Main Page             Email

    1996 Playoffs

     The 1996 Purple Raider football team was never tested during the regular season, winning nine of its ten games by at least five touchdowns.  The only team to stay relatively close to Mount Union was John Carroll, and the Raiders’ 27-9 win during a freezing rain in University Heights wasn’t in doubt in the second half of that game either.

     The Purple Raiders outscored its regular season opponents 494 to 99, which translated into an average game score of 49.4 to 9.9.  In every aspect of the game, Mount Union was dominant.  The Raiders easily captured its fifth straight Ohio Athletic Conference championship and the schools eighth overall.  Now it was time to start thinking about that other championship, the one played in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the one the school had first won in 1993 but had not been able to capture in either of the last two seasons.  In the last two playoffs, Mount Union’s season ended against the eventual national champions, a one-point loss in 1994 and a three-point loss last year. 

-First Round-

     Mount Union welcomed the North Coast Athletic Conference champion in the first round of the playoffs.  The Allegheny Gators matched the Purple Raiders unbeaten record and were ready to avenge the two straight losses Mount Union handed them in their last two playoff games.

     Despite quarterback Bill Borchert’s 308 passing yards and four touchdowns, Mount Union could not pull away from Allegheny.  Brian Tyla and Kevin Knestrick each caught first quarter touchdown passes, sandwiched around an Allegheny score, and it was 14-7, Raiders after one.

     After the Gators tied the game with less than five minutes to play in the second quarter, Mount Union’s Bill Andrea gave the Purple Raiders a three-point halftime advantage, booting a 33-yard field goal with seconds to play.

     At intermission Mount Union talked about capitalizing on its second half chances.  Twice in the first half, the Purple Raiders turned the ball over inside the Allegheny 10-yard line.  But the Gators continued to play inspired football, and the lone score in the third stanza came midway through the period when Borchert hit Mark Lantos on a short touchdown pass.

     After an Allegheny score with just under 12 minutes to play cut the lead to four, Knestrick hauled in his second touchdown reception of the afternoon.  With eight minutes to go, the home crowd saw the 11-point lead on the scoreboard, Mount Union’s largest of the afternoon, and breathed a little easier.

     But Allegheny wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet, scoring with 1:50 left to make it a five-point game, and then forced a Mount Union punt with one minute play.  Place-kicker/punter Bill Andrea had come through all afternoon for Mount Union, making all four extra point attempts and a field goal, which was the difference in the score, but he saved his best for last, booming a 50-yard punt that rolled dead on the Gator five-yard line.  From there the Purple Raider defense held strong and Mount Union survived their stiffest challenge of the season thus far.

Mount Union 31       Allegheny 26

Scoring

-Quarterfinals-

     Next up for Mount Union was Illinois Wesleyan, champions of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Purple Raiders and Titans had met once before on the gridiron, during the 1992 playoffs, when the Purple and White defeated the Green and White 49-27 in the national quarterfinals.

     Wesleyan entered the contest averaging 500 yards of offense and 45 points per game, and when they opened the scoring with a short touchdown pass with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter, the home crowd thought it would be another tight ballgame right down to the end.  Boy were they wrong!

     Mount Union tied the game three minutes later on a short pass from Bill Borchert to Mark Lantos and then preceded to run off 42 straight points, 35 in the second quarter alone, on their way to an amazing 35-point victory.

     Borchert threw second quarter touchdown passes to Brian Tyla and Brian Flinn sandwiched around a 17-yard run for score by Borchert and a 20-yard touchdown scamper by Eric Brock.  Lantos added a short run to finish the first half scoring, giving the Raiders a 42-7 halftime lead.

     Wesleyan added a score early in the third period, before Borchert capped off his amazing day with a 50-yard touchdown run in which he first ran around the right side and then came back across the field, diving into the left corner of the end zone.

     Borchert threw for 228 yards on the day, and also led the Purple Raiders in rushing with 97 yards on 11 carries.  The defense was terrific, allowing just 281 yards against the high-powered Titans offense, and grabbing five turnovers on the day.

     Next up for Mount Union is old nemesis Wis-La Crosse, who rallied for 29 points in the games final 22 minutes to beat St. John’s 37-30 in another national quarterfinal match-up.

Mount Union 49       Illinois Wesleyan 14

Scoring

-Semifinals-

     Mount Union had faced Wis-La Crosse on two prior occasions, both times in the national semifinals.  In 1992, Wis-La Crosse defeated Mount Union 29-24 on a frozen field in La Crosse, and in 1995, Wis-La Crosse beat Mount Union 20-17 in Alliance.  The Eagles went on to claim the national championship both seasons.

     This year’s match-up was played at Camp Randall Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, do to poor field conditions at Memorial Stadium in La Crosse.  On this day, there was no other opponent the Purple Raiders would rather face.  Mount Union entered the contest with a perfect 12-0 record, while Wisconsin-La Crosse came in at 11-1.

     It was a physical match-up from the beginning, with both teams battling the elements as well as each other.

     Wis-La Crosse opened the scoring with 2:45 left in the first quarter, capping a 76-yard, 11-play drive when Ryan Shaver plunged in from one-yard out.  That would be the lone score until 20 seconds remained in the first half.

