2014 Mount Union Football
#3/3 University of Mount Union Purple Raiders (9-0, 8-0 OAC) vs
#6/6 John Carroll University Blue Streaks (9-0, 8-0 OAC)
Saturday, November 15 - 1:30 pm - Mount Union Stadium (Alliance, Ohio)
TV: Joe Tait (play-by-play), Harry Paidas (color), Jim Ballard (analyst)
- SportsTime Ohio - Sat. 11 pm; Mon. 5 am, 12 pm (Time Warner Cable NEO ch. 308/1308)
- WIVM-TV 39 Canton - Sat. 8 pm; Sun. 1 pm (Time Warner Cable NEO ch. 989)
RADIO:
LIVE STATS: Click Here
LIVE VIDEO: Click Here
COMPLETE NOTES IN PDF FORMAT - Click Here
THE GAME
Two undefeated and nationally ranked teams meet with the Ohio Athletic Conference title on the line when No. 3 Mount Union hosts No. 6 John Carroll Saturday at 1:30 pm at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance. The winner not only claims the conference title but an automatic bid into the 32-team NCAA Division III Football Championship. Mount Union has won the last 22 conference titles and 25 overall while John Carroll has won three titles (1938, 1989, 1994).
Mount Union (9-0, 8-0 OAC) beat Baldwin Wallace 59-3 last week in Berea. Quarterback Kevin Burke threw three touchdowns on 301 yards passing and ran for another, Taurice Scott ran the opening kickoff back 97 yards for a score with 114 yards receiving, Roman Namdar caught two touchdowns and running back Bradley Mitchell had 143 yards and two touchdowns rushing. On defense, the Raiders had 11 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks and they held the Yellow Jackets to 148 total yards.
John Carroll (9-0, 8-0 OAC) ran out to a 17-0 first quarter lead and never looked back in a 66-13 win over Otterbein last week. Tommy Michals rushed for 205 yards with two touchdowns and Mark Myers threw four touchdowns -- three to Brandon Carozzini to pace the offense. On defense, Reese Armstrong had six tackles and a 34-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
ON THE AIR
All Mount Union football games are broadcast on the radio on WDPN 1310 AM and WRMU 91.1 FM and simulcast online along with a LIVE STATS game tracker. You can also here the WRMU 91.1 FM feed on any phone by calling (330) 445-7900.
The Nov. 15 game against John Carroll -- will be shown on television via tape delay on regional sports cable channel FSN SportsTime Ohio and WIVM TV39 (Stark County), WIVN TV29 (New Philadelphia), Time Warner Cable (ch. 989-Stark County, ch. 99-Tuscarawas County), Massillion Cable (ch. 21) and Clear Picture Cable (ch. 21-Wayne County). Image Video produces the broadcasts with Harry Paidas, Jim Ballard along with hall of fame broadcaster Joe Tait on the call. Tait spent 39 years as the radio voice of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and his now 28 years with Paidas of doing Mount Union football on television. Former Mount Union quarterback Jim Ballard, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, joined the crew last season.
A LIVE VIDEO simulcast of the television broadcast will be available for $9.95.
TICKET INFORMATION
Mount Union is no longer taking advance ticket orders for the John Carroll game on November 15 but the remaining tickets and standing room will be sold starting at 10 am on the day of the game.
If you have an OAC parent pass, you can come to the gates and get two tickets and purchase additional ones at that time if needed.
No one will be turned away as once the seats are sold standing room tickets will then be made available.
THE SERIES
This is the 32nd meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 27-2-2 lead in the series dating back to a 6-6 tie on October 30, 1931. The Raiders have won 23-straight meetings going back to a 20-20 tie in 1991 in Alliance. The last John Carroll win was a 31-7 win in 1989 in University Heights. A year ago, Mount Union won 42-34 in front of a crowd of 8,104 at Mount Union Stadium.
THE COACHES
Vince Kehres (Mount Union '98) is 22-1 (.955) in his second season as head coach. He went 14-1 in his first season in 2013 to set an NCAA record for most wins (14) by a first year college football coach. He earned OAC Coach of the Year and Lee Tressel Ohio College Football Coach of Year awards. Kehres spent 13 years, eight as defensive coordinator, on the Raiders coaching staff for his father Larry Kehres. As either a player of coach, Vince Kehres has been part of 10 of Mount Union's 11 national championships.
Tom Arth (John Carroll '03) is 18-2 (.900) in his second season as head coach at his Alma mater. Arth had spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at John Carroll. Arth set 18 school records as a quarterback for the Blue Streaks from 1999-2002. His final game as a player was a 57-19 loss in the NCAA Playoff National Semifinals at Mount Union. After college, Arth spent three seasons in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers.
HOLY WAR
The nation's highest rated quarterbacks at all levels of college football square off Saturday as John Carroll's Mark Myers is at 203.6 and Mount Union's Kevin Burke is at 195.7
The two quarterbacks played at rival Cleveland catholic high schools ... Burke at St. Edward High School and Myers at St. Ignatius High School. They did not face each other in high school as Burke started as a senior on the 2010 state title team at St. Ed's while Myers was at University of Pittsburgh that year.
