ALLIANCE, Ohio – Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Harvey, Jr. (Akron / Buchtel) in overtime to lead Mount Union to a 35-29 overtime win over Muhleberg (Pa.) Saturday in the NCAA Playoff Quarterfinals at Mount Union Stadium.

The Purple Raiders (13-0) are back in the semifinals for the first time since 2018 and will play North Central (Ill.) next Saturday in the semifinals as a time and location to be announced on Sunday.

Plunk finished 38-of-56 passing for 465 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Mount Union got a pair of rushing touchdowns from both Josh Petruccelli (Perry) and DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla.). Petruccelli finished with a game-high 105 yards on 15 carries while Wayne Ruby (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan) had 10 catches for 142 yards.

Muhlenberg (11-2) got three passing touchdowns and 294 yards thought the air from quarterback Michael Hnatkowsky but the Mount Union defense held the Mules 158 total yards in the second half and overtime to allow the offense to rally.

Linebacker Mason McMillen (Wadsworth) had nine tackles while defense back Derrick Bradley (Bradenton, Fla. / Palmetto) had five pass breakups for the Raiders.

Muhlenberg punted on the game's first possession and Mount Union then drove 56 yards on eight plays and Parker capped the drive with a one-yard rush but the extra point was no good and it was 6-0.

The Mules came right back with a 51-yard kickoff return from Chris Ardito then Hnatkowsky led a 42-yard drive that he capped with a one-yard TD run on fourth down and the extra point gave Muhlenberg a 7-6 lead with 5:16 to play in the first quarter.

Nick Deack (Alliance) hit a 27-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter and Mount Union retook the lead 9-7.

Muhlenberg came right back again as Hnakowsky engineered a 10-play, 79-yard march that he finished with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Daniel and the Mules led 14-9 at the break.

Mount Union out-gained Muhlenberg 258-165 in the first half but the Raiders converted just two of four red zone opportunities.

The Raiders were forced to punt on the first drive of the second half and Muhlenberg answered with a 14-play, 85-yard drive and Hnakowsky threw his second TD pass of the day to Daniel, this time from 17 yards and it was 21-9.

It was Mount Union's turn to answer back, and it did on a 53-yard scamper from Petruccelli to make it 21-16.

The Raider defense held Muhlenberg on its next two possessions and Mount Union took the lead again early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run from Parker and after a failed two-point conversion it was 22-21 with 12:29 left in regulation.

Mount Union took its largest lead of the game, 29-21, on a Petruccelli two-yard run with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders got the ball back two more times but could not close out the clock and Hnatkowsky threw an eight-yard pass to Michael Feaster and two-point conversion pass to Thomas Murphy to tie the game at 29-29 with 1:20 to play.

Mount Union drove the ball into Mules territory and missed a 40-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

Muhlenberg got a first down but then went three-and-out and missed a 35-yard field goal to start overtime.

Mount Union got the ball and Plunk completed an 11-yard pass to Petruccelli before the game-winner to Harvey.