Football: Mount Union Earns Fourth Shutout of Season at Wilmington

10/21/2023 | Football | Box Score

WILMINGTON, Ohio - The No. 2-ranked Mount Union football team shut out Wilmington, 69-0, on the road for its fourth shutout of the season and third of the last four games.

The Purple Raiders have outscored their opponents 221-3 the last four contests.

Mount Union (7-0, 6-0 OAC) scored a touchdown on all seven first-half drives.

Senior quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla./Plant City) connected with sophomore wide receiver Nick Turner (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) for a 10-yard touchdown pass on the Purple Raiders' opening drive.

Back-to-back rushing touchdowns followed with junior running back Darnell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio/John Adams) from 10 yards out and junior running back Tyler Echeverry (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) scoring from 14 yards.

Senior wide receiver Tyrell Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) caught a 72-yard touchdown bomb from Plunk for the longest reception of his career. The Raiders now have three 70-plus receiving touchdowns this season.

Senior wide receiver Wayne Ruby (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charles W. Flanagan) caught two consecutive touchdowns (from 15 and 19 yards). Ruby caught a 63-yard pass on the ensuing Mount drive, leading to a 4-yard touchdown by Echeverry.

Freshman kicker Deaglan Camron (Fort Myers, Florida/Bishop Verot) made two field goals and was perfect from points-after-touchdown. Junior running back Ryan Eiden (Shavertown, Pa./Lake-Lehman) scored on a 10-yard run, followed by graduate student Malcolm Rogers (Austin, Texas/Akins) running past the Quaker defense with a season-high 59-yard touchdown run.

The Raiders, who came in ranked first in total defense in the nation, outgained the Quakers, 669-66, including 313-29 on the ground. Mount Union had a 29-4 advantage in first downs.

Plunk finished 15 of 18 for 291 yards and four touchdowns. Williams led on the ground with 91 yards from 11 carries (8.3 avg.). Ruby and Sanders both had 114 yards receiving (first career 100-yard game for Sanders).

Wilmington (3-4, 2-4 OAC) only had two drives in Mount Union's territory all game.

The Raider defense had four sacks, led by senior Duke Hill (Memphis, Tenn./Germantown) with 1.5. Junior Garet Cramer (Woodsfield, Ohio/Monroe Central) and junior Rossy Moore (Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) each had a sack, while senior Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) had a half sack. McMillen registered a team-high seven tackles, extending his team-high to 61 on the season.

Mount Union is back home Saturday, Oct. 28 against Otterbein with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.