ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Mount Union football team fell to No. 13 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace, 27-21, under the lights of Kehres Stadium on Saturday.
With the win, Baldwin Wallace (9-0, 7-0 OAC) claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship and the league's automatic NCAA playoff bid.
The Yellow Jackets led 10-0 at halftime. In the second half, junior QB
Mikey Maloney (Concord Township, OH/Painesville Riverside) ran it in from 19 yards out to get the Raiders within a field goal, 10-7, with 10:50 left in the third.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Bubonics, however, the Raiders quickly answered on their next offensive play with Maloney connecting with freshman WR
Brayden Harris (Northfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) for a 55-yard touchdown to make it 17-14. BW followed with 10 points to lead 27-14 with 5:49 left in the game.
Another Maloney touchdown, this time to junior RB
Kayden Minner (New Madrid, MO/New Madrid County Central) from 17 yards out, once again made it a one-score game at 27-21 with 5:12 on the clock.
Mount Union's defense forced a late punt, and the Raiders took over with 1:49 left, but were unable to get on the scoreboard.
Maloney finished with 200 yards passing, to go along with 37 rushing, and two touchdowns. Harris led all receivers with 94 yards.
Three Raiders had double-digit tackles, led by senior DL
Jackson Harris (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) with a game-high 14. Sophomore S
Andrew Holmes (Tampa, FL/Middleton) had 12 tackles, and junior LB
Jerry Merchant (Columbus, OH/IMG Academy) had 10. All were career-highs.
Junior LB
Dagan Meyers (Port Clinton, OH/Port Clinton) had a sack, and junior DB
Lincoln Wade (Kent, OH/Kent Roosevelt) had a fumble recovery.
The Purple Raiders (6-3, 5-2 OAC) will close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Otterbein with a 12:45 PM kickoff.
