McDavid plays vital part in Mount Union's victory

Five years ago, he came to the school expecting to play quarterback. He ended upon defense.
BY ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
ALLIANCE -- It's been a long wait for Mount Union defensive back Robert McDavid, but his five years of hard work and patience finally paid off Saturday.
McDavid, a fifth-year senior from Pickerington, Ohio, played a vital part in Mount Union's 34-31 victory over Capital with his first career interception and a key kickoff return to set up the Purple Raiders' winning drive.
When he came to Mount Union as a freshman five years ago, he was recruited as a quarterback. But with the Purple Raiders' run of strong signal-callers, things didn't work out for McDavid on offense.
Troubles compounded
He thought he might win the job this season, but Mike Jorris inherited the position after Mount Union's first game of the season. That, coupled with McDavid's broken foot, changed his future.
He was asked to move to the other side of the ball and the move has paid off all season and especially on Saturday.
"His story is one coaches like," said Mount Union coach Larry Kehres. "I get a little choked up when I think about it. After coming here as a quarterback, moving over to defense and waiting his turn to play and then coming up big today, it's really a neat thing to see."
It's not that McDavid hasn't performed well the whole season -- he's sixth on the team with 57 tackles. But with big-name players on defense like Mike Gibbons, Jesse Wells, Ross Watson and Justin Stickley, he's been overshadowed a bit.
Goals pan out
"I just wanted to make the most of this season after getting another chance because of my medical redshirt," said McDavid. "They asked me to switch over to defense and it's been a lot of fun. I've made a lot of new friends on that side of the ball -- friends that I'll probably have for the rest of my life."
With Mount Union clinging to a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter, McDavid picked up his first career interception to stop a Capital scoring drive.
As big a play that was, McDavid made an even bigger impact when it counted the most.
The Crusaders had rallied to seize a 31-27 lead and Mount Union found itself just 7:05 from being bounced from the playoffs.
But on the ensuing kickoff, McDavid hauled in the boot and sprinted up the right sideline to the Capital 46 to give the Purple Raiders prime field position.
The runback paid dividends eight plays later as Mount Union scored the winning touchdown to advance to next week's national semifinals.
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"It was blocked perfectly," said McDavid. "I don't think I even got touched because I just jumped over the kicker. We put in a new blocking scheme for this game and had used it until that last return when we just set up a right side return. The blocking was great and I was able to get a good return."
Now with Mount Union just two wins away from its eighth national championship, McDavid is just hoping to do his part to help.
"It's been fun and we've been playing really hard in the playoffs," he said. "We'll just go back to watch some film and get ready for Rowan. We'll come out and play as hard as we can and see if we can get another win."