DEFIANCE, Ohio – The No. 2-ranked Mount Union football team won, 45-6, at non-conference foe Defiance to start the highly-anticipated 2023 season.
Graduate student running back
DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla./Crystal River) went off with a career-high 167 yards on 14 carries (11.9 avg.), including an electrifying career-long 71-yarder. Parker now has 11 career 100-yard games. Senior quarterback
Braxton Plunk Plant City, Fla./Plant City) went 25 of 31 for 231 yards and two passing touchdowns. Senior
Wayne Ruby (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) led all receivers with six catches for 71 yards. Seniors
Edwin Reed (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Dr. Krop) and
Ray Williams (Holiday, Fla./East Lake) caught Plunk's touchdown passes.
Sophomore
Kaleb Brown (La Plata, Md./La Plata) led the Mount Union defense with a career-high 3.5 sacks, followed by junior
Rossy Moore (Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) who had two sacks and senior
Duke Hill (Memphis, Tenn./Germantown) who totaled 1.5 sacks. Senior
Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) led the Raiders with seven tackles, including a tackle for a loss and a half sack. Seniors
Josh Jones (Twinsburg, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) and
John Roland (Livonia, Mich./Northville) each had an interception, both setting up Raider touchdowns.
Mount Union outgained Defiance, 572-188 (including 327-43 on the ground).
Mount Union drove right down the field on the game's opening drive as Plunk connected with Reed for a nine-yard touchdown, capping off an 8-play, 66-yard drive. The Purple Raiders' next scoring drive was set up by an interception from Jones which was caught inside Defiance's five-yard line. Mount orchestrated an 11-play, 93-yard drive with Parker running it in from seven yards out on fourth down. Senior
Tre Radford (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg), a transfer from Division I Youngstown State, caught a 35-yard pass to start the drive. Later in the second quarter, Plunk threw a dart to Williams for a 22-yard touchdown. The Raiders led 21-0 at halftime. An interception by Roland set up Mount's first second half score. Senior
Darnell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio/John Adams) ran down the sideline past the Yellow Jackets' defense for a 28-yard touchdown, the first of his career. Later in the third, after an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by D. Williams was called back because of a penalty, Parker took it to the house on the very next play for 71 yards.
The Yellow Jackets spoiled the shutout with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Ambrose to Cordae McAllister in the third quarter.
Mount junior
Ryan Eiden (Shavertown, Pa./Lake-Lehman) also had a 71-yard run (career long), totaling a career-best 82 yards, and scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter. Freshman kicker
Deaglan Camron (Fort Myers, Florida/Bishop Verot) made a 26-yard field and was a perfect 6-for-6 from points after touchdown.
Following its bye week next week, Mount Union will travel to Marietta for its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener on Saturday, Sept. 16 with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
