FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[rscl70]

Just home from Salem.  What a day, what a game! #10 was hard earned and well deserved.  Officiating was very poor, but it was equally poor for both sides.

Whitewater's lines were as dominant as advertised, but Mount was able to score early, and get a couple of defensive stops, before Whitewater's size and strength started to wear them down.   Whitewater deserves a lot of credit, they never gave up even when it looked like an early rout.

I was surprised at how few Whitewater fans were there as compared to the previous three years.  I suppose the nasty weather in the midwest had a lot to do with that.

Congrats to the War Hawks on a great season.  They will be back in Salem next year, hopefully for round 5.

And congratulations to the Purple Raiders for #10 and thanks for another year of great memories.

[pradierguy]

I got home a few hours ago. I sat here at my keyboard pondering what to write in honor of #10. The only thing I could come up with is Thank You.

Thanks to Greg, Nate, LK,.... EVERYONE. There is nothing better than Sept thru Dec. because we get to watch this unbelievable program for 15 weeks. Thinking how next year there will be no #36 in the backfield choked me up a little bit. Been a lonnnnnnnnng time since there has been no #36. 


Thank You Mount Union Purple Raiders. #10 is sweet.



Only other note I have to add in my disappointment with the MUC fans towards the end of the game. I realize the game was very close and heated, but the absolute lack of respect of turning around and blasting the "clock operator" for how the clock was being run was ridiculous. While some of the clock management by the officials was questionable, it is a part of the game. Wish some of the fans would have been a little more classy and "acted like we have been in a championship before."


However, it is all forgotten as our boys in Purple brought it home once again! I can't wait for the new year of 2008 to be added to the signs at the entrances into Alliance, OH.


WOOOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


Merry Christmas To All!!!

[pradierguy]

Just watching Sportscenter's Top 10 and #8 was Drew McClain's INT return. John Buccigross ('Berg Alum) was doing the highlight and mentioned something along the lines of "Once MUC upset Heidelberg early in the season, they knew they had a shot at the National Championship" or something like that. Good OAC love.

[rscl70]

Do any of you think the two missed UW-W FG's would have had a bearing on the outcome of the game i.e. how the rest of it "played out" (aside from the obvious fact that those would have won the game for UW-W assuming that all the other scoring remained the same as it did for the remainder of the game?  Just curious as to your thoughts.

Not as much effect as the Minnesota referee and Salem scoreboard (Bridgewater? ?) who repeatly ran plays without starting the clock and once reset the clock after a play to more time that was o'n the clock before the snap. I'll try not to use the "suck" when describing the officiating team. How about "Befuddled." WW's last drive shouldn't have happened if the clock would have been opweated properly..

70's - Is this your Elmer Fudd impression?

[footballfan413]

Huge congrats to the 08 National Champions and to Micheli and Kmic on their amazing careers!  I would say that it will be a relief for the Warhawk fans to see them use up their eligibilty but I thought that about Garcon and then along came a guy named Shorts who stands pretty tall.  Thanks to all the MUC posters who have been gracious in victory giving the Hawks respect and props for their effort on the field yesterday.  Congrats again on #10, very well earned.  I am just glad we could put that accomplishment off for at least one year as getting it was never in doubt.     As many have stated, won't be surprised if we are all back here again next year. Happy Holidays to all!

[seventiesraider]

WW's last drive shouldn't have happened if the clock would have been opweated properly..

70's - Is this your Elmer Fudd impression?

After driving 796 miles in 25 hours I thought that was pretty good.

Couldn't help but wish Raider66 would have made this trip.   He got me into all this.

The highlight of the weekend was getting to shake Larry's hand at the rest stop in Beckley last night. It's been a pleasure to have been along for this ride. IF we ever get to do it again, believe that I'll be there, but this and Number One were tops.

I hope Jostens realizes what an ad campaign possiblity they have here.

[beenhit2hard]

It is too bad we have to wait till September for more D3 Football,,24 hours ago we were just finishing a great tailgate,,(Thanks MT Fan  and Stone Station),,,we were ready to watch a GOOD hard hitting game,,,today,,after having a bowl of oatmeal ,, all we can do is talk about it,,,,hope the time flies till game time next year !!

[Llamaguy]

Congrats too all my Mt. Union bretheren! Since you now have "a ring for the other thumb", I guess it's time to start sizing up for those pedal rings! 

Well played game. Your QB matured greatly from 2007 and quite frankly was the best player on the field, doing all that was necessary to lead the Purple Raidiers to victory.

I would also like to thank everyone who came by Stone Station to see us again. People may say they hate Mt. Union but I say they hate the tradition. There is no better players, coaches, and more fervent fans in D-III when it comes time to fill the stands in Salem. I tip my cap to all that is Mt. Union!

I have attached a link to the articles run in the Roanoke Times this morning about the game and tailgating. There is a link to the game photos on the page as well. (Note: no where near the photos that Ryan C. takes, but hey it is a local paper.) Enjoy #10 and we will watching and waiting for 2009!

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/188469

[rscl70]

WW's last drive shouldn't have happened if the clock would have been opweated properly..

70's - Is this your Elmer Fudd impression?

After driving 796 miles in 25 hours I thought that was pretty good.

Couldn't help but wish Raider66 would have made this trip.   He got me into all this.

The highlight of the weekend was getting to shake Larry's hand at the rest stop in Beckley last night. It's been a pleasue to have been along for this ride. IF we ever get to do it again, believe that I'll be there, but this and Number One were tops.
I hope Jostens realizes what an ad campaign possiblity they have here.

I could not agree with you more!

