/notables/2021/04/week11-wrapup

Friday: Holding the trophy

Mount Union athletics photo
 

Mount Union wrapped up its Ohio Athletic Conference title and Geneva and Muskingum picked up their first wins of the season in Friday night's action, kicking off Spring Week 11 of the 2020-21 Division III football season.

Josh Petruccelli scored his first rushing touchdown of the spring season for Mount Union and the Purple Raiders scored the first 50 points of the game en route to a 64-14 win against Heidelberg. The victory gave Mount Union its 31st Ohio Athletic Conference championship. 

Braxton Plunk threw for 431 yards and five touchdowns while also running for a score. Four Raiders caught touchdown passes two by Wayne Ruby, Jr. and one each by Jaden Manley, Derek Harvey, Jr. and Petruccelli. Ruby and Manley had 136 and 111 yards receiving respectively while Peturccelli had 59 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground. DeAndre Parker had a game-high 69 yards on 14 carries. The defense then did its part holding Heidelberg (4-1), the team that led the OAC in total offense coming into the game, to 62 total yards in the first half and 289 yards for the game.

Plunk finished the spring with 1,593 yards in four games, with 21 touchdowns to one interception.

Marietta capitalized on four turnovers to score three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the first half in a 34-7 victory over Wilmington. After a three-and-out from Wilmington's offense a long return from Austin Veatch started a bad stretch for the Quakers. The Pioneers, with a very short field, scored the game's first touchdown as Ethan Brown connected with Gage Giovengo for a 4-yard score. Another three-and-out followed, and Marietta marched down the field in four plays to double its lead. With a minute to play, the Quakers stayed aggressive as they were looking to gain some momentum going into halftime, but Kyle Barrett was intercepted for the second time on the first play, setting up a third touchdown for the hosts right before halftime.

After an 0-3 start, everything came together for Geneva on Friday night as the Golden Tornadoes defeated Grove City 24-17. Geneva took a 24-10 lead with 3:32 left in the game and needed it as the Wolverines not only embarked on a 77-yard touchdown drive, but managed to force a punt and get the ball back with 50 seconds left. Casey Nau knocked down a Hail Mary on the game's final play to preserve the victory, which was the 550th in the history of the program and the 150th for coach Geno DeMarco.

Brian picked off the 11th, 12th and 13th passes of his career and Muskingum scored the last 14 points of the game to rally past Otterbein, 26-21. The Muskies (1-2) scored the game-winning touchdown at the 8:12 mark of the fourth quarter when freshman Demarion Johnson plowed in from 1 yard out to give the team a 26-19 lead. The score capped off an impressive 11-play, 95-yard drive. Otterbein finished the spring at 1-4.

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
Maintenance in progress.