Football: Mount Union Wins League-Record 36th OAC Title

MARIETTA, Ohio – The No. 2 Mount Union football team won its 36th overall and ninth straight Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship after a 30-19 win at Marietta on Saturday.

The Purple Raiders, who stayed perfect at 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the OAC, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, their 36th NCAA playoff appearance—the most in NCAA Division III history.

Junior WR Davion Grant (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast) had a day with nine catches for 170 yards (both season highs) and two touchdowns—the second straight game with multiple TDs. His second touchdown, a 37-yard catch, was the final score of the game. The performance marks his second 100-yard game of the season and seventh of his career.

Redshirt freshman QB Mikey Maloney (Concord Township, OH/Painesville Riverside) finished 20 for 31 for 268 yards and three passing touchdowns and an interception, his third-straight game with three passing touchdowns. Maloney also added a rushing score.

Sophomore Ricky Levak (Nordonia, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) picked off his third interception of the season (now with an INT in back-to-back games), tying him for a team high. Sophomore Gabe Gannelli (Allison Park, PA/Hampton) led the Mount Union defense with a sack and two tackles for loss (both career highs). Mount Union's defense held Marietta senior RB Vante' Hodges to 34 yards rushing, the lowest since his sophomore year. Hodges came in leading the OAC in rushing, with 135.8 yards per game.

Sophomore RB Kayden Minner (New Madrid, MO/New Madrid County Central) ran for a game-high 73 yards.

Marietta (4-5, 3-5 OAC) scored first with a 1-yard run by Benny Lewis, capping off an 11-play, 69-yard drive. Seniors Kaleb Brown (La Plata, MD/La Plata) and Brandon Bowden (Gainesville, FL/Gainesville) stopped Marietta's Vante' Hodges for no gain on 4th-and-1 at Mount Union's 40-yard line, setting up the Purple Raiders' tying touchdown as seven plays later Maloney tossed it to his left to graduate RB Darnell Williams (Cleveland, OH/John Adams), who caught it at the 15-yard line and juked his way to the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown.

After junior K Ivan Maric (Falls Church, VA/Mclean) made a 23-yard field goal to put Mount ahead 10-7, an interception by Keenan Cruz (Lutz, FL/George M. Steinbrenner), who returned it 14 yards to the Pioneers' 38-yard line, set up the next Mount touchdown.

Grant caught a perfectly placed ball by Maloney and got both feet down in the front right corner of the end zone, extending the Raiders' lead to 17-7 with five minutes left in the second quarter.

Marietta scored its second touchdown of the half; however, junior safety Davis Nye (Wadsworth, OH/Wadsworth) blocked the extra point, and Mount Union led 17-13 at halftime.

Maloney scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the season with a 3-yard score in the third quarter, and Mount Union led 24-13. Marietta scored on its ensuing drive before Maloney connected with Grant with the 37-yard touchdown as time expired in the third.

Mount Union wraps up the regular season next Saturday, November 15, with a home game against Muskingum. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.