Football: #2 Mount Union Dominates #13 John Carroll for 34th OAC Title

11/4/2023 | Football | Box Score

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - The No. 2 nationally ranked Mount Union football team won convincingly, 49-14, at No. 13 John Carroll to claim the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship for the 34th time in program history.

The win clinches the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs and will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 33rd time.

The 35-point win was the Purple Raiders' largest margin of victory over the Blue Streaks since 2012 (W, 59-17). Mount extends its winning streak over John Carroll to seven games.

Junior Tyler Echeverry (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) scored the first points of the game off a 1-yard touchdown, capping off a 10-play, 78-yard drive. After John Carroll (7-2, 7-1 OAC) tied it at 7 with a rush by Evan McVay, senior Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) ran it in from two yards out, capping off another 10-plus play drive, this time 11 plays and 75 yards. The score was Plunk's third rushing touchdown this season.

In the second quarter, Plunk connected with sophomore Nick Turner (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) for a 13-yard touchdown pass, Turner's second receiving touchdown in the past three games. The score was setup by a 52-yard punt return by senior Wayne Ruby (Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan), a career long on his second career punt return. On the Blue Streaks' ensuing drive, senior Ian Sexton (Dover, Ohio/Dover) picked off Joe Collins' pass and returned the one-handed pick 19 yards for a touchdown, the first pick-six of his career. Just like that, Mount led 28-7 with 4:53 left in the second quarter.

Near the end of the first half, the Blue Streaks were threatening first and goal, however the Mount Union's defense showed why it is one of the top defenses in the nation forcing a turnover on downs and John Carroll's first 4th down fail on the season. The Blue Streaks entered the game 6 for 6 on fourth downs, leading NCAA Division III in fourth-down percentage, and the Raider defense stopped them twice on fourth down.

After the Blue Streaks scored on a touchdown pass from Collins, the Purple Raiders scored the last three touchdowns for the exclamation point. Ruby scored on a 60-yard catch, graduate student DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla./Crystal River) scored from five yards out on his return from injury, and junior Ryan Eiden (Shavertown, Pa./Lake-Lehman) ran it in from three yards out.

Parker led on the ground with 90 yards and a touchdown. Ruby finished with 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, his third-straight 100-yard receiving game and 25th of his illustrious career. Echeverry added 50 rushing yards with a score.

Senior John Roland (Livonia, Mich./Northville) led the Raider defense with a career-high nine tackles. Junior Rossy Moore (Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) had eight tackles and a team-high two tackles for loss, extending his career total to 42.0 TFLs - just outside the Top-10 in the school's record books. Senior Duke Hill (Memphis, Tenn./Germantown) registered a team-high 1.5 sacks, followed by junior Von Factor (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) with a sack and sophomore Kaleb Brown (La Plata, Md./La Plata) with a half sack. Senior Josh Jones (Twinsburg, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) also had an interception, now with five picks on the season - tying for the most in the OAC. Jones' career interception total is 13, one shy of tying ninth-most in program history.

The Purple Raiders close out the regular season Saturday, Nov. 11 at home against Baldwin Wallace. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Kehres Stadium.