ALLIANCE Mount Union capitalizes on all that Wabash gives

The Purple Raiders' defense, led by Stan Watson from Fitch, keyed the win over Wabash.
By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ALLIANCE -- Once again, the opportunistic Mount Union College football team took advantage of everything that was given to it Saturday, as the Purple Raiders upended Wabash College, 45-16, in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal playoff game.
The Purple Raiders' defense practically tied up Little Giants quarterback Jake Knott in knots before 4,011 fans at Mount Union stadium.
Knott came into the game needing 120 yards to break his Wabash single-season record of 2,908 yards and 34 touchdowns.
He got both marks, but it wasn't easy. Knott was 16-for-36 passing for 165 yards and a TD, was intercepted three times, sacked three times and fumbled when a Raiders' goal-line stand squelched a Little Giants' TD bid early in the fourth quarter.
John Carroll next
Mount Union (12-0) will host Ohio Athletic Conference rival John Carroll University (12-1) next Saturday at noon. The winner will advance to the national championship game on Dec. 21.
The Purple Raiders continued college football longest winning streak (40), while halting Wabash's (12-1) 15-game streak.
Mount has won 94 of its last 95 games, is 35-7 in the playoffs and continues to go after its third straight national crown.
Purple Raiders coach Larry Kehres said, "Our defense played better today, but it can still be better. Our pressure forced them into mistakes. We had three interceptions and one of them was returned for a touchdown."
Carter stars
Senior defensive end Chris Carter returned that interception 21 yards for the Purple Raiders in the second quarter, helping Mount build a 31-3 lead by intermission. He finished with 12 tackles, two of them for losses.
"Our defense is really resilient," Carter said. "We allowed them to come out in the third quarter and score, and we bounced right back.
"On our goal-line stand, we just had to tough it up and when we stopped them, that shifted momentum from them to us," Carter said.
Ahead 7-0, Mount's senior outside linebacker Stan Watson, an Austintown Fitch High graduate, intercepted a Knott pass at the Wabash 44. Watson led the Raiders with 14 tackles.
Six plays later, tight end Josh Liddell caught a 8-yard TD pass from quarterback Rob Adamson, who was 15-for-23 for 234 yards and three TDs.
Early in the second quarter, senior cornerback Matt Sotcan intercepted a Knott pass to thwart a Wabash drive and the Raiders took over on their own 10.
Mount marched to the Little Giants' 17 in eight plays, and Chad Teague's 34-yard field goal made it 17-0.
About the interceptions, Knott said, "They put a lot of pressure on us and covered downfield well, and we made a lot of mistakes early."
Senior linebacker Nate Boulais said, "When we were down, we wanted to force turnovers and couldn't do that. Mount is fundamentally sound and capitalized on our mistakes."
Chris Creighton, Wabash's coach, said, "I thought we were going to win today, but Mount is a great football team, that's disciplined and does the little things exact, and their attention to detail is precise and that is where we want to get."
Other contributors
Mount's junior wide receiver Randell Knapp caught seven passes for 125 yards and two TDs, while senior running back Dan Pugh rushed 25 times for 165 yards and two scores.
Sophomore defensive tackle Josh Ludwig of East Liverpool was in on 12 tackles for the Raiders, while senior outside linebacker Justin Burton, a West Branch graduate, had seven and freshman defensive back Ross Watson, a Fitch graduate, had two.