     Mount Union had made a name for itself as a big play team.  But none were bigger than its final offense snap of the second quarter.  Bill Borchert connected with little known (at the time) Darrin Kershner in the back of the end zone from 26-yards out, capping a 67-yard, nine-play drive that began with just 2:58 on the first half clock.

     The Purple Raiders built on the momentum established by that late first half touchdown by scoring 26 unanswered points in the third quarter to grab a 33-7 lead.  Borchert took it in from a yard out for Mount’s first score of the second half, then back-to-back touchdown passes, a six yarder to Mark Lantos, and a 27-yarder to Reiko Gollate, set the stage for the second huge Purple Raider play.  Wis-La Crosse, trailing by 19, attempted a pass over the center of the field, but Purple Raider linebacker Jason Hall stepped in front of the throw and raced 48-yards the other direction to put the Purple and White in front by 26.  That was the sophomore’s second big play of the quarter.  Earlier he recovered a Wis-La Crosse fumble that led to a Mount Union score.

     The Eagles added a late third quarter touchdown and another in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late, as two Bill Andrea field goals gave the Purple Raiders a final margin of victory of 39-21.  Mount Union led in total offense 467-381, and had a huge advantage in time of possession, 36:46 to 23:14.  Borchert threw for 317 yards and again led the Raiders in rushing with 86 yards on 18 carries.  Gollate led the team with 92 receiving yards on three catches, while Brian Flinn had six grabs for 68 yards.

     Head Coach Larry Kehres said, “Quickness never fades, not even in the fourth quarter.  We feel we beat one of the best teams in Division III football.  They were a big obstacle.”

     Defensive Coordinator Don Montgomery added, “We play as a team on both sides of the ball. It was nice for the defense to step up and play well, because the offense has done it for us several times this season.”

     The victory avenged the season ending loss in last year’s semifinals to Wis-La Crosse, and also gave Mount Union its second trip to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia.

Mount Union 39       Wis-La Crosse 21

Scoring

-Stagg Bowl-

     Mount Union (13-0) met an old friend at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia, on December 14, 1996.  Rowan (10-2) was the opponent in the contest to be played in front of a national audience on ESPN, with kickoff set for 2:00 p.m.  Three years earlier, the Purple Raiders defeated the Profs 34-24 on the same field for the schools first football national championship.  Rowan qualified for the championship game this year with playoff wins over Buffalo St. (21-20), College of New Jersey (7-3) and Lycoming (33-14).

     It became obvious early this was going to be a shoot-out as both teams had trouble containing the others offense.  Six lead changes highlighted the first half alone.  Rowan kicked a field goal three minutes into the game to grab the early lead.  Mount Union came right back when Bill Borchert threw his first of seven touchdown passes in the game, this one to Brian Flinn, to give the lead to the Purple Raiders midway through the opening stanza.

     Rowan made it 10-7 less than three minutes later on a long run by Jyi Peterson.  Again Mount Union quickly came back, this time Borchert hit Kevin Knestrick and it was 14-10 Raiders after one.

     Each team added a touchdown in the first five minutes of the second quarter.  Rowan grabbed the short lead when Greg Lister hit Aaron Bosco to go up 17-14, and then Borchert found an open Reiko Gollate to give the Purple and White a 21-17 lead.

     Peterson added his second touchdown for Rowan with just under four minutes to play in the second quarter to finish the first half offensive explosion.  Each team had a chance to add points in the final minutes, with Mount Union turning the ball over on downs at the Rowan 11, and the Profs ending the half at the Purple Raiders 29.

     The two teams combined for over 650 yards of offense in the first two quarters.   Rowan did most of its damage on the ground, running for 206 yards and passing for 134.  Mount Union gained 200 yards through the air and another 103 on the ground. 

     It was obvious the team that played the better defense in the second half would win the game.  And that turned out to be Mount Union.  The Purple Raiders scored 35 unanswered second half points while shutting out Rowan.  As a matter of fact, after gaining 340 yards in the first half, Rowan was only able to gain 83 total yards in the final two quarters.  The halftime adjustments made by the Purple Raiders coaching staff were amazing as Mount Union limited the larger Profs to just 60 second half rushing yards.

     Mount Union took the lead for good midway through the third period when Eric Brock scored from 13-yards out.  Steve Evans then gave the Purple and White some breathing room when he grabbed a short Borchert pass and scored with 1:29 left in the period.  The two teams entered the final quarter with the Raiders on top 35-24.

     Mount Union put the raps on a dominant season with an equally dominant fourth quarter, as Borchert threw three more touchdown passes, one each to Gollate, Flinn and Brian Tyla.  Brochert was an incredible 26 of 38 for 505 yards for the game, to go along with his seven touchdown passes.  Knestrick caught seven passes for 211 yards, while Gollate add 166 yards receiving on six catches.  Brock led the Purple Raider ground game with 69 yards on 13 carries.  But it was the Mount Union defense, which produced four Rowan turnovers and totally shut the Profs down in the second half, that most people talked about following the Purple Raiders second national championship game.

Mount Union 56       Rowan 24

Scoring

 
*Read more about the 1996 Stagg Bowl and see complete statistics from the game here.