Freshman Kmic powers Raiders to another title game

Mount Union's defense was also outstanding in the 19-7 win over Rowan.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ALLIANCE -- To no one's real surprise, the Mount Union College football team has qualified for its eighth Division III national championship game in 10 seasons.
What is a little surprising is who's powering the Purple Raiders' first trip to Salem, Va., since 2003 -- a solid performance by the defensive line and linebackers plus powerhouse running by freshman back Nate Kmic.
Saturday at Mount Union Stadium, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound Kmic carried the ball 48 times and gained 160 yards during the Raiders' 19-7 victory over Rowan in the NCAA playoff semifinal.
Just as impressively, the Raiders limited the Profs to -1 yard rushing on 27 carries.
Whitewater up next
Next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Stagg Bowl, Mount Union (13-1) will try for its eighth national title when the Raiders take on Wisconsin Whitewater (14-0).
"It was a blast," said Kmic of Saturday's victory. The freshman from Delta has 1,034 yards on the season even though he didn't become a starter until the playoffs.
He now has four straight games with more than 100 yards rushing.
"I'm a little beat up, but I'll be all right," Kmic said.
Kmic scored both Raiders' touchdowns in the second quarter -- one on a 30-yard pass reception from quarterback Mike Jorris, the other on a 7-yard run.
Mount Union coach Larry Kehres said he wasn't concerned about gassing his back who became a starter after Aaron Robinson injured a hamstring in early November.
"He played like this in high school," Kehres said. "When he came here, he showed us videos and he played extremely well. So we knew he had touched the ball a lot of times."
Rowan's only score
Late in the third quarter, the Profs scored their only points when quarterback Joe Rankin sneaked over the goal line from the 1 to cut the Raiders' advantage to 14-7.
But the Raiders dominated the fourth quarter as Mike Zimmerman kicked a 25-yard field goal and defensive end Buddy Wolf nailed Rankin in the end zone for a safety.
Nadyr Albri led the Profs with 10 carries for 10 yards. Rob Richardson ran nine times for 22 yards. Their other three ball carriers finished with losses.
"We knew that stopping the run to force the pass gave us the best chance to win," Raiders defensive end Justen Stickley said. "They are a good run blocking team.
"We had noticed that earlier in the season they were more of a passing team, but lately they had been focusing on the run, getting 3-4 yards a carry and putting them in third-and-short situations."
Not Saturday.
"Our inability to run the football, obviously that was the key today," Rowan coach Jay Accorsi said. "They struggled a little offensively, but their defense did a great job by putting eight in the box on first down to stop us.
"Anytime you do that, it's going to be trouble when you face second-and-long, third-and-long," Accorsi said.
Rankin completed 14-of-32 passes for 177 yards. He also was picked off twice.
Passing game clicked
The Raiders took advantage of the Profs' keying on Kmic as Jorris passed for 178 yards by completing 17-of-29 tosses. One was intercepted.
"In playoff and championship games, teams that can run the football and stop the run are going to be very successful," Accorsi said. "Those were two key elements today."
Asked if he felt three months ago if he believed the Raiders were good enough to go this deep in the playoffs, Kehres said yes "but we would have to improve as the season progressed."
williams@vindy.com