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Mount Union tops St. John's 10-7 for record 5th national title

     SALEM, Va. - Rodney Chenos wears No. 1 on his jersey.   After a clutch last-second field goal on Saturday, the junior kicker No. 1 in the hearts of Mount Union College footbal fans.

     Chenos was put in an unusual position for a Mount Union kicker twice in the fourth quarter of the 2000 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl here Saturday as the Raiders faced St. John's University of Minnesota in a quest for a record fifth NCAA Division III national title.

     Chenos was called on to kick to try a 35-yard field goal with 9:39 left in the game to break a 7-7 stalemate that had existed in a classic defensive struggle.  That attempt was blocked by the Johnnies' Brad Beyer.

     With just :04 left on the clock, he was called on again to attempt a 20-yard field goal.

     This time, the ball went straight through the goal posts with one-second remaining to give the Raiders a 10-7 victory and the national title.

     "I was in that situation before and I missed," said Chenos, referring to last year's game against John Carroll when he missed a game-winner and later hit one in overtime in a game the Raiders won.   "I didn't want that feeling again.  I knew our offense would get the ball and I'd have another shot at it.  It turns out I did, and I came through."

     The Johnnies tried to ice the Mount Union kicker, calling consecutive timeouts.  But that didn't fase him.

     "I just kept thinking that I had to do this for our seniors," he said.  "Last night, we had a meeting and I told them that if it ever came down to this, I would be the man to get the job done.  I told them that they could count on me and I knew I couldn't break that promise.  I was focused mentally."

     After he watched the ball sail straight down the middle of the goal posts, he did a somersault, stood up with his forefinger in the air, signifying a No. 1 and was greeted by a storming Raider sideline before receiving a big hug from kicking coach Clyde Ross.

     St. John's still had a shot to win the game on a returned kickoff with one second left.  After two laterals by the Johnnies in an attempt to find a lane to run in, the Raiders' Chris Carter, a sophomore linebacker, stole a third one out of midair to seal the victory.

     The win gave Mount Union its fifth national title in four years and sent a talented group of seniors away with a 41-1 mark in their four seasons.  It also gave the program an NCAA Division III record 29 playoff victories.

     The winning drive for the field goal lasted 11 plays and took 4:03 off the clock in a quarter that the Raiders completely owned, running 29 plays to the Johnnies' six.  Mount Union controled the ball for 12:05 in that frame and collected 114 yards to the Johnnies' 11.

     Running back Chuck Moore, who was a unanimous choice for Stagg Bowl MVP, carried the ball four times for 18 yards, while quarterback Gary Smeck and wide receiver Adam Marino hooked up twice for 33 yards.   Smeck, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on that march, also hit running back Dan Pugh for a seven-yard gain.

     "Our offensive linemen have controlled people all year," said Moore. "I think in the second half, they were able to wear (the Johnnies) down and it showed in the fourth quarter."

     "Our goal on that drive was to use all the clock and move the ball into the middle of the field," said Kehres.  "If we would have scored a touchdown on any one of those plays, that would have been fine, too.  But if we had to kick a field goal, we wanted the ball in the middle of the field with no time left."

     For St. John's, it was a heartbreaking loss that ended a wild ride through the postseason after getting one of three Poll C berths into the playoffs and included an overtime victory over defending national champion Pacific Lutheran University.

     “We played four very good teams to get here and we could have been knocked off in any one of those," said Johnnies head coach John Gagliardi.  "We were lucky to get this far.  Our defense played superbly and kept us in the ball game. With a litle luck, we could have done something."

     The St. John's defense held the Raiders to under 17 points for the first time in 87 games - a span that dates back to a 23-10 loss to Baldwin-Wallace in 1994 in their last regular-season loss - and gave up just 323 yards against an offense that averaged over 500 per game for the season.

     Likewise, Kehres said the Mount Union defense was the key to his team's history-making victory.

