Wisconsin-Whitewater scored 21 unanswered points en route to a 31-21 win over Mount Union’s football team in the Stagg Bowl at Salem Stadium on Saturday.

Stagg Bowl MVP Levell Coppage finished with 39 rushes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including a back-breaking 75-yard scoring run with 2:34 left in the contest.

Mount Union senior wide receiver Cecil Shorts III was a multi-dimensional threat. He caught seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Lining up as a quarterback, he completed 5 of 7 passes for 56 yards.

After the Raiders took a 21-10 second-quarter lead, Coppage scored on an 11-yard touchdown run, helping the Warhawks trim their deficit to 21-17.

Then, Whitewater quarterback Lee Brekke found Tyler Huber on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 left in the first half, putting Wisconsin-Whitewater ahead for good.

Coppage provided the game’s first points with his 54-yard touchdown scamper and Eric Kindler added a 30-yard field goal as the Warhawks took a 10-0 lead.

The Purple Raiders answered back with 21 consecutive points in the second quarter. Wisconsin-Whitewater then scored 14 points of its own to take a 24-21 halftime lead.
Mount Union’s defense forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions, helping the Raiders take their only lead.

Sophomore defensive end Charles Dieuseul recovered a fumble, which was forced by sophomore defensive back Nick Driskill to set up Mount Union’s first score.

The Raiders got on the board when sophomore quarterback Matt Piloto found senior tight end Kyle Miller for a 39-yard touchdown hookup.

A 28-yard interception return by senior defensive end Lambert Budzinski set up the next Mount Union score.

Starting at UWW’s 4-yard line, the Raiders needed two plays to find the end zone, finishing with a 1-yard rush by sophomore running back Jeremy Murray.

The Raiders (14-1) took a 21-10 lead later on when Piloto went deep to Shorts for a 58-yard score.

At that point, the Warhawks (15-0) used their running game to take control. UWW enjoyed a 312-45 advantage on the ground.

Driskill starred on Mount Union’s defense, finishing with 12 tackles including two for a loss, and the forced fumble.

Senior defensive back Chaz Jordan added nine tackles and junior defensive back Alex Ferrara made an interception.

Making his first collegiate start, sophomore quarterback Matt Piloto completed 20 of 43 passes for 267 yards.

Matt McCulloch was a thorn in the Raiders’ side as he finished with two interceptions and eight tackles.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

No. 2 ranked Mount Union and No. 1 ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater will meet for a sixth consecutive season in the NCAA Division III National Championship game — the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl — on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in Salem, Virginia. The game will be broadcast LIVE on television on ESPNU, ESPNU HD.

It will be the 14th Stagg Bowl visit for the Purple Raiders who have won the game 10 times including the 2005 (35-28), 2006 (35-16) and 2008 (31-26) games against Whitewater. Whitewater is making its sixth Stagg Bowl appearance and the Warhawks won two championships both over Mount Union in 2007 (31-21) and 2009 (38-28).

The Purple Raiders (14-0), won the Ohio Athletic Conference and its automatic bid into the playoffs. After completing its fifth straight undefeated regular season, the No. 2 ranked Purple Raiders are 12-0 overall after beating St. Lawrence, 49-0 in the first round and No. 18 ranked Delaware Valley 31-3 in the second round, Alfred (N.Y.) 37-7 in the quarterfinals and a 34-14 win over No. 14 ranked Bethel (Minn.) in the semifinals.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-0) earned an automatic bid by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title. The Warhawks are making their ninth playoff appearance with a 27-6 record in NCAA post-season play. Whitewater defeated No. 24 Frankin (Ind.) 52-21 in the first round, No. 12 Trine (Ind.) 45-31 in the second round, then went on the road to beat No. 5 North Central (Ill.) 20-10 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 ranked Wesley (Del.) 27-7 in the semifinals.

This will be the seventh meeting between the schools with Mount Union holding a 5-2 edge in the series. The teams have met in each of the last five Stagg Bowls and also played a pair of regular season openers in 2002 and 2003 with Mount Union winning 44-21 in 2002 in Wisconsin and 40-17 in 2003 in Ohio. The Raiders are a combined 8-4 against WIAC teams (5-2 vs. UW-Whitewater, 2-2 vs. UW-LaCrosse and 1-0 vs. UW-Oshkosh).

