NCAA Playoffs - Second Round
#4 Mount Union vs. #16 Johns Hopkins
Saturday, November 27 at 12 p.m.
Mount Union Stadium - Alliance, Ohio

Video: 
http://oac.boxcast.com

Radio: 
WRMU 91.1 FM (Ben Johnson-Bowers, Riley Sullivan and Jacob Buttar)
WDPN 1310 AM (Sam Bourquin and Ryan Keller)

Mount Union Notes (PDF)
Hopkins Game Notes (PDF)

The Matchup: No. 4 ranked University of Mount Union hosts No. 16 ranked Johns Hopkins (Md.) in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs Saturday, Nov. 27 at 12 pm at Mount Union Stadium.

The Purple Raiders are 11-0 overall and won their 32nd Ohio Athletic Conference title to claim one of 27 automatic bids to the tournament.

Mount Union has a 105-18 record in NCAA Playoff games and the Raiders have advanced to the Stagg Bowl 21 times since 1993 with a record 13 National Championships.

The Raiders, who have now made the tournament a record 32 times, defeated Washington & Lee (Va.) 52-0 in the first round.

Johns Hopkins, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is 10-1 overall, placed second in the Centennial Conference and making its 11th NCAA Playoff appearance as one of five national at-large selections.

The Blue Jays have a 10-10 record all-time in the NCAA Playoffs and their last appearance prior to this year was in 2018. They beat No. 11 Salisbury (Md.) 45-20 in the first round.

The Series: This will be the fourth-ever meeting between the schools. Mount Union has won each of the previous three meetings all in playoff games -- 55-13 in a 2012 second round game in Ohio, a 28-21 2016 second round win in Baltimore and a 28-20 win in a 2018 national semifinal game in Alliance.

Up Next: The winner of this game will take on the winner of a matchup between No. 7 Delaware Valley (Pa.) and No. 13 Muhlenberg (Pa.) in the national quarterfinals Saturday, December 4 at noon at a location to be announced.

Bracketology: Since 2005, the NCAA Division III Football Championship has consisted of a 32-team field. 
 
For perspective, in Mount Union's first appearance in the playoffs in 1985, the field was 16 teams. 
 
This year's field breaks down like this: automatic bids were given to 27 conference champions and the other five spots are national at-large bids.
 
Each team is allowed to only dress a total of 58 players for a playoff game.

Aye Captain: Mount Union has three team captains this season in senior linebacker Kordell Ford (Massillon / Massillon Washington), senior wide receiver Derrick Harvey, Jr. (Akron/ Buchtel) and junior quarterback Braxton Plunk.

On the Air: 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 605-781-3283.

This week's game will be broadcast live online at oac.boxcast.com and on Smart TV apps Amazon Fire, Apple and Roku. 

Scouting the Blue Jays: Johns Hopkins started the season 5-0, suffered a 21-6 loss to Muhlenberg (Pa.) that cost them the Centennial Conference title, but since have won five straight to put themselves among the final 16 teams playing.

Hopkins has the nation's No. 4 passing offense and averaging 47.5 points per game and on defense they are sixth in turnover margin and ninth in sacks.

Junior quarterback Ryan Stevens has completed 69-percent of his passes for 3,482 yards with 30 TD's and six interceptions. His top target is senior Harrison Wellmann, who is sixth in the nation with 1,194 receiving yards with 16 touchdowns. Junior Danny Wolf has 900 yards rushing with 18 TD's on the ground. The defense has 37 sacks led by sophomore lineman Luke Schuermann has 11 of them to go along with 18.5 tackles for loss. Finn Zechman has a team-best 50 tackles and he along with Macauley Kilbane each have a team-best four interceptions.

All-OAC Raiders: Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.), center John Valentine (Ashland), receiver Wayne Ruby (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan), linebacker Mason McMillen (Wadsworth), defensive back Malik Britt (Bossier City, La.  / Airline) and defensive coordinator Daryl Ely have all earned special awards to headline the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Football teams by the conference's 10 head coaches.
Plunk, a junior, was named the Bob Packard Offensive Back of the Year for the second straight year as he led the conference with 319.5 passing yards per game. He completed 73.4-percent (257-of-350) of his passes for 3195 yards with 31 touchdowns during the regular season. 

Valentine, a senior, was named Ken Wable Offensive Lineman of the Year and has started every game this season at center for an offensive line that has led the nation in tackles for loss allowed for an offense ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division III. 

Ruby, a senior, was named Ed Sherman Receiver of the Year Award and had an OAC-best 75 receptions for 1,008 yards with eight touchdowns. 

Britt, a senior, is the Lee Tressel Defensive Back of the Year as he led the conference with four interceptions to go along with 38 tackles and three pass breakups. 

McMillen, a junior, is the Gene Slaughter Linebacker of the Year and leads the Raiders in tackles and had a career-high 16 stops at Heidelberg. 

Ely is the OAC Assistant Coach of the Year and has been a part of the coaching staff since 2009, in his second as defensive coordinator. He has led the nation's No. 5 rated total defense and the Raiders are fifth in the nation against the run.

All-OAC second team selections include senior wide receivers Derrick Harvey, Jr. (Akron / Buchtel) and Jaden Manley (Columbus / Bishop Hartley), junior running back DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla.), senior defensive linemen Eli Beers (Canal Fulton / Northwest) and Matt Lilja (Ashtabula / Edgewood), linebacker Carson Kovath (Brighton, Mich. / Catholic Central) and senior defensive back Derrick Bradley (Bradenton, Fla. / Palmetto) along with senior special teams returner KJ Redmon (Fairborn).

Two other Raiders earned honorable mention honors in senior offensive lineman Jonathan Bisono (Cincinnati / Deer Park) and junior defensive back Josh Jones (Twinsburg / Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary).

Mount Union won its record 32nd OAC title in 2021.