Mount Union passes first playoff test
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From Staff Reports
ALLIANCE -- The University of Mount Union football team always plays its best this time of year.
The Purple Raiders won their NCAA Division III playoff opener for the 29th straight time by rolling over Washington & Lee (Va.), 52-0, at Mount Union Stadium on Saturday.
Junior quarterback Braxton Plunk completed 23-of-30 passes for 337 yards and five touchdowns -- just in the first half. Plunk finished with 368 yards passing as the Purple Raiders held a 533-100 edge in total yards.
Derrick Harvey Jr. had a season-best 137 yards on eight catches with two touchdowns in the opening nine minutes.
The fourth-ranked Purple Raiders (11-0) advance to the second round where they will host 16th-ranked Johns Hopkins (Md.) at noon Saturday.
Game notes
¯ Mount Union starting offensive tackle Max Craig is scheduled to have ACL surgery on Tuesday.
Craig, who was an All-Ohioan at West Branch High School, suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee at Heidelberg on Oct. 23.
He will have three years of eligiblity remaining when he returns next fall.
Mount Union opened the NCAA Playoffs with a 52-0 shutout win over Washington & Lee (Va.) in a first round game Saturday at Mount Union Stadium.
The fourth-ranked Purple Raiders (11-0) advance to the second round where they will face 16th-ranked Johns Hopkins (Md.), a 45-20 winner over No. 11 ranked Salisbury, next Saturday, Nov. 27 at noon local time at a site to be announced Sunday.
Mount Union junior quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.) completed 27-of-37 passes for 368 yards and five touchdown passes over the first three quarters of action. His top target was senior wide receiver Derrick Harvey, Jr. (Akron / Buchtel), who had a season-best 137 yards on eight catches with two touchdowns. Fellow senior Wayne Ruby (Miami, Fla. / Flanagan) caught two touchdowns and sophomore Tyrell Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind. / Pike) hauled down another.
Senior KJ Redmon (Fairborn) ran for a game-high 75 yards on 11 carries while senior Josh Petruccelli (Perry) rushed for a score as he had 10 carries for 44 yards.
Washington & Lee (8-3) came into the game averaging 323 rushing yards per game with its option offense but was held to 35 yards on 35 carries by the Mount Union defense. The Raiders held the Generals to 100 total yards as junior Duke Hill (Memphis, Tenn. / Germantown) had 1.5 tackles for loss and seven tackles.
Josh Breece had 11 rushes for 21 yards for Washington & Lee.
Mount Union went three-and-out on the game's first possession, but the defense dominated the quarter holding the Generals to 10 yards. The Raiders scored on three straight possessions as Plunk threw a pair of TD's to Harvey from 25 and 48 yards then another to Ruby from six yards out and Mount Union was out to a 21-0 lead.
Two more Plunk touchdown passes in the second quarter went to Ruby from 24 yards and Sanders from 26 yards as the defense did not allow W&L to cross midfield and it was 35-0 at the half.
Petruccelli had a two-yard scoring run for the Raiders in the third quarter to push the advantage to 42-0.
The scoring was finished in the fourth quarter with a Nick Deack (Alliance) 28-yard field goal and a six-yard touchdown run by back-up quarterback Todd Simonds (Tiffin / Columbian).
Game notes
¯ Mount Union starting offensive tackle Max Craig is scheduled to have ACL surgery on Tuesday.
Craig, who was an All-Ohioan at West Branch High School, suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee at Heidelberg on Oct. 23.
He will have three years of eligiblity remaining when he returns next fall.
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