Mount Union returns to title game

The Plain Dealer

ALLIANCE

Mount Union is headed back to the Stagg Bowl, and the better news for the Purple Raiders is they won’t be playing Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Mount Union beat playoff nemesis Whitewater, 36-6, in an NCAA Division III semifinal Saturday behind a defense that settled some pretty big scores before a sellout crowd of 6,147, many of whom stormed the field and surrounded the Purple Raiders in venerable Mount Union Stadium.

Powerful Purple Raiders tailback Logan Nemeth and two-way quarterback Taurice Scott led the way behind an offensive line that grew more dominant as the game heated up on a 64-degree afternoon.

Nemeth ran for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Scott contributed 180 yards and three TDs passing and rushing.

The No. 1-ranked Purple Raiders (14-0) advanced to their 19th Stagg Bowl national championship game since 1993 and 11th in a row. They will play No. 4 St. Thomas (14-0), a 38-17 winner over No. 2 Linfield (12-1).

The Stagg Bowl is Friday in Salem, Virginia.

Mount Union’s 11th and most recent national championship was against St. Thomas in 2012. The Purple Raiders lost five of the last six Stagg Bowls to Whitewater.

“They beat us the last couple years and it feels good to beat them, but we didn’t come here to beat Whitewater, we came here to win 15 games,” Nemeth said. “We’ve got to win one more.”

Whitewater scored a combined 95 points in the 2013 and 2014 victories. It didn’t score a touchdown Saturday for the first time in three years, and never even reached the red zone.

Two major differences between Mount Union’s losses to Whitewater the last two years and Saturday were turnovers and line play. Mount Union committed nine turnovers in those two defeats, and had none Saturday while swiping three interceptions on defense.

Mount Union’s offensive and defensive lines won the day.

“I think it was a lot of guys who got tired of hearing about how we got dominated in the trenches,” Mount Union coach Vince Kehres said.

Trailing 15-6 at halftime, Whitewater’s offense floundered in the second half, managing just 48 yards total offense.

Every time Whitewater needed a big play on offense, Mount Union’s defense made a bigger play. Whitewater converted just 4 of 14 third downs, none of its last nine.

“That was the biggest thing compared to last year and this year — we got off the field on third downs. We challenged them and we stopped them,’’ safety Alex Kocheff said.

Among the UMU defensive standouts, Kocheff and linebacker Hank Spencer each had 10 tackles and defensive lineman Duram Alarms had two sacks.

Tom Lally recorded his school-record 18th sack this season, end Mike Furda’s interception set up a touchdown and cornerback Tre Jones played with a bum knee and held Whitewater standout Marcus Hudson without a catch.

Nemeth (5-foot-10, 195 ponds) repeatedly broke tackles and ran past linebackers en route to 214 yards on 14 carries — nearly identical to his 218 yards and two TDs last week against Wesley. He has 747 yards and and 10 TDs in the playoffs.

“The difference was their ability to run the football on us. That is ultimately is what caught up to us in the end,” Whitewater coach Kevin Bullis said.