ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 2 nationally-ranked Mount Union football team won, 28-6, over Heidelberg in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) clash on Homecoming Saturday afternoon.
Mount Union (5-0, 4-0 OAC) finished the game outscoring the Student Princes 21-0.
Senior wide receiver
Orreon Finley (Memphis, Tenn./KIPP Memphis Collegiate) had a career day with two touchdown grabs, including his first touchdown catch as a Purple Raider.
"First of all, I want to thank God for being patient with me," said Finley. "It's the standard. I couldn't have done it without the coaches. (Wide Receiver) coach Jasper (
Junior Collins), (wide receiver) coach (Paul) Gulling, (head) coach (Geoff) Dartt, and the O-linemen. Everything just came together. We just clicked. I take no glory. All the glory to God. I just came out and was locked in. You saw what happened."
Senior running back
DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla./Crystal River) ran for his second-straight 130-plus yards performance on the ground. Senior quarterback
Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) went 32-of-41 with 333 yards and four touchdowns.
Mount's defense held Heidelberg under 200 total yards, including only 32 yards rushing. Senior
Ian Sexton (Dover, Ohio/Dover) had an interception for the second-straight game - a fourth-quarter snag as Heidelberg was driving which led to a Mount score. Junior linebacker
Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) and sophomore linebacker
Rossy Moore (Lima Central Catholic) both led the Raiders with 11 tackles. Moore also led Mount in sacks, with a career-high two, and in tackles for a loss, with a career-best five.
Plunk connected with Finley in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass on Mount's first drive of the game. Heidelberg (4-2, 3-2 OAC) responded with a touchdown of its own when Chayne Treharn found Brandon Reed for a six-yard touchdown pass. The Student Princes missed the extra point and the Raiders led 7-6 after one quarter of play.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Plunk placed a perfect 20-yard pass over Heidelberg's defense in Finley's hands to extend the Raiders' lead to 14-6.
On the Purple Raiders' ensuing possession, Plunk hooked up with classmate
Wayne Ruby (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) on a slant and Ruby blew past Heidelberg's defense for a 75-yard score. Ruby added another score with a 14-yard touchdown grab getting his feet down in the back of the end zone, extending his OAC-leading touchdown total to 13. Ruby now has 3,441 career receiving yards, passing Pierre Garcon (2005-07) for seventh all-time in program history.
Heidelberg was driving in the fourth quarter before Sexton picked off Chayne Treharn in the red zone, which led to Mount's final touchdown.
The Raiders are back on the road next Saturday, Oct. 15 in Columbus, Ohio to face Capital. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
