Baldwin Wallace at Mount Union
Saturday, September 18 at 1:30 p.m. 
Mount Union Stadium - Alliance, Ohio

TV: Live Video 
WIVM-TV Ch. 39.1 - Canton (Harry Paidas and Mark Miller) 
Replays at 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday

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

Live stats

Mount Union Game Notes
Baldwin Wallace Game Notes

The Matchup: Mount Union hosts Baldwin Wallace in the home opener Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Union Stadium.
 
The Purple Raiders (1-0, 0-0 OAC) opened the season two weeks ago with a 48-7 win at Westminster. Mount Union out-gained the defending Presidents Athletic Conference champions, 552-151. Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) threw for 345 yards, with 119 of those going to receiver Wayne Ruby, Jr. (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan) and running back Josh Petruccelli (Perry) matched a career-high with four rushing touchdowns. The defense held Westminster to 0-for-13 on third down and three yards rushing. Jesse Vail (Estero, Fla.) had a team-high seven stops.

Baldwin Wallace (2-0, 1-0 OAC) beat Otterbein 41-10 at home last week in its conference opener after a season-opening 45-24 win at Hampden-Sydney (Va.). BW led 7-3 at halftime but exploded for 20 points in the third quarter then put the game away. Jon Murray Jr. had 171 yards rushing and three TD's on the ground to lead the offense, while Mason Levasseur had nine tackles and an interception to head up the defense.

The Series: Saturday's game will be the 59th all-time meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 36-21-1 lead in the series that dates back to a 10-0 Raider win in 1896. BW's last win in the series came 27 years ago as the Jackets won 23-10 in Alliance in 1994 and eventually shared the conference title with Mount Union and John Carroll. The teams did not play last year which marked the first time since 1975 that the schools did not meet in a football game against each other.   
Up Next: Mount Union goes on the road next week playing at John Carroll in an OAC matchup next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Don Shula Stadium in University Heights.

It Just Means More: While it's a slogan from another conference that gets its share of football accolades (the SEC), Saturday's game is the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for the Purple Raiders. Mount Union is in its 108th year as a member of the OAC and the Raiders are picked by the conference's coaches to win their record 32nd football title. Baldwin Wallace was picked sixth in the poll while next week's opponent John Carroll was tabbed second. The OAC was founded in 1902 and is the third oldest conference in college sports, behind only the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Big 10. 

Three is a Charm: 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 (Plant City, Fla.)

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 563-999-3112.

The five home games will feature a taped delayed television broadcast on WIVM-TV in Canton and simulcast live online at oac.boxcast.com and on Smart TV apps Amazon Fire, Apple and Roku. This week's replay times on WIVM-TV 39.1 in Canton are 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 and 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 19.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets: While most bees buzz around in the air, these Yellow Jackets are ground and pound through two games they have ran the ball and stopped the run.

BW is averaging 214 yards rushing through two games with senior Jon Murray, Jr. averaging 135 yards per game with 7 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Kegan Armitage has completed 64.3-percent of his passes for 298 yards with a touchdown in the air. Darius Stokes has seven catches for 148 yards with a TD. 

On defense, the Jackets have allowed an average 73.5 yards on the ground and just one rushing touchdown along with seven quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker Nick Pankow has a team-best 22 tackles with 2.0 sacks and an interception. Junior linebacker Mason Levasseur also has a sack and an interception.

Gimmie Five: Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his five starts including 345 yards and two touchdowns two weeks at Westminster. Plunk, the OAC's offensive back of the year during the 2020-21 season, has thrown for 2,863 yards in his 15-game career so far completing 69-percent of his passes with 34 touchdowns.

Four on the Floor: Mount Union running back Josh Petruccelli matched his career-high with four rushing touchdowns two weeks ago at Westminster. The only other time that he crossed the goal line four times in a game on the ground was in a 2018 playoff game against Centre (Ky.). Petruccelli now has 49 career rushing touchdowns and with one more would be just the fifth player in Mount Union history with 50 or more rushing TD's. 

Money Down: Mount Union's defense did not allow Westminster to convert a third down holding them to 0-for-13 for the game. The last time the Raiders kept a team from converting a third down was Sept. 12, 2013 at Muskingum where the Muskies went 0-for-11 on third down in a 37-0 Mount Union victory.

Hawk-Eyes: Mount Union senior defensive backs Aaron Hawk (Lakewood, Calif. / Gahr) and Jevanni Witter (Miramar, Fla. / Everglades) each had career interception No. 1 two weeks ago at Westminster. Hawk is a two-time Academic All-OAC pick.

Vail-d Threat: Mount Union senior safety Jesse Vail (Estero, Fla.) had a team-best eight tackles two weeks ago at Westminster. Vail was the OAC defensive back of the year this past spring and he is just one of two players on the defense who has one that award as fellow senior Kordell Ford (Massillon / Massillon Washington) claimed the award in 2019. 

Around the OAC: Four teams started their conference seasons last week as Baldwin Wallace defeated Otterbein, 41-10, in Berea, while Muskingum had 33-31 win over Ohio Northern at Zanesville High School. The Muskies are without a home for the fall while construction of a new stadium continues in New Concord. There was one other game slated for last week as Wilmington was supposed to travel to Heidelberg but CoVID-19 protocols with the Quakers did not allow the game to be played and it will not be made up.

This week a full slate of conference action is on tap as Capital plays at Heidelberg, John Carroll travels to Otterbein, Ohio Northern is at Wilmington and Muskingum makes the short trip to Marietta.

OAC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Mount Union (9) - 81
2. John Carroll (1) - 73
3. Heidelberg - 64
4. Marietta - 52
5. Ohio Northern - 48
6. Baldwin Wallace - 43
7. Wilmington - 35
T8. Muskingum - 22
T8. Otterbein - 22
10. Capital - 10

** first place votes in parenthesis **
** Coaches can't vote for their own team **