ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 2 ranked Mount Union football team lost, 24-20, to No. 11 Alma College in the 2023 NCAA Division III Football Championship Second Round in a thriller at home on Saturday.
The Purple Raiders, playing in their NCAA Division III-record 34
th NCAA Playoff, concluded their 32
nd undefeated regular season and a conference-record 34 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship.
Mount Union senior quarterback
Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) concluded his historic career breaking the NCAA Division III record with 14,599 career passing yards (surpassed Purple Raider Bill Borchert's 14,482).
Mount Union (11-1) was up 10-0 at halftime, courtesy of a two-yard touchdown run by graduate student running back
DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla./Crystal River) and a career-long 44-yard field goal by freshman kicker
Deaglan Camron (Fort Myers, Florida/Bishop Verot). Camron's kick tied for the sixth-longest in program history.
A total of 34 points were scored in the fourth quarter. Alma sophomore quarterback Carter St. John threw an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Cole Thomas (St. Johns, Mich. / St. Johns), however, the Purple Raiders answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back
Darnell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio/John Adams). Alma kicker Joshua Hernandez made a 37-yard field goal, cutting Mount Union's lead to 17-10, however Mount answered again with a field goal of its own – a 32-yarder from Camron and the Raiders led 20-10 with 5:02 left in the game.
In the third quarter, Mount Union sophomore bandit
Kaleb Brown (La Plata, Md./La Plata) made an incredible play with Alma at Mount Union's five-yard line by taking the ball from St. John on a handoff and returning it 49 yards. The Purple Raiders, however, were unable to capitalize.
Alma (12-0) responded quickly with a 76-yard touchdown pass from St. John to Nate Webb. The Scots forced a punt on Mount Union's ensuing drive and Mount sophomore
Michael Franklin (Sandusky, Ohio/Sandusky) booted a 51-yard punt to Alma's four-yard line. St. John moved the Scots' offense down the field, highlighted by a 52-yarder to running back Jordan Williams. Alma scored the game-winning touchdown from a 2-yard pass from St. John to Thomas with 10 seconds left.
Mount Union senior wide receiver
Wayne Ruby (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) had game-highs in receptions (14) and receiving yards (140) - his 27th career 100-yard game. Ruby concludes his illustrious career as the record holder in all the major receiving categories in program history. Parker had a game-high 141 rushing yards (his 14
th career 100-yard game) and a touchdown, finishing with 3,429 career rushing yards – sixth-best in program history. Camron's 12 made field goals this year tied for seventh-most in school history.
Senior linebacker
Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) led the Mount Union defense with nine tackles. Junior bandit
Rossy Moore (Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) had eight tackles, including a team-high 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack. Moore's 23 TFLs this season are sixth-most in a season in program history.
