Kmic rushes Mount Union to 56-0 romp

By Eric Hamilton

The Purple Raiders piled up season-high 676 total yards to rip Randolph-Macon.

ALLIANCE — Mount Union running back Nate Kmic saves his best football in the playoffs.

After his fifth career 200-yard playoff game during Mount Union’s 56-0 rout of first-round opponent Randolph-Macon, there’s no disputing it.

Kmic rushed for 290 yards and scored four touchdowns on Saturday as Mount Union piled up season-high 676 total yards en route to its 17th straight opening round playoff victory.

In 16 career postseason contests, Kmic has rolled up a whopping 3,026 yards. He owns the top four single-game rushing marks in school history – all coming in the playoffs.

Heading into next week’s second-round playoff game against Hobart College (NY), Kmic has 7,214 career yards – just 139 yards short of the Division III record of 7,353 by Grove City College’s R.J. Bowers.

“I’ve been here a few times before, so even though I had a little nerves, it felt like just another game for me,” Kmic said. “I really didn’t do anything different, it’s just that in the playoffs we run the ball more as a team.

“I knew from the first play when the offensive line moved them back yards, that we’d be able to run the ball. The line was awesome today.”

As usual, Mount Union got rolling early, scoring on its first two offensive possessions. A 13-yard run by quarterback Greg Micheli and a 67-yard scoring jaunt by Kmic, put the Purple Raiders ahead 14-0.

The defense got into the act as well, scoring via a 62-yard interception return by Daryl Ely with 6:19 left in the first quarter.

Despite a three-touchdown deficit, Randolph-Macon showed some grit, especially offensively. Playing with leading rusher Zak Thornton, the Yellow Jackets moved the ball on the Mount Union defense.

Running back Steve Matthews was effective on the ground with his tough running style. But the Mount Union defense didn’t allow any long runs, which proved critical.

Three times, the Yellow Jackets drove inside the Purple Raiders’ 30, but came away empty-handed.

“It was a strange kind of game,” Mount Union coach Larry Kehres said. “We didn’t have the ball very much, but we had some big plays. I looked at the stats at halftime and they had the ball for 20 minutes [19:53] and had 57 yards, but Nate had 209 yards.

“We kind of got in a lull there for a little bit, but I was pleased with our young guys playing in their first playoff game. And it was a good performance by our defense — scoring a touchdown and not giving up any points.”

Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza, a former All-American running back at Wheaton, came away impressed with Mount Union, specifically Kmic.

“He is a lot better than I ever was,” Arruza said. “It’s just the way he changes gears and has such great vision and a great burst. He’s the best running back I’ve seen in my five years of coaching.

“This was a great opportunity to come in and play the No. 1 team in the country. We definitely have something to build on from this game and it will give a boost in recruiting.”

Mount Union advances to play Hobart College on Saturday at noon at Mount Union Stadium. The Purple Raiders have never faced Hobart.