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ALLIANCE, Ohio - The University of Mount Union, ranked No. 2 in the most recent D3football.com Top 25 Poll, scored three touchdowns in both the first and second quarters in a 63-3 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory over the Wilmington College football team on Saturday afternoon.
The Purple Raiders scored on their opening possession, but it wasn't without struggle. After running back Deandre Parker moved the chains once, Brandon Lemley got to Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk for a sack. An incomplete pass followed setting up 4th-and-7, but Plunk got the first down his feet. Two plays later and hosts led 7-0.
The Fightin' Quakers went three-and-out on their first offensive possession, but the defense gave Wilmington the ball back with a three-and-out of its own. Unfortunately, the Mount Union hurried Quaker quarterback Adam Dixon, resulting in his pass to the outside being intercepted by Josh Jones and returned for a touchdown.
Trailing 14-0, Wilmington's next two drives got to near midfield, but stalled both times. A Mount Union touchdown was sandwiched in between to give the Purple Raiders a 21-0 lead after 15 minutes. As the second quarter opened, the Quakers' defense came up with another sack of Plunk, this one coming from Luke Wroten, to force a Purple Raider punt. The offense couldn't make use of it, and the hosts scored three consecutive touchdowns to end the first half.
The Quakers would surrender 14 points in the third quarter and put together their only scoring drive of the game early in the fourth. Backup quarterback Derek Larimer engineered a 12-play, 61-yard drive capped by a 31-yard field goal off the foot of Seth Best.
Mount Union outgained Wilmington 518-168 overall including a 300-59 margin on the ground. The Purple Raiders had three sacks compared to the Quakers' two.
Punk finished the game 12-of-18 for 196 yards and three touchdowns while All-American wide receiver Wayne Ruby Jr. hauled in five passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Parker carried a dozen times for 124 yards and three scores.
For Wilmington offensively, Dixon finished the game 11-of-27 for 86 yards while Larimer completed 3-of-4 for 23 yards. Lathan Jones had six receptions for 57 yards while Ben Hobbs led the ground attack with 12 carries for 49 total yards.
Defensively, Zac Schmidt had 14 total takes for Wilmington while Lemley and Wroten had the sacks. Mason McMillen had seven tackles for the Purple Raider defense while Kaleb Detellem tallying a sack and forced fumble.
Wilmington (3-4, 2-4 OAC) returns home for the first time since early October next weekend when Heidelberg University comes to Williams Stadium.