Benedictine no match for Mount Union

Staff report

ALLIANCE

Junior quarterback Matt Piloto completed 18 of 23 passes for 206 yards on Saturday to lead Mount Union to a 47-7 victory over Benedictine in a NCAA Division III first-round playoff game at Mount Union Stadium.

Junior running back Jeremy Murray rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior running back Blair Skilliter added 67 yards rushing and two scores for the Purple Raiders (11-0), who will play Centre (Ky.) (10-1) on Saturday. The site of the game will be announced today.

Senior linebacker Arthur Smith returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown.

Murray scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, from 2 and 3 yards, and senior kicker Tyler Almeida added the extra points as Mount Union took a 14-0 lead into the second period.

The Purple Raiders extended their advantage to 27-0 in the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Skilliter and Smith’s interception return.

“That was kind of a decisive play [in the game],” Mount Union coach Larry Kehres said. “We were planning what to do if we got the ball back on offense, then suddenly we have seven points. When those plays go for you it’s a big, big plus.”

Benedictine got on the board with a 10-play, 51-yard drive, capped by Matt Brown’s 3-yard scoring pass to Brandin Austin with 9:38 remaining in the third quarter.

But the Purple Raiders scored touchdowns on each of their next three possessions.

Murray finished an eight-play, 59-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run, his third of the game, to make it 33-7. Then Skilliter found the end zone from the 2 to culminate an 11-play, 88-yard drive, with 13:28 left in the fourth quarter to give Mount Union a 40-7 lead.

Jake Simon found the end zone on a 1-yard run with 9:20 to go to give the Purple Raiders a 47-7 lead.

Mount Union finished with 444 total yards, including 238 rushing.

“We really didn’t have any big or flashy plays,” Piloto sai. “We were just really consistent.”

The Purple Raiders held Benedictine to 203 total yards, including 112 on the ground.

John Borsellino led Benedictine with 79 yards on 15 carries, including a long run of 52 yards. Brown was 8 of 20 for 91 yards and a touchdown.

“We played a really good football team,” Benedictine coach Jon Cooper said. “What we saw watching in film of Mount Union was that some [opponents] played scared. We emphasized to our team just to take it one play at a time. We wanted to compete, and I think we did that.”

The victory was the 314th for Kehres in his career, tying him with Amos Alonzo Stagg and Roy Kidd for No. 7 all-time in college football.