MOUNT UNION Kehres consoles after rare defeat

The Raiders' 55-game win streak ended in the national title game.
SALEM, Va. (AP) -- Larry Kehres hasn't had much practice consoling his Mount Union team after a loss. In his 18 seasons as coach, the Purple Raiders have come up short only 18 times compared with 205 victories.
The latest loss, 24-6 to St. John's in the Division III national championship Saturday, ended the Purple Raiders' NCAA-record 55-game winning streak and three-year hold on the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
But losing, Kehres said, can sometimes help good things happen.
"It's a real springboard for the young guys," he said. "Don't assume you're going to be successful. There's certain steps you have to take to be successful. Start taking them. It's like a wake-up call, a slap in the face, and that's how we'll use it. That's how we used it last time."
Last loss in '99
Last time was 1999 when Mount Union lost 24-17 to Rowan in the Division III semifinals, ending a then-record 54-game winning streak.
They hadn't lost since, winning the next three Stagg Bowls to make it seven in 10 years and breaking the winning streak record with a 66-0 victory against Bridgewater to earn a chance at a fourth straight title.
St. John's, where steady success in football allowed coach John Gagliardi to become the career victories leader among college coaches this year, ended those hopes with a stout defense and three big plays.
The first was a 14-yard run with a lateral by Jake Theis on the last play of the first half, giving the Johnnies a 7-6 lead. It was the first time Mount Union had trailed at halftime in its last 39 games.
Next came a 51-yard run by Gagliardi Trophy winner Blake Elliott early in the fourth quarter, giving the Johnnies a 17-6 lead, and then a 100-yard interception return that ended the Purple Raiders bid to answer.
Pride
For 21 of Mount Union's 24 seniors, their first loss as collegians came in their final game, but they wouldn't let the disappointment tarnish being part of the best run of success in college football history.
"It's a loss, but we're going to walk out of this meeting and soon we're going to walk on that bus and we're going to have our heads held high," quarterback Jesse Burghardt said. "We've accomplished a lot."
Cornerback Mike Miller seemed to struggle more with the likelihood that he'd just played his last game than with what the outcome had been.
"We may have lost this last game, but we can never replace the friendships that we've made. Us seniors are real close and we'll be friends for life," he said, his voice cracking as the words came out.
"We lost this last game, but we also won three championships in a row. You can never replace those memories, and these are friends I'll have the rest of my life ... and memories I'll have for the rest of my life."