Area college roundup Saturday’s games

Mount Union 49, Otterbein 20

WESTERVILLE — No. 1 ranked Mount Union clinched a share of its 20th Ohio Athletic Conference title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs with a win over the 12th-ranked team in the country. Mount Union (9-0, 8-0 OAC) can clinch the title outright with a win in the regular season finale next week at Marietta College. Otterbein (8-1, 7-1 OAC) already has a school-record for wins in a season. All-American senior running back Nate Kmic had 25 carries for 166 yards, and his three rushing touchdowns made him the NCAA’s all-time leader in total touchdowns with 111 and total points with 666 to pace the Purple Raiders. Junior wide receiver Cecil Shorts III also got in the record books as he had three receiving touchdowns to give him 19 on the season, tying the single-season school record held by Adam Marino in 1999. Senior quarterback Greg Micheli tossed Shorts all three of those scores as he was 20-for-27 for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Colton Coy had 75 yards and two touchdowns rushing and threw a touchdown pass to lead Otterbein. The Cardinals fumbled away the opening kickoff and the Raiders got on the board two plays later as Micheli hit Shorts on a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0. Otterbein responded with a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by a Coy 1-yard run to tie the game at 7-7. It took Mount Union just two plays to strike again as Kmic got free and ran 56-yards to make it 14-7. The Cardinals then went three-and-out and Mount Union got on the board one more time before the end of the quarter as Micheli finished a 90-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-7. On the ensuing drive, Otterbein got a 44-yard kickoff return and a 15-yard penalty tacked on to start a drive on the Mount Union 29-yard line. Coy punched it in from a yard out seven plays later and a missed extra point made the score 21-13. Mount Union closed out the half with a pair of scores. On a fourth-down play, Micheli hit Shorts who juggled the ball then feall into the end zone; while Kmic plowed in from 1-yard out, leaving the score 35-13 at the break. Kmic had the only score in the third quarter on a 9-yard run and Shorts caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Micheli early in the fourth quarter to send the score to 49-13. Coy got the game’s final score as he tossed a touchdown pass on a halfback option to Travis McCormick for the 49-20 final.

Washington & Jefferson 41, Bethany 7

WASHINGTON, Pa. — West Branch High graduate Bobby Swallow led W&J (8-1, 4-1 Presidents’ Athletic Conference) by throwing for 283 yards and four touchdowns, all to different receivers. Curt Jones rushed for 112 yards and a pair of scores as the Presidents scored 41 straight points to open the game. W&J scored the first two times they had the ball. An eight-play, 61-yard drive was capped by a five-yard run from Jones, and on the first play of the their second possession, Swallow connected with Craig Besong for a 63-yard scoring pass to make it a 14-0 President advantage. Bethany (2-7, 1-5) put together its best drive of the day right after the second W&J score. It moved 65 yards in 14 plays, highlighted by freshman QB Chad Smith hitting senior WR Taylor McNeil for 12- and 22-yard gains, to reach the President 7. However, four straight incomplete passes turned the ball back over to the hosts. The third W&J score was set up by a Bethany turnover. On the first play after the Presidents recovered a fumble on the BC 22, Derek Taylor broke off a 22-yard scoring run and the lead stood at 20-0 after the extra point was missed. W&J’s lead swelled to 41-0 in the second quarter with three more scores. Bethany was limited to 151 total yards in the setback, including just 21 yards on 20 carries. Smith had 12 completions for 122 yards.

Greenville 50, Thiel 35

GREENVILLE, Pa. — Waynesburg sophomore quarterback Brad Dawson put together one of the best aerial performances in program history, as he led the Yellow Jackets (5-4, 2-3 PAC) to an entertaining victory over Thiel. Dawson’s 453 yards passing were the second-highest amount in a single game by a Jacket quarterback. John Huntey holds the mark of 467 yards, which was set in 1968. The transfer from California University of Pa. completed 26-for-44 pass attempts and recorded two touchdown passes on the day. He also ran in a score. He also spread the wealth beautifully, completing passes to a whopping 10 different receivers. The Tomcats are 2-7, 1-4.

Geneva 17, Thomas More 13

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Gerard Muschette rushed for 98 yards, while teammates Matt Dean (84 yards) and Matt Barge (54) added balance as Geneva won its third straight game after starting the season 1-5. Sophomore David Girardi completed 9 of 17 passes for 98 yards for the Golden Tornadoes (4-5). Thomas More (7-2), which entered the game averaging nearly 35 points per game, had just 267 total yards. Trevor Stellman led the Saints with 13 of 24 passes for 157 yards and a TD.

East Stroudsburg 38, Slippery Rock 21

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Matt Marshall passed for 365 yards and four TDs to lead East Stroudsburg (9-2) in a PAC matchup. Doug Ogden caught two TDs and finished with 96 yards for the Warriors, while Jeff Giglio had eight catches for 162 yards. Brad Galvan passed for 224 yards and two TDs, both to Terry Grossetti, in his first start for The Rock (5-6). Grossetti had four catches for 82 yards and Ryan Lehmeier added 96 yards on 15 carries with a TD.

Wabash 63, Hiram 0

HIRAM — Wabash (9-0, 7-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) set the pace early in the game by returning the opening kickoff 91 yards to grab a 7-0 lead. The Little Giants added two more scores in the quarter on a 10-yard touchdown completion from Matt Hudson to Bobby Kimp and a one-yard TD run by Derrick Yoder to lead 21-0 after the first stanza. Hiram is 2-7, 1-5.

Vindicator staff report