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| Chris Nelson was held to 147 yards passing and Mount Union had three sacks. Photo by Eric Kelley, d3photography.com |
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| Logan Nemeth churned out copious yardage vs. UWW. Photo by Eric Kelley, d3photography.com |
UW-Whitewater scored two early field goals and Mount Union trailed for the first time all season, but the Purple Raiders answered with two touchdowns and extended its dominance into fourth quarter, going on to win 36-6 and advance to the Stagg Bowl for the 11th consecutive year.
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It's the Purple Raiders' first win vs. UW-Whitewater since 2008. This was the teams' first playoff matchup outside of Salem, Va.
Mount Union (14-0) responded to the Warhawks' second field goal with a quick-strike drive, including three short gains and two long passes, one a 21-yard pass from Taurice Scott to Tim Kennedy, and then a 31-yarder over the top to Roman Namdar to give the Purple Raiders a 7-6 lead.
Then on the very next play, Mount Union defensive end Mike Furda intercepted Chris Nelson, setting up the Purple Raiders at the Warhawk 24-yard line. The Purple Raiders were in the end zone five plays later, and capped it off with a two-point conversion pass from holder Tim Kennedy to kicker Jake Antel to make it 15-6.
UW-Whitewater (12-2) punted on its next two possesions and survived a Mount Union missed field goal, getting the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 3:28 left. The Warhawks put together a bit of a drive, reaching the Purple Raiders 32-yard line with 30 seconds left in the half. But UWW was called for a hold, then barely avoided a sack and was called for a delay of game. The possession ended with Lake Bachar missing a 64-yard field goal attempt wide right and the teams went to the half with Mount Union still leading 15-6.
The second half turned into the Logan Nemeth show, as he churned out 214 yards on 32 carries, including two touchdowns, helping the Purple Raiders pull away. Nemeth is the first player to rush for more than 200 yards vs. UW-Whitewater since 2003. Mount Union held Whitewater to 48 total yards in the second half.
After the Warhawks converted four of their first five third down attempts, Mount Union, NCAA Division III's top rated defense, held Whitewater to zero for its next nine on third down, got three interceptions and did not allow them into the red zone for the game.
Nemeth put an exclamation point on his day with a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter while the defense got interceptions from Will Hiteshue and Brian Groves to finish the game.