Sunday, September 23, 2007
Mount Union whipped
Muskingum, 62-0.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
ALLIANCE — Mount Union’s Pierre Garcon has yet to play a full game this season, but he’s done plenty to attract attention.
The senior wideout had his breakout game of the 2007 season, hauling in three touchdown passes in the first half and leading the Purple Raiders to their third straight blowout victory of the year, 62-0 over Muskingum Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 5,672.
Like they have each game this season, the Purple Raiders put the game out of reach by halftime, scoring 35 points in the opening quarter and led 56-0 at halftime. Two of Garcon’s three scores came in the first period, including a 15-yarder from Greg Micheli on the game’s first play.
Penalty served
It had been a quiet season for Garcon until Week 2 when he was ejected from the game in the second quarter after being whistled for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Forced to sit the rest of the game against Otterbein, the senior was anxious for game time this week.
“It felt good to get out there and get involved,” said Garcon, who had his first career three-touchdown game. “I always look to make a play, but I’m happy everyone is getting the ball. Last week was my fault and I just put it in the past, learned from it and came out to play football.”
Nate Kmic scored three times — twice on the ground and once through the air. Micheli added a rushing score to his career-high four touchdown passes.
The unsung hero in the victory was senior Justin Wray, who piled up 122 yards on four kick returns to set up two Mount Union scoring drives.
His 70-yard return on the opening kickoff led to Garcon’s first TD and a 35-yard punt return to the 1-yard line set up a scoring plunge by Kmic that gave Mount Union a 28-0 advantage at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter.
Scoring spread around
“I wish I could have gotten in on that one, but it still gave us great field position and we scored anyway,” said Wray, who also caught two passes for 47 yards. “It’s been helping us to be able to spread the ball around and keep teams from keying on one guy. We practice hard every week and are ready for a full game, so there’s no negative.”
For the third straight game, Mount Union’s starters played just two quarters. The rest could come in handy late in the season when the Purple Raiders face nationally-ranked Baldwin-Wallace, Capital and John Carroll in consecutive weeks.
Kehres was pleased with another dominating performance by his squad and especially thrilled with the great start from Garcon and the play on special teams.
“We always look to get Pierre in the action quickly,” said Kehres. “He ran some great routes tonight and broke that screen play for a touchdown.
“The opening kick and punt runbacks were outstanding and put us in good position. Our defense is playing well — it’s a veteran group and they are playing like it. They are giving up very few yards and no points.”