[badgerwarhawk]

Congrats to the National Champions.   We couldn't match your intensity in the first 10 minutes of the game and when we finally did the hole was too deep and the pick-six was the dagger.  Here's hoping we meet again next year.  In meantime savor your championship.  You clearly earned it and proved who was the best team where it counts the most, on the field of play.  My hat is off to you.

P.S.  Thank god Micheli is graduating.  As good as he is we had an handle on Kmic but we've never really been able to control Micheli..

[joelmama]

I know a win's a win, but VK can't be too pleased with his unit.

Final stats from UWW:

455 total yards, 198 rushing and 257 passing.

I know they'll enjoy it, but I think when the MUC staff gets back to work, they'll have that on their mind.

I think they were trying to make sure WW stayed in front of them on the last two scores.   They were playing farther off the recievers and were rarely sending any blitzes to provide more deep coverage.

I think you are both probably right. However, a couple of points:

UWW did have around 300 yards through 3 quarters. That's pretty productive.
Also,
Not too many defensive coordinators would be pleased giving up an 87 yard drive in 3:12, leaving over minute left on the clock when a defensive stop would have iced the game.

I think it went the way they thought it would.  After all WW would still need to score make a two point conversion recover an on side kick and with about a minute to go would still need to go about 40 yards with 1 timeout and kick a field into the wind with a kicker who made 1 medium length field goal missed two from that distance.....just to tie.  If the clock operator had been accurate there would have been less than 30 seconds left.

[rscl70]

Mt Fan - Thanks for the great food!  Nice to meet you and HURF.

[seventiesraider]

Was great to see old friends-MtFan, HurfMuc, Rscl70, Llamaguy, Beenhit2hard, Kirasdad, Wesleydad,SchoalTrain, OlineMom, Skunk, SkunksSideKick and many more.

Also great to meet more like D3Junkie and SmallbutSlow

Grealy missed were Raiderguy and TheaProf

Thanks MtFan, family and friends for the great food and for the jump after my son left all my interior lights on during the game. We're not just cyper friends on this board and others

[seventiesraider]

BTW PeeWee coaches, you may want to show your receivers that picture of Shorts on the main page. Perfect form, looking back, hands forming a triangle. It doesn't get any better than that.

[HScoach]

Finally catching up and a hundred different thoughts are running thru my head.

1.  CONGRATS TO THE MOUNT UNION PLAYERS AND COACHES.   What a great season with such little experience and depth coming into the season.  This one ranks near the top of coaching masterpieces by LK and staff.

2.  A huge THANK YOU to the seniors that worked so hard to return to Salem and did so while teaching the young guys what it means to be a Raider:
Joe Millings
Daryl Ely
Chas Yoder
Brenin Davidson
Craig McClendon
Brandon Stokey
Ryan Wilk
Trevore Bruney
James Bird
Nick Tressa
Luke Summers
Chad Reynolds
Greg Micheli
Nate Kmic

3.   Great effort displayed by the Mount O and D lines yesterday against a much bigger opponent.  I knew going in that Whitewater had a big advantage along the LOS and that the Raider lines were going to have to play great.   The biggest game key for me going into the game was whether the Raider lines could create enough of a stalemate up front to allow the MUC skill people to make the difference.  Consider that done and done well.  The O-line pass blocked perfectly and gave Micheli the time needed to torch the WWW secondary.  The D-line played their hearts out too against a big O-line that got the benefit of holding without a flag.  (Note:  the refs sucked both ways). 

4.  How in the world do we get a clock operator that forgets to start the clock TWICE in the Stagg Bowl?  There should have been about 40 seconds left after the last WWW score, not 1:10.  And the MIAA can keep their refs next year.  That was horrible.  Unluckily it had no effect on the game, but the championship game deserves better than that.

5.  What in the world was Whitewater doing on their 4th quarter drives running the ball between the tackles?  They did Mount a big favor by continuing to run the ball.  The Raider D played well and smart down the stretch by not allowing a big play and therefore making Whitewater run a ton of clock.  McClain's INT came with 11:59 left in the 4th and the two Whitewater scoring drives took 8:22 when they needed quick scores.  The should have went hurry-up as soon as McClain scored.

6.  Great heads-up play by Drew McClain on the INT return.  And a big thank you to Roush for stopping and watching McClain race by him on the way to the game clinching TD.  Drew's return makes up for the Micheli fumble into the end zone. 

7.   The Whitewater coaching staff gets a big thank you for not respecting Cecil Shorts at the start of the game.  Their attention on Kmic and over confidence in CB's Shumpert and Diebert allowed Mount the quick start they needed to overcome the size and strength of Whitewater up front.

8.  Someone might want to tell Troney Shumpert that beating your chest after making a tackle 8 yards down field  is weak.

9.  Whitewater coach Leopold should have spent more time coaching his team and less time yelling at the refs.  Especially from 10 yards onto the field    ......tisk....tisk....

10.  Glad to see that Mother Nature cooperated yesterday.  If the weather would have been windy or rainy, Mount doesn't win.  They needed the ability to run their entire offense.  Which they've been able to do in each of their 5 wins over WWW.  And not in their 1 loss.

11.  Whitewater is going to be scary good next season.  Mount vs. Whitewater Part 5 in Salem might be possible if we find a legitmate QB for '09.  (Hope I wrong, but I'm still not sold on Kurt Rocco)

12.  Great to meet some of the Florida Raiders "Kirasdad" and "Small but Slow", hope you guys enjoyed your trip north.

13.  A serious and heartfelt "THANK YOU" to the leadership and desire displayed by Nate Kmic and Greg Micheli this season.  It has been a pure joy to watch you guys play for the last 4 years.  You both display all that is great about Division 3 athletics.  Great players from great families that work as hard in the classroom as do on the field.  Thanks for the memories.