By Tim Rogers, Special to Mount Union Athletics
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – One final, last-minute come-from-behind victory – the kind that embellishes a college football program's legacy – just wasn't meant to be.
It's not that the Raiders didn't try to make it happen on Friday in the 49
th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, also known as the Division III national championship game. They tried all right. They tried like mad.
"There are no words that are going to make this feel better right now," said head coach
Geoff Dartt following the Raiders' 28-21 loss to top-ranked North Central in front of 3,231 fans in chilly Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. "We fought until the end and we played hard. We are not into moral victories at Mount Union. We lost the game and that is what it is. I am proud of these guys and what they accomplished."
No one could argue. Not many of the experts, who had the Raiders losing by anywhere between three and 37 points. Not the chirpers on social media outlets. And, not the Cardinals, who remained undefeated by getting out to an early lead and staying there.
"Mount Union made us fight, scrap and claw," said Brad Spencer, whose team won him a national championship – the program's second in the last three competitive seasons – in his first year as head coach. "That's what football is in December."
If the autumn wind is a pirate, as hall-of-fame announcer John Facenda eloquently proclaimed, then this December wind was a dream crusher. Instead of living their dreams of winning a 14
th national championship for the university, the Raiders were forced to settle for a ninth runner-up trophy.
When you play at Mount Union it is not enough to win the Ohio Athletic Conference championship. It is not enough to just make it to the post-season. It is not enough to reach the national championship game for the 22d time in program history. Winning the national championship is all that really matters and that's why this one hurt.
"I challenged the young guys (after)," said Dartt while praising his captains for their leadership. "Hopefully you feel this and it hurts."
The Raiders staged a frantic rally in the fourth quarter only to fall heart-breakingly close to pulling off another come back reminiscent of victories over Wartburg in the national semifinals and Baldwin Wallace and John Carroll in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Mount played its worst half of the season during the first 30 minutes and one of its best in the second.
The Raiders' offense, ranked third in the nation, was held scoreless for the first time all season and managed just 60 yards of total offense in the first half. It scored 21 points and produced 234 yards in the second.
The defense, ranked fourth in the nation, gave up 14 points and 239 yards on 29 plays in the first half. It limited the powerful NC offense to 135 yards on 20 plays in the second.
All against the team that led the country in both categories.
North Central (15-0) held the ball for 15:38 in the first half. The Raiders had it for 33:50 in the second.
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 on a third-and-10 play then threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy with 1:24 to play, giving NCC a 28-14 lead.
Undaunted, quarterback
Braxton Plunk led a desperation drive, completing four of five passes for 64 yards, including a clutch 41-yard completion to fellow All-American
Wayne Ruby Jr. that put the ball at the 4-yard line. He completed the drive with a 4-yard scoring pass to senior
Edwin Reed with 30 seconds remaining to get the Raiders to within a touchdown.
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 Ruby with 3:34 to go to make it 21-14 after
Thomas Piccirillo's point-after.
Ruby and
Jaden Manley kept the drive alive with had-to-have receptions of 20 yards by Manley on a third-and-eight play and 28 yards by Ruby on a fourth-and-13 play.
The bottom line is that Mount Union started a little too late.
"We got off to a little bit of a slow start and that's on me being the offensive player caller," said Dartt.
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.
NCC 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 Plunk charging around right end for the final nine yards with 9:19 to play. Piccirillo's PAT made it 21-7.
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, Lehnen threw a 94-yard touchdown pass to his favorite receiver, Hardy, to extend NC's lead to14-0 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. He also ran 10 times for 41 yards but lost 25 yards when he was sacked three times.
"I thought that if we had a chance we needed to make the most of it," Plunk said about his mindset following the scoring throw to Ruby. "I wish we could have played a little better in the first half and I could have helped get us some points because the defense played great the whole game."
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 semifinals 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.
Sophomore running back
Tyler Echeverry started in place of an injured
DeAndre Parker and gained 38 yards on 12 carries and caught four passes for 22 yards before being sideline with an injury.
