ALLIANCE, Ohio – No. 4 ranked Mount Union defeated Otterbein 55-0 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Saturday at Mount Union Stadium.

The Purple Raiders (4-0, 3-0 OAC) scored seven touchdowns and Otterbein (0-5, 0-4 OAC) had five first downs in the first half as Mount Union ran out to a 42-0 lead on its way to the 55-point win.

Quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) threw for 313 yards on 17-of-27 passing with five touchdowns. His top target was Jaden Manley (Columbus / Bishop Hartley), who caught three touchdown passes and had six catches for 86 yards. Wayne Ruby (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan) and Robby Kirchner (Canton / Massillon Perry) caught the other touchdown passes.

Running back DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla.) rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight week with 120 yards on 14 carries while Josh Petruccelli (Perry) ran for 60 yards on six carries with a touchdown.

Mount Union had 589 yards of offense while the defense posted its first shutout of the season and held Otterbein to 210 yards. Mason McMillen (Wadsworth) had eight tackles and Malik Britt (Bossier City, La. / Airline) had an interception to lead the Raiders.

Ahjay Cody ran for 91 yards on 26 carries to lead the Cardinals.

Otterbein got two first downs and punted on its four first quarter possessions. Mount Union got a 15-yard TD pass from Plunk to Jaden Manley (Columbus / Bishop Hartley) on its first drive, turned it over on downs on the Cardinal four-yard line on its second drive and Petruccelli punched it in from two outs as the Raiders had a 14-0 lead.

The Cardinals had three more first downs in the second quarter and Britt got an interception for the Raiders. On offense, Mount Union got a seven-yard touchdown run from Parker, a 70-yard touchdown pass from Plunk to Ruby then Plunk tossed two more TD passes to Manley.

Mount Union turned it over on downs on the Cardinals goal line on the first drive of the second half, then late in the fhird quarter Plunk tossed his fifth TD pass of the day – this time a 19-yarder to Kirchner.

The Raiders finished the scoring with a 36-yard pass from back-up quarterback Todd Simonds (Tiffin / Tiffin Columbian) to Zayir Keen (Akron / Buchtel).

Mount Union plays next week at Wilmington in a game that will kick off next Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. at Williams Stadium in Wilmington, Ohio.