BEREA, Ohio – No. 2 ranked Mount Union won one for the ages with a 23-21 victory over Baldwin Wallace off a Hail Mary pass from senior
Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) to classmate
Wayne Ruby Jr. (Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) from 48 yards out with no time left securing Mount Union's undefeated regular season, Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) outright title, and the league's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Playoffs.
The stage was picturesque on a snowy Saturday at George Finnie Stadium. The Purple Raiders (10-0, 9-0 OAC) have now won 33 OAC championships, claimed their 31
st undefeated regular season, and punched their NCAA Playoff appearance for the 33
rd time.
Mount Union orchestrated a 14-play, 95-yard drive (including 3-for-3 on third downs) on its first drive of the game, capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Plunk to classmate
Jaden Manley (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley). The Raiders led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Raider senior kicker
Thomas Piccirillo (Findlay, Ohio/Van Buren) made a career-long 31-yard field goal and Plunk connected with senior
Edwin Reed (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Dr. Krop) with a nine-yard touchdown pass with less than 30 seconds left in the first half. Mount led 17-0 at halftime.
Baldwin Wallace (7-3, 7-2 OAC) scored 21-straight points, including a one-yard run by Reese Wamer with 22 seconds left in regulation for their first lead of the game at 21-17.
Mount's historic drive started at its own 26-yard line. Plunk completed three-straight check-down passes with the last one going to sophomore running back
Tyler Echeverry (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) who ran out of bounds to stop the clock with four seconds left at Mount's 48-yard line. Following a timeout, Plunk hurled the ball down the field which bounced off a Yellow Jacket defender at the 10-yard line before Ruby ran under it inside the 2-yard line and crossed the goal line etching the moment into Mount Union Football lore.
The NCAA will release the 32-team playoff bracket Sunday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. on an online selection show at NCAA.com. First round games will be Saturday. Nov. 19 at noon on campus sites.
