MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 4 ranked Mount Union finished the regular season with a 38-7 win at Marietta on a windy Saturday at Don Drumm Stadium.

It marked the 30th undefeated regular season for the Purple Raiders (10-0, 9-0 OAC), who win their 32nd conference title and will make their 32nd NCAA Playoff appearance next week.

The Mount Union defense held Marietta (4-6, 4-5 OAC) to nine first downs, 151 total yards and intercepted Pioneer quarterback Connor Viestra four times.
Josh Jones (Akron / St. Vincent-St. Mary) had two of those interceptions, including one he ran back 30 yards on the second play of the game for a touchdown. The other interceptions were by Malik Britt (Bossier City, La. / Airline) and Derrick Bradley (Bradenton, Fla. / Palmetto).

Duke Hill (Memphis, Tenn. / Germantown) had seven tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and a sack.

On offense, Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) was 25-for-37 for 258 yards with two touchdowns. Plunk threw passes to eight different receivers and Chase Lawson (Plant City, Fla. / Lakeland Christian) and Jaden Manley (Columbus / Bishop Hartley) both had TD catches. Josh Petruccelli (Perry) had 20 carries for 59 yards with a score on the ground.
Jones interception return for a score came just 55 seconds into the game and got Mount Union an early 7-0 lead.

Marietta went three-and-out on its next possession and Mount Union took just three plays to score its first offensive touchdown as DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla.) ran it in from seven yards out to make it 14-0.

The Pioneers did get a first down on their next drive but then went three and out to give the ball back to the Raiders and Mount Union 81 yards on 13 plays that included a fourth down conversion and Plunk an eight-yard touchdown pass to Chase Lawson and the Raiders pushed the lead to 21-0.

Both teams traded a pair of punts to start the second quarter. Marietta blocked a 35-yard Mount Union field goal attempt then two plays after that Jones got his second interception of the day but fumbled the ball back to the Pioneers on their own 28-yard line. Marietta went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and Aaron Hawk (Lakewood, Calif. / Gahr) blocked the punt which Landon Jenkins (Hilton Head, S.C.) recovered on the Pioneers 10-yard line. Two plays later Plunk threw a 10-yard strike to Jaden Manley (Columbus / Bishop Hartley) to make it 28-0 with 12 seconds left in the half.

The second half scoring included a Nick Deack (Alliance) 22-yard field goal and a four-yard TD run from Petruccelli. Marietta avoided the shutout with a 28-yard pass from Vierstra to Dre Baldwin in the game's final minute.

The NCAA will release the 32-team playoff bracket Sunday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. on an online selection show at NCAA.com. First round games will be Saturday. Nov. 20 at noon on campus sites.