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Mt. Union returns to title game
Defense lifts Purple Raiders past Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
By JEFFREY ZUPANIC
ALLIANCE
Mount Union’s prolific football defense struck twice to send the Purple Raiders back to the Division III’s national championship game.
It’s been a season filled with defensive highlights, but defensive back Gabe Brown might have stolen the show with his fourth-quarter interception return that sealed Mount Union’s 29th straight win and a 28-20 victory over Johns Hopkins Saturday in the national semifinal at Mount Union Stadium.
Friday in Shenandoah, Texas, Mount Union (14-0) will compete for its 14th national championship against Mary Hardin-Baylor/UW-Whitewater
Brown, who missed part of the regular season due to a broken thumb, saw a wobbly ball floating his way. Only one thought crossed his mind with the Purple Raiders holding a precarious 21-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
“See ball, get ball,” said Brown with a big smile.
The senior then let out a scream before he ran down the sidelines for a 76-yard pick-six that sealed the Purple Raiders’ opportunity to repeat as national champions.
Brown’s pick came right in front of the Johns Hopkins bench. It was shades of former Purple Raider Drew McClain’s interception from the 2008 Stagg Bowl.
“They’re pretty good,” Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff said.
Brown’s interception return was the 15th defensive touchdown of the season for the Purple Raiders.
The 14th came earlier in the game when Brown tipped a pass on a slant route and teammate Trevor Cox grabbed and raced 90-yards for a momentum swinging touchdown.
Mount Union led 7-0 at the time but had dodged a pair of bullets after stopping Johns Hopkins on fourth down twice inside the red zone in the second quarter.
The Blue Jays also missed a 33-yard field goal in falling behind 14-0.
“There’s going to be times where one side of the ball isn’t playing well and you need the other side to pick up the slack,” Mount Union head coach Vince Kehres said. “Today, our defense did that.”
Mount Union spent most of the first half deep in its own territory and struggled to generate offense. The Purple Raiders had five drives start from inside its own 20 before halftime.
“I [asked] our coaches are we ever going to get decent field position,” Kehres said.
The Blue Jays came to life after Mount Union quarterback D’Angelo Fulford was stripped of the ball, resulting in a defensive touchdown. The PAT was blocked.
The scored remained 14-6 until the third quarter.
After the team’s exchanged three-and-outs, Mount Union finally got going with a 92-yard drive that saw Fulford complete all five of his passes for 91 yards, including a 31-yarder to backup tight end Joe Fornaro for his first catch of the season.
Junior wide receiver Justin Hill hauled in his second TD of the game to pushed the lead to 21-6.
Johns Hopkins made it a one-score game (21-13) early in the fourth and were driving before Brown’s interception.
The Blue Jays (12-2) came into the game with Division III’s highest rated offense but managed just two offensive touchdowns and finished with almost 200 yards fewer than their season average of 565 yards.
Sophomore running back Josh Petruccelli surpassed 100 yards on the ground for the fourth playoff game and said the defenders were the stars of the game.
“We sputtered a little bit but they had our backs,” Petruccellli said. “It’s awesome watching them be able to score so many points.”