SCOUTING THE BLUE STREAKS
John Carroll features a talented senior quarterback at the helm of a dynamic offense with an aggressive phsyical defense ... sound familiar.
On defense, the Blue Streaks are right behind the Raiders at No. 2 nationally in total defense allowing opponents 193.2 yards and 7.4 points per game. Senior linebacker Jimmy King leads the unit with 56 tackles while fellow linebacker in junior Andy Bryan has a team-best 4.0 sacks as 16 different Blue Streaks have at least one sack. John Carroll is tied for the OAC lead with 13 interceptions as senior Marty Gibbons has a two interceptions.
Senior quarterback Mark Myers leads the nation's No. 6 ranked total offense (513.9 yds/game) and the OAC's top passing offense (313.7 yds/game). Myers has thrown for 2,279 yards with an OAC-best 31 touchdown passes. His top targets are sophomore Marshall Howell (41 rec. 728 yds. 10 TD) and senior Aramis Greenwood (34 rec. 710 yds. 9 TD). Reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week in senior Tommy Michals has 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
The Blue Streaks have blocked 10 kicks this season on special teams while senior All-American place kicker Kresimir Ivkovic has made seven field goals this season with two from over 40 yards.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 737 Mount Union has an NCAA III best 737 wins as a program.
- 204-8 Mount Union's win-loss record since 2000
- 55, 54 The Raiders hold the NCAA's two longest consecutive college football win streaks -- 55 from 2000-2003 and 54 from 1996-99
- 120 consecutive regular season road victories for Mount Union dating back to a 21-18 loss at Baldwin-Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991.
- 142-0 Since 1996, the Raiders record when winning the turnover battle.
- 187-1 The Raiders record since 1990 when winning the turnover battle. That lone loss was a 20-17 loss to Wisconsin-LaCrosse in a 1995 national semifinal game in Alliance. In that game, the Raiders had a +1 turnover margin.
- 11 The Raiders 11 National Championships (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012) are a record for college football teams in a playoff format. Notre Dame has the most college football titles (11) for teams playing in a non-playoff format.
- 92 game regular season win streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
- 79 game home winning streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
SPECIAL K
Nicknamed "#PaulBunyan" by ESPN's QB guru George Whitfield -- Mount Union senior quarterback Kevin Burke (Westlake/Lakewood St. Edward) threw for three touchdowns on 301 yards passing and ran for another last week at Baldwin Wallace to improve to 38-1 as a starting quarterback at Mount Union. If you include his 15-0 year as a starter for Lakewood St. Edward in its state championship season in 2010, Burke is 53-1 as a starting quarterback.
Burke, an All-American and reigning Gagliardi Trophy winner, has completed 67.4-percent of his passes (151-of-224) for 2,431 yards with 27 TD's and three interceptions while he also has eight rushing touchdowns this season.
His 301 yard performance passing last week took him over 10,000 yards for his career as he has 10,106 passing yards making him the fourth Purple Raider in history to reach that plateau.
SWEET 16
Mount Union sophomore running back Bradley Mitchell (Detroit, Mich./South Lake) had a pair of rushing touchdowns last week and leads the OAC with 16 rushing touchdowns on the season.
Mitchell had 143 yards rushing on 12 carries at BW which marked his third 100-yard rushing performance this season (3 of the last 4 games) and 10th in his career.
In 23 career games, Mitchell is already eighth on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,314 yards and is just eight yards from passing seventh place -- Mark Choppa (2,321 yds, 1973-76).
SACK ATTACK
Mount Union had 5.0 sacks at Baldwin Wallace last week ... second most in a single game this season for the Raiders.
One of those sacks game from junior linebacker Jonathan Gonell (Pembroke Pines, Fla./University School, Fla.) who had a season-high and team-best seven tackles last week.
Another one of those sacks came from junior defensive lineman Tom Lally (Fairview Park/Lakewood St. Edward) leads the OAC with 14 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries. For his career, Lally has 37.0 tackles for loss which has him 10th on the school's all-time list while his 20.5 career sacks ties him with Rich Dine (1992-94) in eighth place all-time at Mount Union.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Mount Union junior wide receiver Taurice Scott (Alliance/Alliance) returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown at BW last week. It was the Raiders first kickoff return for a score since Blair Skilliter opened the second half with a 95-yard TD return against Ohio Northern in 2012. Scott also had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season and third in four weeks with 114 yards on seven catches last week at BW.
Scott leads the Raiders with 48 catches and his eight touchdowns is just behind the 11 of fellow junior Roman Namdar (Southlake, Texas/Carroll). Namdar is second in the OAC averaging 89.9 receiving yards per game.
UP NEXT ...
The winner of this week's game claims the OAC's automatic bid to the 32-team NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. The loser of this week's game will have to wait to see if it will get one of six national at-large bids. The bracket will be released Sunday, Nov. 16 at 6 pm on a LIVE VIDEO webcast on ncaa.com.
TITLETOWN
Mount Union's women's volleyball team, ranked No. 11 in the nation, won both the OAC regular season and tournament titles, while the men's and women's cross country teams swept both conference titles. The women's cross country team is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation and both teams will run Saturday at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Mason, Ohio.
