A valiant second-half rally fell heart-breakingly short and Mount Union's dreams of winning another Division III national championship ended on Friday when the Raiders lost to top-ranked North Central, 28-21, in the 49
th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Navy-Marine Memorial Stadium.
North Central won its second Division III national championship and the Raiders finished as the runner-up for the ninth time.
After falling behind 14-0 through three quarters, the Raiders scored three times in the final 15 minutes but fell short when NC added two touchdowns of its own and recovered two on-sides kickoffs in the final 3:34.
North Central, which was ranked first all season in both recognized national polls, scored what proved to be the decisive points when quarterback Luke Lehnen ran 42 yards for a first down at the Mount three-yard line with 2:42 to go then threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy with 1:24 to play, giving NC a 28-14 lead.
Undaunted, quarterback
Braxton Plunk led a desperation drive and got the Raiders to within 28-21 when he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to
Edwin Reed with 30 seconds remaining.
Hardy sealed the win when he recovered the ensuing on-sides kick.
Plunk ran nine yards for a touchdown for the Raiders' first score with 9:19 left. He then threw a 3-yard scoring pass to fellow All-American
Wayne Ruby with 3:34 to go to make it 21-14 after
Thomas Piccirillo's point-after.
It was a case of starting a little too late.
A monumental change in momentum came at the outset of the second half.
Trailing 14-0, the Raiders took the kickoff and drove 80 yards to the NC 10-yard line. Three running plays resulted in lost yards and the drive ended.
NC took over and drove 87 yards in 10 plays with Greenfield sweeping the left side for the final four yards and an eventual 21-0 lead. It was one of the few times the defense faltered.
The Raiders (14-1) got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when they put together an 11-play drive that covered 69 yards with quarterback
Braxton Plunk charging around right end for the final nine yards with 9:19 to play.
Thomas Piccirillo's PAT made it 21-7.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the Mount offense.
After giving up a touchdown on North Central's first possession the Raiders defense forced three straight three-and-outs before the Cardinals struck with a game-turner.
On first down from his 6-yard line quarterback Luke Lehnen threw a 94-yard touchdown pass to his favorite receiver, DeAngelo Hardy, to extend NC's lead to 14-0 after Tanner Rains added his second PAT.
The Raiders' offense had a hard time sustaining any momentum in the first half and failed to score on six possessions. They were held to 60 total yards and their deepest penetration was the NC 37-yard line early in the second quarter.
The defense held fast following a special teams miscue when punter
Elliott Warner fielded a low snap from center with his knee touching the ground on the Raiders' 29-yard with 3:21 left in the half.
Von Factor, tackle
Matt Lilja and nose tackle
Duke Hill stopped NC All-American and Gagliardi Trophy winner Ethan Greenfield for no gain on successive plays and returned the ball to the offense with about one minute left in the half.
The second quarter was marred by penalties as NC committed four for 40 yards and Mount was whistled six times – with two penalties declined – for 30 yards.
Two motion penalties sandwiched around an illegal-formation call marred the Raiders' best drive of the quarter. They moved from their 29 to the North Central 32, thanks in part to a targeting penalty on a second-and-20 situation that drew an automatic first down.
But the motion and formation calls and a Plunk incompletion led to a punt.
Plunk, a senior who was in the running for the Gagliardi Trophy as the best overall player in the country, completed 26-of-36 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns.
Ruby caught nine passes for 109 yards and
Jaden Manley,
KJ Redmon and
Chase Lawson had four receptions each.
Greenfield, who gashed Mount Union for 191 yards in a second-round playoff game last year, rushed for 119 yards on 25 carries. The real thorn in the side was Lehnen. The sophomore ran for 98 yards on 10 carries and completed 4-of-10 passes for 141 yards and three scores.
Mount Union had a hard time generating any offense – especially on the ground-- until the second half. It was held to 130 yards in the first half but gained some momentum in the second.
Despite giving up 28 points the defense played well, coming up with some key stops over the final 40 minutes.
Derrick Bradley led Mount with eight tackles,
Rossy Moore finished with seven and
Mason McMillen was in on six.
