HOUSTON, Texas – The Mount Union football team lost, 41-25, to North Central in the 2024 Stagg Bowl NCAA Championship on Sunday night at Shell Energy Stadium.
The Purple Raiders have competed in the Stagg Bowl 15 of the past 19 seasons and 23 times altogether which is the most in NCAA Division III history (13 more than second most).
Graduate QB
TJ Deshields (Beloit, OH/West Branch) threw for 314 yards, a career-high as a Purple Raider, with two touchdowns, along with 23 yards on the ground. Senior RB
Tyler Echeverry (Naples, FL/Barron Collier) ran for 83 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown.
Junior WR
Nick Turner (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) led the Mount receivers with seven catches and 104 receiving yards (both career-highs), including a 31-yard touchdown. Junior WR
Jerry Cooper Jr. (Fort Myers, FL/South Fort Myers) had three catches for 69 yards and a dazzling 54-yard touchdown catch and run.
Senior S
Brandon Yanssens (Columbiana, OH/Crestview) led the Raider defense with a career-high 11 tackles (nine solo). Senior LB
Marcus Jackson (Dallas, TX/Richardson) tied a career-high with 10 tackles. Junior
Weston Arthur (Homerville, OH/Northwestern) had a sack, while junior
Kaleb Brown (La Plata, MD/La Plata) had a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Brown recovered a fumble on North Central's first drive of the game. Mount Union took advantage with a 9-play, 62-yard drive, capped off by a 24-yard rushing touchdown by Echeverry – his NCAA-leading 30
th of the season (tying Chuck Moore's mark in 2001 for most in program history for a season).
After the Cardinals scored a pair of touchdowns, sophomore kicker
Ivan Maric (Falls Church, VA/Mclean) made a 30-yard field goal with 3:57 left in the first half. North Central led 14-10 at halftime.
Mount Union matched North Central's first two touchdowns of the second half as Deshields connected with Turner from 31 yards out and Cooper Jr. from 54 yards – Cooper Jr. broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone.
The Cardinals wrapped up the scoring with two more touchdowns in the fourth.
Mount Union finishes the season 14-1 and North Central concludes at 15-0
