#3 Mount Union at #21 John Carroll
Saturday, September 25 at 1:30 p.m. 
Don Shula Stadium - University Heights, Ohio

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

Mount Union Game Notes
John Carroll Game Notes

The Matchup: Mount Union goes on the road for a second time this season and for a second time it will be a matchup of two nationally ranked teams as the No. 3 ranked Purple Raiders play at No. 21 ranked John Carroll Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Don Shula Stadium in University Heights.
 
Mount Union (2-0, 1-0 OAC) beat then No. 12 ranked Westminster (Pa.), 48-7 three weeks ago then last week opened Ohio Athletic Conference play with a 31-7 win over Baldwin Wallace. 

Through two games, the nation's No. 13 rated defense has allowed only two first quarter TD's, just over 200 yards per game and held the opposition to a combined 2-for-25 on third down. 

On offense, quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) has two straight games over 300 yards passing including 321 yards last week. His top target has been Wayne Ruby, Jr. (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan), who has been the OAC's top receiver averaging 123.0 yards per game. Running back Josh Petruccelli (Perry) is second in the conference with five rushing TD's and averages 6.0 yards per carry.

John Carroll (1-1, 1-0 OAC) bounced back from a season opening home loss to Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) to score a 41-17 win at Otterbein in its OAC opener. 

The Blue Streaks jumped out to a 31-10 halftime lead against the Cardinals and never looked back. Demarious Goodwin ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Jake Floriea threw for two scores to lead the offense. Tyshawn Jones had eight tackles and recovered a fumble and Luke Brown had eight tackles and forced fumble as both led the defense.  

The Series: This is the 41st meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 35-3-2 lead in a series that dates back to a 48-0 Raider win in 1920. Mount Union has won the last four meetings including a 52-27 win this past Spring in Alliance. The margin of victory over those four meetings has been 13.7 points per game.

Up Next: Mount Union returns home to host Otterbein in the annual Homecoming and Alumni Weekend game next Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Union Stadium.

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 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. 

Around the OAC: Five 1:30 p.m. kickoffs headline the schedule in the league this week. Heidelberg is at Baldwin Wallace, Marietta is at Capital, Otterbein is at Ohio Northern while Wilmington plays Muskingum in a game at Zanesville High School.

Scouting the Blue Streaks: John Carroll has been picked in the OAC preseason coaches poll to finish second for a sixth straight year. Over that span, the Streaks are 55-13 and the fall 2021 edition brings back tons of experience. 

Leading that experienced group is third year starter Jake Floria at quarterback. He is one of four fifth year players on the offense. So far this year Floria has completed 63-percent of his passes with three TDs and zero interceptions. His top target is junior juniors Brennan Fugh, who has six catches for 109 yards. Senior Demerius Goodwin and junior Matthew Buser are a 1-2 punch at running back behind an experienced offensive line that includes fifth year senior All-American Blake Herideen.

On defense, it all starts up front for John Carroll as seniors Jack Burton, Daniel Garcar and Kyle Ulshafer, as well as junior Ross Valenti are on the line. Valenti has a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks.

Linebackers in grad student Tyshawn Jones and senior Luke Brown are the team's top tacklers while the secondary is manned by two-time All-OAC selection Nate Leopold and Alec Wallace.

Six Pack: Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his six career starts including 321 yards and a touchdown last week against BW. 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.

Nifty Fifty: Mount Union running back Josh Petruccelli (Perry) had a rushing TD last week against Baldwin Wallace which made him the the fifth player in Mount Union history with 50 or more rushing TD's. 

Petruccelli also had a receiving touchdown which is more of a rare feat as it was just his fourth career TD trough the air.

Under Pressure: Mount Union senior Eli Beers (Canal Fulton / Northwest) had a career-best 3.0 tackles for loss last week against Baldwin Wallace. Mount Union is averaging 8.0 tackles for loss per game through the first two games of the season.

Remembering "Buck": Former Mount Union running back Jim Gresko (1972-2021) passed away last week. Gresko, who was nicknamed "Buck" was the running back on the Raiders first national title team in 1993. His 32 career rushing TDs was second most in school history when he finished playing and is still 10th in the school record books. He still ninth in school history in rushing attempts (467) and rushing yards per game (83.0). A skilled receiver as well, he is still fifth all-time at Mount Union with 154.8 yards per game.