     "There were a lot of people that thought this was going to be a high-scoring game, but it was a game between two very good defenses," said Kehres, whose defense surrendered just 207 yards in the game.  "Our lack of execution on offense was due to their execution on defense and the same can be said in reverse.  Today, our defense won this game and much of the credit has to go to our defensive staff and coordinator Don Montgomery."

     After the Raiders took an early 7-0 lead, the game became a power struggle as neither team seemed to be able to gain momentum offensively and combined for 15 punts and six turnovers.

     "St. John's had an excellend defensive game plan," said Smeck, who broke the Stagg Bowl record for completion percentage after going 19-of-27 (.704) with three interceptions for 144 yards on the way to finishing the 2000 postseason, going 61-of-88 (.693) in four playoff appearances to break former teammate Bill Borchert's record.  "But we hung together and pulled out a victory."

     Mount Union scored on its first possession of the game as tight end Adam Irgang caught an eight-yard pass from Smeck to complete an eight-play, 62-yard march.

     "We were just scouting them on that first drive,"said Gagliardi, adding his defense has had slow starts all season.

     After that first score, both offenses struggled to sustain a drive, each throwing an interception and being forced to punt a combined 10 times in the first half.

     The Raiders had been able to go to the SJU 22, but Will Gibson of the Johnnies picked off Smeck at the four to end the drive.  That set the tone for much of the rest of the game as the Raiders got inside the 50 just three more times, losing the ball on an interception, by downs and finally, the game-winning field goal.

     Likewise, St. John's barely crossed the 50 six time on the day, losing the ball once by an interception, punts on five occasions and scoring once.

     St. John's offense finally got untracked with 3:01 to go in the first half, marching 49 yards in eight plays and reached the end zone on a one-yard Chris Moore plunge.  That put the score at 7-all where it remained until Chenos' clinching kick.

     "We knew they wanted to keep the score close," said Mount Union linebacker Matt LaVerde, who led his team with six tackles.  "We had an idea of what they would try to do.  Luckily, we found a way to win."

     The Raiders' finally started to get some steam in the fourth quarter, converting 4-of-6 third-down conversions after convering just 2-of-8 in the first half.

     However, after the first missed field goal, Mount Union got the ball back via an interception at the SJU 41, but could only get 20 yards on six plays and lost the ball on downs when Chuck Moore was stopped for a one-yard gain on a fourth-and-2 situation.

     The Raiders defense held strong again and sacked St. John's quarterback Tom Linnemann for a seven-yard loss, forcing a punt that set up the winning drive.

     "We knew we could move the ball," said the Raiders' Chuck Moore.  "Our defense had set us up well all day.  We couldn't move the ball at times and that was frustrating, but in the end we knew we had to get it done to give Rod a shot at the field goal.  We did and he come through."

     Brooks Greenleaf, Mike Miller and Alex Grinch each had interceptions for Mount Union, while Matt Campbell and Rocky Coniglio each had a sack.

NOTES

     The only other time the two teams have met was in the national semifinals in 1993 with Mount Union coming away with a 56-8 victory. … St. John's punter Charlie Carr broke records for punts in a Stagg Bowl (nine) and punts in a tournament (39). … St. John's started 17 seniors, including nine on defense . … The attendance was 4,643 despite light rain and temperatures in the 30s. … Mount Union opens the season at home next year with a game against Allegheny.

Mount Union 10       St. John's 7

Scoring

Individual Statistics

Rushing - Mount Union, Chuck Moore 32-146, Pugh 8-32, Smeck 6-1;  St. John's, Chris Moore 22-71, Elliot 2-5, Krych 1-4, Linnemann 4-(-10). 

Passing - Mount Union, Smeck 27-19-3-144;  St. John's, Linnemann 30-12-3-137.  

Receiving - Mount Union, Marino 8-88, Irgang 4-14, Pugh 3-25, Moore 3-3, Sondles 1-14;  St. John's, Elliot 3-52, Krych 3-42, Forsell 3-29, Kirschner 3-14.  

  *By Jack R. Weber Jr.  Appeared in The Alliance Review 12-18-00; photos by Bill Gough.