2016 University of Mount Union Football
#1 Mount Union Purple Raiders (2-0, 1-0 OAC) vs Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets (1-1, 0-1 OAC)
Sept. 24, 2016 - 6:30 PM - George Finnie Stadium - Alliance, Ohio
Radio: WDPN 1310 AM (Alliance), WRMU 91.1 FM (Alliance)
The matchup: No. 1 ranked Mount Union plays an Ohio Athletic Conference road game at Baldwin Wallace, Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at George FInnie Stadium in Berea.
Mount Union senior running back Bradley Mitchell (Detroit, Mich./South Lake) rushed for 120 yards and three scores on just six carries as the top ranked Purple Raiders had 419 rushing yards in a 56-0 shutout of Marietta last Saturday in Alliance. He led an offense that churned out 579 total yards -- 357 of them in the first half as the Raiders got out to a 50-0 halftime lead.
Freshmen quarterbacks Luke Poorman (Orlando, Fla./University School) and D'Angleo Fulford (Cooper City, Fla./Miramar) combined to go 9-for-9 passing in the first half for 144 yards with three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jordan Hargrove (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Mary) had a career-best 96 yards receiving with 74 of them coming on a long touchdown pass from Poorman.
Mount Union's defense held Marietta to 65 yards rushing and 220 total yards. A pair of sophomores each had interceptions in Austin White (Wadsworth/Wadsworth) and Danny Robinson (Massillon/Massillon Washington). Robinson returned his 74 yards for a score. Robinson also had half a sack while junior tackle Mike Vidal (Miami, Fla./Ronald Regan Doral) had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Fellow tackle in junior Adam Mihoci (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) had a team-best 5.0 tackles and forced a fumble.
Baldwin Wallace led 3-0 at halftime and 10-3 heading into fourth quarter before falling 17-10 at John Carroll. BW's Sam Groff had 12 tackles and led a defense that intercepted John Carroll four times. On offense Austin Smith had 66 yards rushing to lead BW.
The series: This is the 55th meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 32-21-1 lead in the series that dates back to a 10-0 Mount Union win in 1896. The Raiders have won 21-straight meetings dating back to a 23-10 Baldwin-Wallace win in 1994 in Alliance.
Road Warriors: Mount Union's last regular season road loss was 25 years ago this week in a 21-18 loss at Baldwin Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991. That is a span of 127 regular season games. Mount Union has the nation's current long road winning streak (including playoff games) at 110 games.
It's Coach to Cure MD Week: The Mount Union coaching staff will be wearing Coach to Cure MD patches this week to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.
Runnin' With the Raiders: After two weeks, Mount Union has the OAC's No. 1 rushing defense and No. 1 rushing offense. The Raiders have held opponents to 58.0 rushing yards per game led by junior defense tackles Adam Miochi (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) and Mike Vidal (Miami, Fla./Ronald Regan Doral). Miochi is tied for the team in tackles with 9.0 while Vidal has 2.5 tackles for loss.
On the other side of the ball, Mount Union averages 364 yards rushing per game which is also fourth best in NCAA Division III. Senior running back Bradley Mitchell is second in the OAC averaging 133.0 yards per game. He posted his second straight and 14th career 100-yard rushing game and now has 3,423 career yards which places him fourth on Mount Union's all-time rushing list.
The Danny Update: Sophomore linebacker Danny Robinson (Massillon/Massillon Washington) got his first interception in his second career start as he took one back 76 yards for a score against Marietta. Another sophomore, safety Austin White (Wadsworth/Wadsworth) got his first career interception last week as well.
Dynamic Duo: Wide receivers in senior Jordan Hargrove (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Mary) and junior Jared Ruth (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) both had career days last week against Marietta.
Hargrove had a career-best 96 yards receiving on just three catches that included a career-long reception as he caught a 74-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback Luke Poorman (Orlando, Fla./University School).
Ruth had the first multi-touchdown game of his career as two of his three catches went for scores. He caught both of his TD passes from freshman quarterback D'Angelo Fulford (Cooper City, Fla./Miramar).
In the Hive: Baldwin Wallace returns 35 letterwinners and 12 starters from a team that went 7-3 and tied for second in the OAC in 2015. The Yellow Jackets opened the season with a 42-0 shutout of Defiance then lost 17-10 last week as John Carroll rallied with 14 fourth quarter points.
Senior quarterback Robbie Plagens has completed 41.7-percent of his passes (15-of-36) for 218 yards with a TD and three interceptions. His top targets have been senior Mike Waggoner and sophomore Da'Juan Glover while junior running back Austin Smith has 157 yards rushing with four touchdowns.
On defense, junior linebacker Sam Groff, a Sandy Valley grad, is the Yellow Jackets top tackler with 17 stops and has one of the four interceptions the team has on the season -- all of which came last week at John Carroll.
Radio and TV: All Mount Union football games will be 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 hear the WRMU 91.1 FM feed on any phone by calling (330) 445-7900.
Students Noah Hiles (play-by-play), A.J. Gioglio (color) and Joe Mertens (sideline) make up the WRMU 91.1 FM crew.
Longtime area sports broadcaster Sam Bourquin and former Ohio State football player T.J. Downing will call the action on WDPN 1310AM.
On the television side, Mount Union will have two home games -- Oct. 8 vs. Heidelberg and Nov. 12 vs. John Carroll shown on television via tape delay on regional sports cable channel 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 while Jim Clark will do play-by-play and Harry Paidas on color. Clark, the longtime voice of the Akron Rubberducks, takes over for retired hall of famer Joe Tait while Paidas begins his 31st year on the telecast.
Up Next: Mount Union stays on the road traveling to Ohio Northern for an OAC game Saturday, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in Ada.
