No.2-Ranked Mount Union Rallies To Beat B-W, 25-20, On Late Fourth Quarter Touchdown
ALLIANCE, OHIO -- The No.2-ranked University of Mount Union football team scores a late fourth quarter touchdown to rally and defeat Baldwin-Wallace College, 25-20, today (Saturday, November 5, 2011) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Mount Union Stadium. This game was televised and will be shown on SportsTime Ohio on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 5:00 a.m., Monday, Nov. 7 at 12:00 noon and on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 5:00 a.m.
The Purple Raiders clinched their 20th straight OAC title, won their 61st straight regular season game and improved to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the OAC. B-W is now 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the OAC and ends its regular season next Saturday when it hosts OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University in the Annual Battle for the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium at 1:30 p.m.
Mt. Union jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the 40 second mark of the first quarter when Tyler Almeida connected on a 26-yard field goal. The Purple Raiders added to their lead when Almeida hit his second field goal of the first half from 25-yards as time expired in the second quarter to give Mt. Union a 6-0 lead at halftime.
The Purple Raiders continued the scoring attack when Matt Piloto connected with Chris Denton on 14-yard touchdown pass play at the 10:57 mark of the third quarter. The two-point conversion by Piloto failed and the scored stood at 12-0. Mt. Union tacked on another touchdown when Jeremy Murray scored on a 14-yard touchdown run and Almeida added the extra point to extend the lead to 19-0 with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
The Yellow Jackets responded just 13 second later when sophomore wide receiver and kick return specialist Josiah Holt (Elyria/Grafton Midview) returned the ensuing kick off 85-yards to paydirt with 4:19 left in the third quarter. Sophomore placekicker Chris Mohler (Kent/Roosevelt) added the extra point to cut the Purple Raiders lead to 19-7. The touchdown was the third career kick return score for Holt.
B-W continued to cut into the lead when junior quarterback Andrew Dziak (Maple Heights/Padua Franciscan) scored on a three-yard touchdown run at 14:53 of the fourth quarter. Mohler tacked on the extra point to cut the lead to 19-14 The touchdown was the first offensive touchdown scored by the Yellow Jackets in Alliance since November 13, 1999 when B-W fell to Mt. Union, 26-7.
B-W took its first lead of the game when Dziak scored his second touchdown of the game on an one-yard dash with 5:53 left in the game. The two point conversion by junior quarterback Ryan O'Rourke (Avon) failed to give the Jackets a 20-19 advantage. The lead by the Yellow Jackets marked the first time the Purple Raiders trailed in a game since September 10, 2009 when Capital University lead the Purple Raiders 21-14 early in the fourth quarter. Mt. Union rallied to win that game 28-21.
The Purple Raiders won the game when Denton caught his second touchdown pass of the game on a 29-yard pass play from Piloto on a fourth down and 11-yards to go play with 2:14 remaining. The two-point conversion rush by Murray failed to give Mt. Union the 25-20 victory.
B-W had one final drive with 2:08 remaining in the contest but the Yellow Jackets could only make it to the Purple Raider 30-yard line where the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over on downs with 10 second left in the game. Mt Union took over possession and ran out the clock.
Offensively for B-W, junior running back Tyler Lohr (Kent/Roosevelt) rushed for 54 yards on 16 carries and Dziak rushed for 41 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. O'Rourke completed eight of 19 passes for 92 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Gabe Adams (Hudson) caught three passes for 58 yards. Senior safety Corey Hildreth (Massillon/Washington) led the defensive with 12 tackles.
The Mt. Union offense was led by Murray who rushed for 155 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown. Murray was the first running back to rush for 100 yards or more against the Yellow Jacket defense this season. Piloto completed 18 of 32 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Denton led the receiving corp with seven catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. The Purple Raiders defense was anchored by Nick Driskill with 14 tackles.
Next week's B-W versus JCU matchup is another great rivalry. The all-time series is tied at 23-23-4 and the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Series is tied at 11-11. If JCU defeated Heidelberg University today, each school would enter that game at 6-2 in the OAC and the game would be for sole possession second place. Next Saturday's B-W versus JCU game also will be televised by STO and fans can listen to that game live on B-W campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, or via the WBWC Internet web site at www.wbwc.com.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter http://twitter.com/bwathletics.