Rocco completed 14-of-20 passes for 275 yards
while freshman backup quarterback Neal Seaman
(Louisville/Louisville) tossed another touchdown pass as Mount
Union tallied a total of six touchdown passes to six
different receivers as duo combined to throw for 301 yards.
All-American senior wide receiver Cecil Shorts III
(Cleveland/Collinwood) had a game-high four catches for 76 yards as
nine different Raiders caught a pass.
Senior running back Terrance Morring (Sanford, FL/Winter
Springs) went over a 100 yards on the ground for the third time in
four games as he had a career-best 126 yards as Mount Union churned
out 301 rushing yards on 44 carries.
Sophomore safety Alex Ferrara (Independence/Walsh Jesuit) had
two interceptions, while senior safety Roger Stewart
(Pleasantville/Fairfield Union), senior defensive tackle Matt Williamson (Columbus/DeSales) and sophomore defensive back Evan Lamolinara (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL/Nease) each had picks to lead a
defense that held Wilmington to 114 total yards.
Mount Union started the game with a big play as Chaz Jordan
(Medina/Medina Buckeye) returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to
the Wilmington 36-yard line. Six plays later Rocco hit Vince Petruziello (Mentor/Lake Catholic) on a 10-yard touchdown pass.
Wilmington managed only one first down and 14 yards of offense
for the quarter, but the Quaker defense halted two Mount Union
drives on downs to keep the score 7-0 at the end of
the quarter.
The Raiders exploded in the second quarter as Rocco tossed
touchdown scores of 37 yards to Shorts and 23 yards to tight end
Judd Harrold (Chagrin Falls/Chagrin Falls) inbetween a one-yard run
by Morring along with a seven yard pass from Seaman to A.J. Claycomb (Medina/Medina).
Mount Union turned three interceptions into 21 points and
scored 28 points in the quarter to take a commanding 35-0 lead
at the half.
Ferrara nabbed his second interception of the game on the first
drive of the second half and it took the Raiders just three plays
to convert it to points as Rocco tossed a short pass to running
back Zac Lemmon (Granville/Granville) and he scampered 44 yards for
a score. Rocco's fifth and final scoring pass would come near
the end of third quarter when he hit tight end Kyle Miller
(Elida/Elida) from nine yards out and make it 49-0.
Lemmon would finish the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run
with a litte over eight minutes left for the 56-0 final.
Mount Union moves to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference,
while Wilmington falls to 1-6 overall and 1-5 in the OAC. The
Raiders remain tied in first place in the conference with #10
Otterbein, who beat #14 Capital 35-34 Saturday. Next week
Mount Union travels to John Carroll for an OAC game at 1:30 pm from
Don Shula Stadium in University Heights.
