Mount Union merchandise: shirts, caps and jackets in purple, black, white and other assorted colors. This weekend added several more designs in purple and white. Spotted in the crowd Saturday were shirts featuring the number 48;
others which read "Won four - Back for more,"  and, of course in the Band section: "The few, the proud, the Tubas." When I was in school there was the blue shirt with white lettering and the gray shirt with blue lettering, Students, especially males, were not to be trusted with non color fast Purple.

    The third quarter started slowly, Tom Bauer came back in, but it took the Raiders until their second possession to score. Dave Hassey went down on the next drive and did not return. The men from Westerville were playing some serious football.  Mount marched 61 yards in 8 plays. Chuck Moore who already had two TD's "by land" added a 27 yarder on a short pass, spinning away from two defenders, and into the end zone. This time the kick failed, but the tally was now 34-7.

    Otterbein took their next drive 65 yards in 11 plays. Based on what we'd been reading so far it was probably a positive that the Purple "D" was able to delay the first D'Orazio to Streby TD 'till late in the third stanza. Dorsett added the point to complete the scoring for the quarter.

THIRD QUARTER SCORE: MOUNT UNION 34,  OTTERBEIN 14

ICING ON THE CAKE

    Looking at the scoreboard, I began to hope for 48 points to commemorate win # 48, but after gaining 74 yards, the home team stalled and had to settle for a Chenos Field Goal, which ended that possibility. Otterbein marched the field, again, moving 80 yards in 9 plays capped by a second ten yard D'Orazio
to Streby TD, after a somewhat controversial first down call at the South end ten yard line. The Cardinals went for two, Streby made the catch but had to come back for it and missed the goal line as he fell.

    The Mount men then returned the ball 70 yards in an 11 play clock winding drive, hugging the ground, and capped by Chuck Moore's fourth TD of the day, from seven yards out.

    Any final hopes for Otterbein were erased by #26 Sr. DB Nate Crosby of Jeromesville, who picked off D'Orazio for the fourth time of the afternoon. On the final drive Coach Kehres subbed for the offensive starters, one at a time, so each could get a round of applause, as they came back to the sidelines. Mount ran out of downs with 14 seconds left; Otterbein's D'Orazio, in a classy maneuver, took a knee to end the game and handed the ball to the Referee. It is my understanding that one game ball was to be auctioned for Charity, in Alliance, and that another will be displayed at the College Football Hall of Fame, South Bend, Indiana, starting on Monday.

FINAL SCORE: MOUNT UNION 44, OTTERBEIN 20

    As the game ended Mount's Cheerleading Squad broke out one more "T" shirt design: a silk-screened long sleeve limited edition, with a football, the date and "Records are made to be Broken." Though they quickly sold out of everything they made in advance, the young ladies were still taking orders, well after the end of the game. If you would like to get one, e-mail Cheerleader Amy Stewart's Mom, Linda Stewart, for details. Mrs. Stewart also operates a business called "Embroidery Unlimited," producing custom computerized embroidery. The College Bookstore is just about completely sold out of "Championship" merchandise, but Mrs. Stewart can still provide various items, as she still has the original computer artwork for her designs.

    Outside of a long, warm and heartfelt round of applause there was, once again, not a lot of celebration on the Mount Union sidelines. A large portion of the crowd retired to the "Campus Grounds"   for a reception featuring another Lloyd Davidson culinary masterpiece: a giant cake listing all 48 victories, the icing still wet on the Otterbein score. Dorothy Davis provided miniature footballs, for all, with the # 48, in Purple to mark the occasion. The footballs and the cake are all gone, but I understand that an additional
run of Game Day programs is in the offing and that tapes of the Channel 55 broadcast featuring Jeff Shreve and Harry Paidas, fighting a cold, will be available soon.

    The past week, under the spotlights of the national press, must have been exhausting for the College staff. I know that I was having trouble keeping up with it seventy miles away! As usual, one of Kehres' young men put it best. After the game WR Adam Marino said to the press corps: "I can't say that I don't like all of the attention... We know that many of you will not be here next week."

                                                                  Dick Ross
                                                                    Class of '66