ALLIANCE Mt. Union's defense dominates

It gave the Purple Raiders a chance to build a 42-0 halftime lead.
By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ALLIANCE -- Mount Union College's first-team defense has given up only one touchdown this season.
So dominating was that Purple Raider defense Saturday that it limited Wilmington College to 112 yards of total offense in rolling to a 49-7 victory before 3,932 fans at Mount Union Stadium.
The Quakers (2-3) had five straight possessions of three-and-out in the first half as the Purple Raiders (5-0, 4-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) built a 42-0 lead by halftime.
"We've been playing good defense this year," said Mount Union coach Larry Kehres. "Our experience and speed stopped a couple of their backs, who were fast, from making any big plays."
Balanced attack
Six different players scored for the Purple Raiders in the first half. At one stage during that 30 minutes of action, quarterback Zac Bruney connected on 13 straight passes, which included TD strikes of 14 yards to Jeff Strauch, 14 yards to Aaron Robinson and 11 yards to Rick Ciccone.
Jason Cavell returned a punt 61 yards for a TD, and with less than two seconds remaining until intermission, the Quakers attempted a 47-yard field goal.
Kirk Wade of the Raiders broke through the Wilmington line and blocked the kick and Shaun Spisak picked up the ball and raced 16 yards for a TD.
"It's always dangerous to try a kick that long," said Kehres. "Their kicker may have taken too much time in an effort to try and make it just right and that gave our guys the opportunity to get in there."
Bruney connected on 17-of-24 passes for 229 yards, including a 5-yard TD strike that put Mount Union ahead 6-0 with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter.
About the 13 straight completions, Bruney said, "The guys were getting open, catching and running with the ball.
"We aren't as experienced on offense as our defensive team is, so we want to improve and get better each week," said Bruney.
Defense and special teams
The Mount Union defense has accounted for four TDs this season and the special teams have scored three times.
In the first half Mount Union held the Quakers to 4 yards rushing on 19 tries.
The Quakers weren't much better trying to pass as they completed only 13 of 32 for 100 yards, and their quarterbacks were sacked seven times, with Johnny Josef of Mount Union getting two sacks accounting for 15 lost yards.
Starting Mount Union linebacker Ross Watson, a Fitch High graduate, made two solo tackles and assisted on another.
Defensive tackle Josh Ludwig of East Liverpool made three solo tackles for the Purple Raiders.