ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 8 Mount Union football team lost, 37-34, to Heidelberg in the Purple Raiders' Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener at home on Saturday.
Mount freshman WR
Brayden Harris (Northfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) caught his first career touchdown, a 12-yard pass from sophomore
Mikey Maloney (Concord Township, OH/Painesville Riverside) at the 12:16 mark in the second quarter. Heidelberg (3-0, 2-0 OAC) led 13-7 at halftime.
There were six lead changes in the second half, including Maloney's two-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders up 34-30 with 9:48 to play. Heidelberg (3-0, 2-0 OAC) responded on its ensuing drive with a 6-play, 79-yard drive (including a 69-yard catch and run by Dmitry Peters), capped off with an 8-yard touchdown run by Drew Miller for the go-ahead score with 6:35 left.
Later in the game, Mount Union sophomore DB
Andrew Holmes (Tampa, FL/Middleton) picked off his second pass of the game, setting up the Raiders at their own 41. Heidelberg's defense, however, forced a turnover on downs to secure the win and to snap a 37-game losing streak versus the Raiders.
Junior QB
Mikey Maloney (Concord Township, OH/Painesville Riverside) threw for a career-high 358 yards and four touchdowns while adding a rushing score. Each of Maloney's touchdowns went to different receivers: Harris, freshman RB
Bo Bokman (Lakeville, MN/Lakeville South), sophomore WR
O.P. Knox (Lauderdale Lakes, FL/North Broward Prep.), and junior WR
Mason Ashby (North Canton, OH/North Canton Hoover).
Bokman continues to impress as he ran over the century mark for the first time of his career with 120 yards on the ground, to go along with a career-high 61 yards receiving and a touchdown reception. Ashby registered his second-straight 100-yard receiving game with a team- and career-high 124 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown.
Mount Union's defense forced five interceptions with Holmes and sophomore
Dallas Richardson (Ocala, FL/North Marion) with two each (including the first of their respective careers). Sophomore
Jaeson Anderson (Akron, OH/Buchtel) had the other. Sophomore
Gavin Ehrhardt (Avon, OH/Avon) and graduate
Colson Conrad (Byron Center, MI/Byron Center) each had a sack for the Raiders.
Saturday was the first regular season loss for the Purple Raiders (1-2, 0-1 OAC) since 2016.
The Raiders have a bye next week, then will play at Muskingum on Saturday, October 3, with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
