ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 3-nationally ranked Mount Union football team opened Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with a 55-7 win over Marietta College at home on Saturday. Mount (2-0, 1-0 OAC) has now won 34-straight OAC openers.
Senior quarterback
Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) went 29-of-39 for 496 yards and six touchdowns. Plunk connected with three different receivers for scores, led by senior
Wayne Ruby (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) with three. Senior running back
DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla./Crystal River) caught the first two touchdowns, while senior wide receiver
Jaden Manley (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) also caught a touchdown pass from Plunk.
Ruby led all receivers with 10 receptions for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Ruby now has 17 100-yard and 10 multi-touchdown games for his career. Parker also eclipsed 100 yards with 130 to go along with 33 rushing yards on the day. It marked the first time Mount had more than one player with 100 yards receiving since last year at Heidelberg when Ruby, Manley, and Ulice Gillard all went over the century mark.
Junior linebacker
Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) led Mount's defense with eight tackles, including a half sack. Senior
Nick Brown (Defiance, Ohio/Ayersville) had a game-high two sacks, while graduate student
Eli Beers (Canal Fulton/Northwest) added a sack. Senior
Josh Jones (Twinsburg, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) had an interception for the second-straight game.
Mount sophomore quarterback
Noah Beaudrie (Monroe, Mich./Erie-Mason) found senior
Edwin Reed (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Dr. Krop) from 36 yards out in the fourth quarter for the final touchdown of the game.
Parker looked untouchable as he took his first two catches to the house. Parker's first score was from 58 yards out on a bubble route, breaking through tackles along the sideline to the end zone. On Mount's very next drive, Parker caught a similar route on the opposite side and ran it in for a 47-yard catch for his career-best second touchdown of the game. The Raiders led 14-0 with 10 minutes left in the first quarter. Marietta (1-1, 0-1 OAC) spoiled the shutout when Connor Vierstra connected with Dre Baldwin for a 70-yard touchdown pass. Mount led 14-7 at the end of one.
The Purple Raiders opened up the second quarter with Plunk finding Ruby in the back of the endzone for a 31-yard touchdown. After Mount's defense forced a three-and-out, the Raiders extended their lead to 28-7 following Plunk's fourth touchdown of the afternoon – this time to Manley from 35 yards out. Senior kick
Thomas Piccirillo (Findlay, Ohio/Van Buren) made a 21-yard field goal late in the second quarter and the Raiders led 31-7 at halftime.
Piccirillo's made a 20-yard field goal to start the third quarter, followed by back-to-back 12-yard touchdown passes from Plunk to Ruby.
Mount Union will be on the road for the first time this season as it faces Muskingum on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m.
