Mount Union wins 12th national title

The game was tight and competitive in the first half, but the third quarter was where things really took off. St. Thomas went up 21-14 quickly after halftime, but then Mount Union rolled off 21 unanswered points in less than four minutes, turning what once was a 21-14 deficit into a 35-21 lead. A Taurice Scott 18-yard rush capped the scoring spurt to put Mount Union up 35-21 – an advantage it wouldn’t surrender.

Everyone was wearing some form of purple, but 95 percent was in honor of Mount Union, not St. Thomas.

A win by Mount Union would give coach Vince Kehres, who replaced his father following Mount Union’s last championship, his first national title.

It was the 11th straight championship appearance for Mount Union, which defeated the two-time defending Stagg Bowl champion Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks in the semifinals.

By HANK KURZ Jr.

Kocheff should know. As a freshman, he started in the 2012 Stagg Bowl when the Purple Raiders won their last Division III title against St. Thomas, the team they’ll be playing December 18 in Salem, Va. The Purple Raiders lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater in each of the past two championship games.

Mount Union, which is located in Alliance, Ohio, has been the king of Division-III football for almost a quarter century. “I had the great mentor and a lot of mentors to get to this point….” “Everyone has a really good understanding of their role, and that’s, I feel like, what has allowed us to be such a good defense”.

Senior Logan Nemeth, Division III’s fourth-leading rusher, had a big game on the ground with 220 yards and two touchdowns. And they did it while working against a wind that had limited them to 30 yards in the first quarter.

“Our guys are very, very motivated to try and get a “W” (tonight)”, Mount Union coach Vince Kehres said.

“As players, we didn’t come here to beat Whitewater”, said Frank.

Junior back Jordan Roberts, who transferred from Division I South Dakota, has run for 1,957 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Kehres and Mount Union hope losses in the past two title games will pay dividends.

Change was necessary after St. Thomas allowed 22.3 points per game in 2014 – the most in Caruso’s eight seasons as head coach. “They are the standard in Division III”.

St. Thomas came up short, but there were some impressive performances for the Tommies. The Tommies are right behind them in both categories. “That’s the sign of a championship team”.

St. Thomas built a bit of a rally on a wild play late in the third, as Waldvogel fumbled, but Gould picked it up and scrambled 56 yards for a score to bring the Tommies back within seven.

St. Thomas stretched the lead to 14-0 after a Jordan Roberts one-yard touchdown run with 10:59 remaining until halftime.

Mount Union let Nemeth do most of the heavy lifting in the final quarter as it chewed time off the clock.

Mount Union features the top scoring offense and the top scoring defense in Division III. He later hit Clark for another, from 13 yards, to make it 21-all.