#1 Football Passes Past Polar Bears in OAC Opener

Junior defensive lineman Clantz Liggett (Uhrichsville/Claymont) had one of five sacks for Mount Union.

(ALLIANCE, OH)—Senior quarterback Greg Micheli (Upper Sandusky/Upper Sandusky) completed 23-of-25 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns to lead top ranked Mount Union College to a 44-7 win over No. 25 ranked Ohio Northern University in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener in front of a sellout crowd of 7,732 Saturday at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio.

Micheli, who hit eight different receivers, had the same favorite target for a second-straight week as junior wide receiver Cecil Shorts III (Cleveland/Collinwood) who had his second-straight 100-yard receiving game with 108 yards on a career-best seven catches.  Shorts caught two touchdowns passes and his first rushing score of the season on a 14-yard scamper.

Micheli also had 50 yards rushing to account for 373 yards of total offense and lead a unit that generated 506 total yards.

Senior running back Nate Kmic (Delta/Delta) ran 25 times for a game-high 89 yards that lifted him to seventh all-time in NCAA Division III history with 5,604 career rushing yards.  His one-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter lifted his career total to 85, which leaves him six behind the NCAA Division III record of R.J. Bowers of Grove City (PA) College.

Mount Union’s (2-0, 1-0 OAC) other touchdowns came on fumbled pass reception that was picked up by junior A.J. Claycomb (Medina/Medina) and ran in from 15 yards out and a Judd Lutz (Tiffin/Tiffin Columbian) 11 yard touchdown run.

All of this was more than enough for a Purple Raider defense that held Ohio Northern (0-2, 0-1 OAC) to 13 yards rushing on 25 attempts, had five quarterback sacks and 176 total yards.  Junior safety Drew McClain (Newark/Licking Valley) and senior linebacker Chas Yoder (Martins Ferry/Martins Ferry) each had a team-best five tackles, while senior defensive lineman Joe Millings (Copley/Copley) had four stops, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

After Ohio Northern had the game’s opening possession, Mount Union drove 52 yards on 13 plays before the drive stalled on ONU 7-yard line.  The Raiders settled for a 27 yard field goal from Jay Carpenter (Fairmont, WV/Fairmont) to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Mount Union would then score touchdowns on each of its next seven possessions to take a 44-0 lead midway through the fourth quarter.  Ohio Northern avoided the shutout when quarterback Kyle Simmons hit receiver Sam Amidon on a 20-yard pass play with 18 seconds left in the game.

The Raiders hit the road for the first time in 2008 next Saturday at 1 p.m. as they travel to Muskingum College for an OAC game in New Concord.