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Mount Union head football coach Larry Kehres recorded his 300th career victory as No. 2-ranked Mount Union defeated St. Lawrence, 49-0, in a Division III NCAA Tournament first-round matchup at Mount Union Stadium on Saturday.

Kehres improves his career record to 300-22-3. He became the 11th college football coach in all divisions — and the fastest — to reach the 300-win mark.

Now in the Round of 16, the Purple Raiders (11-0) will host Delaware Valley Saturday at noon. Delaware Valley defeated Salisbury in the first round, 23-12.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria’s Tyler Almeida, who is the kicker for one of the nation’s top Division III team Mount Union, is one of 42 placekickers nationwide on the Fred Mitchell Award October watch list.

On the season, Almeida is second on the team in scoring with 67 points, 9 of 12 on field goals and 40 of 41 on extra points. He has converted 25 consecutive extra points for a Mount Union squad that is 8-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Almeida is one of only two NCAA D-III kickers from Ohio on the list and he is also being recognized for the community service work he does with the Raider Buddy program. The Raider Buddy program takes Mount Union football players into Alliance-area elementary schools to mentor and tutor children.

The annual Fred Mitchell Award, www.fredmitchellaward.com is provided to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker among more than 600 FCS, Division II, III and NAIA football teams. The Award is named for Fred Mitchell, the record-setting place-kicker at Wittenberg University, author, philanthropist and Chicago Tribune sports columnist.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Mount Union scored on each of its first four possessions and forced three John Carroll turnovers in the first half and the Purple Raiders went on to a 51-7 rout in a Ohio Athletic Conference opener Saturday in Cleveland.

Quarterback Neal Seaman completed 20 of 25 passes for 260 yards with three touchdown passes as he led Mount Union to a 2-0 start and the nation’s best 45th consecutive regular season victory.

Elyria’s Tyler Almeida kicked field goals from 34, 22 and 23 yards to send the score to 51-0. He also kicked six extra points.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Mount Union's football team topped both Ohio Athletic Conference media and coaches preseason polls announced Wednesday at the conference football media day at Ohio Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.

The Purple Raiders, the preseason No.1 pick in the nation by USA Today, went 14-1 last season, won the OAC championship and advanced to the Stagg Bowl, national championship game, for a fifth straight season. Mount Union has won the last 18-straight and 21 OAC football titles overall.

The football team reports back to campus on Aug. 18 and starts practice on Aug. 19 with the season opener Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. against The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Wisconsin. The game will begin Larry Kehres' 25th season as Mount Union head coach and he has a 289-22-3 overall record.

OAC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Mount Union (9) - 81
2. Ohio Northern - 71.5 (0.5)
3. Otterbein - 63.5 (0.5)
4. Capital - 56
5. Heidelberg - 43
6. Muskingum - 41
7. Baldwin-Wallace - 34
8. John Carroll - 31
9. Marietta - 19
10. Wilmington - 10

OAC Preseason Media Poll
1. Mount Union (34) - 340
2. Ohio Northern - 299
3. Otterbein - 274
4. Capital - 197
5. Heidelberg - 176
6. John Carroll - 158
7. Muskingum - 154
8. Baldwin-Wallace - 145
9. Marietta - 78
10. Wilmington - 49

First Place votes in parenthesis

courtesy of Leonard Reich, Sports Information Director

Mount Union’s Pierre Garcon continues to impress, catching one of Peyton Manning’s four touchdown passes, as the Indianapolis Colts blasted the Arizona Cardinals 31-10 Sunday night.

The Colts' quarterback completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards with one interception. His 53-yard TD pass to Garcon gave the Colts a 21-3 halftime lead.

Garcon finished with three catches for 64 yards.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Mount Union's Pierre Garcon caught a short pass from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown with 3:18 remaining to give the Colts a 27-23 win over the host Miami Dolphins last night on Monday Night Football.

Manning had thrown to Garcon the play before, but it was out of reach of the second-year receiver. The next time at the line, Manning called an audible and moments later, Garcon was racing down the sideline for his first NFL touchdown.

The two-time All-American at Mount Union was the first Purple Raider since Corl Zimmerman of Dayton Triangles in 1929 to start an NFL game.

swalker@MorningJournal.com