Mount Union stifles Cortland St.’s rush

By Eric Hamilton

The Purple Raiders rolled, limiting the Red Dragons to no yards on the ground.

ALLIANCE — Mount Union College football coach Larry Kehres says the same thing every year when asked about the key to having success in the Division III playoffs.

“You have to be able to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense,” Kehres says.

In Saturday’s quarterfinal contest against Cortland State, the Purple Raiders were successful on both accounts and the result was another lopsided postseason victory.

Despite slippery field conditions and a driving wind, Mount Union rolled up 537 yards – including 295 rushing – while holding Cortland State to 0 yards on the ground, en route to a 41-14 win at Mount Union Stadium.

The victory vaulted the Purple Raiders into the national semifinals for the 14th straight year, where they will play host to Wheaton (Ill.) next Saturday at noon.

“In snowy conditions and with a wind like that, you have to able to run the ball, use the clock and keep the ball,” Kehres said. “You run the ball and pass some and try to get something out of every possession.”

Mount Union didn’t score on every possession, but was able to do something that proved even more valuable — keep Cortland’s offense off the field.

After Cortland scored twice in the first half, including the game’s first touchdown, the Red Dragons’ offense spent most the second half huddled around the sideline heater.

Mount Union built a 20-14 halftime lead and proceeded to play an amazing game of keep-away in the second half. The Purple Raiders’ offense held the ball for 221‚Ñ2 minutes in the final two quarters.

All told, Mount Union’s time of possession was 42:33. The Purple Raiders ran 81 offensive plays, to just 34 for the Red Dragons.

“You have to have the ball to score,” Cortland State coach Dan MacNeill said. “We just didn’t have many opportunities in the second half. The difference was that they won the third quarter and we didn’t.

“It was a good first half and we were down by only six points. But they took our momentum away and when you get down too far, it’s tough for the offense to have to score every time, knowing that we have to throw and are one-dimensional.”

It also didn’t help matters for Cortland when starting quarterback Ray Miles was forced to leave the game in the third quarter after injuring his throwing wrist and hand.

He hit his hand of the helmet of a Mount Union defender as he followed through on a pass attempt.

But by then, Mount Union already led 27-14 and went on to add a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

———

Cortland State7700—14

Mount Union1010714—41

First Quarter

CS—Murphy 5 pass from Miles (Lang kick), 11:35

MTU—Kmic 1 run (Wilk kick), 7:40

MTU—FG Wilk 21, 1:11

Second Quarter

MTU—FG Wilk 19, 10:05

MTU—Kmic 2 run (Wilk kick), 1:06

CS—Lang 31 pass from Miles (Lang kick), 0:41

Third Quarter

MTU—Kmic 2 run (Wilk kick), 11:12

Fourth Quarter

MTU—Kmic 3 run (Wilk kick), 14:29

MTU—Reynolds 22 pass from Kmic (Wilk kick), 5:55

CSMTU

First Downs731

Rushes-Yards15-060-295

Passing Yards200242

Comp-Att-Int11-19-016-21-0

Punts5-32.01-30.0

Fumbles-Lost0-02-0

Penalties-Yards1-152-25

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Cortland State, Giuliano 8-9, Guaragno 1-7, Russell 3-1, Pitcher 3-minus 17. Mount Union, Kmic 45-227, Micheli 9-46, Panchik 5-22, Team 1-0.

PASSING — Cortland State, Miles 10-16-0-191, Pitcher 1-3-0-9. Mount Union, Micheli 16-21-0-242.

RECEIVING —Cortland State, Guaragno 4-69, Lang 4-63, Hajnos 1-40, Lane 1-23, Murphy 1-5. Mount Union, Reynolds 5-111, Shorts 6-63, Petruziello 3-50, Claycomb 1-10, Kmic 1-8.