FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Where is seventiesraider?  Was waiting to see if he flipped the bird at any Wesley fans today.

[runyr]

Another great weather day for a playoff game, other than frozen feet. A few thoughts:

1. Shane McSweeny is the best QB Mount has faced in a long time.

2. Matt Piloto had a great game and a potential 4th TD pass to J. Collins just missed.

3. The turnovers made the difference in a game of big plays by both teams.

4. The Mount D played another good game ( in the second half), but missed tackles aided Wesley on   some of their big plays, IMHO.

5. One of the most exciting games to watch from a fan perspective, but the long series of TV time-outs
    made it a long afternoon.

6. Congrats to Wesley on a great season and effort today! 

7. Congrats to the Raiders for overcoming several injuries during the season to get another shot
    at a National title!

8. Now it is the rubber match between UWW and the Raiders, maybe this year will be Mount's turn!

Thanks for sharing game comments!

[bleedpurple]

Quite a game at Mount Union today.  Wesley was a good as any opponent we've faced in Salem.  Trying to remember the last time a QB played like that against Mount.  Tom Arth maybe?  If his receivers could catch perfectly thrown balls on 4th down they'd be heading to Salem instead of Mount.  I feel for McSweeny.  He deserved better.

On the other side of the bracket?  Ugh.  Not surprising considering St Thomas had no idea what they were up against.  The chances of beating Mount or Whitewater on your first try is pretty slim.  On the bright side, at least they didn't let Coppage run for 300+  .

I find this statement very curious. I didn't see the game, so I'd like to know what you mean by good? Are you talking about simply talented? Or are you talking about good? Six turnovers and dropped passes on perfectly thrown balls on 4th down doesn't sound good to me. Execution, discipline, and taking care of the ball are some of the prime ingredients to "good" in my opinion.  But when you have time, I'd like to know a little bit more about your take on that. 

UW-W just played their seventh consecutive game without a turnover.  Don't know how they rank with previous Stagg teams, so they may be no Wesley, but my guess is they are at least the SECOND best team the Raiders will have faced this year. Maybe poll your players after the game next week, it will be real interesting to see how they feel about it after the game next week. 

[WarhawkDad]

Good, God. Though AO on the Around The Nation board asked the same thing (and he's NOT a noob):

This is what I said to him.

"...they fit, as a school and as an athletics program as a whole, in the OAC. That is the key. Unlike D-1 (so it seems), conferences are made by schools desiring similar company, geographically and / or in mission."

"Why would they want to? They are D-3 in every way, shape and form.

Why would D-3 encourage them to? They are D-3 in every way, shape and form.

The MVC is in no way a fit for Mt. Union, in ANY aspect. I can't see any congruence between Youngstown State, Western Illinois, and Mt. Union. Not in mission, vision, student bodies or any other aspect.

This isn't D-1...this is D-3. This is OURS! And Mt. Union is like Hiram is like Linfield is like Macalester is."

Smedindy

I liked your answer on the Around the Nation Board and like it here as well.  Care to add it to the WIAC Board?

[raiderpa]

I dont think HC coach was trying to slight WWW, Wesley did have Stagg Bowl talent and how good are they?  They nearly overcame the turnovers to get to the Stagg, that's how good. Mc Sweeney was the best QB I have seen against Mount and I have seen 30 years worth of Raider games.  Will Blanchard be better? Quite possibly, but that will be seen.  Personally, Coppage is the real fear for me, because he can turn nothing into six anytime he touches the ball, so no lead is safe. The other thing that I fear next week is that WWW seems a fast starter and Mount is quite the opposite. That being the case, our offense has been somewhat inconsistent and getting behind could be the kiss of death.
By the way my perspective on the dropped fourth down pass, the receiver came out of his out cut and the ball was on him. Hit him in the chest and bounced away before he could even react.

[02 Warhawk]

Quite a game at Mount Union today.  Wesley was a good as any opponent we've faced in Salem.  Trying to remember the last time a QB played like that against Mount.  Tom Arth maybe?  If his receivers could catch perfectly thrown balls on 4th down they'd be heading to Salem instead of Mount.  I feel for McSweeny.  He deserved better.

On the other side of the bracket?  Ugh.  Not surprising considering St Thomas had no idea what they were up against.  The chances of beating Mount or Whitewater on your first try is pretty slim.  On the bright side, at least they didn't let Coppage run for 300+  .

I find this statement very curious. I didn't see the game, so I'd like to know what you mean by good? Are you talking about simply talented? Or are you talking about good? Six turnovers and dropped passes on perfectly thrown balls on 4th down doesn't sound good to me. Execution, discipline, and taking care of the ball are some of the prime ingredients to "good" in my opinion.  But when you have time, I'd like to know a little bit more about your take on that. 

UW-W just played their seventh consecutive game without a turnover.  Don't know how they rank with previous Stagg teams, so they may be no Wesley, but my guess is they are at least the SECOND best team the Raiders will have faced this year. Maybe poll your players after the game next week, it will be real interesting to see how they feel about it after the game next week. 

Wesley sucked today....turnovers, dropped passes, blown coverage...etc..etc...etc. typical welsey in the semi-finals.

[WarhawkDad]

Quite a game at Mount Union today.  Wesley was a good as any opponent we've faced in Salem.  Trying to remember the last time a QB played like that against Mount.  Tom Arth maybe?  If his receivers could catch perfectly thrown balls on 4th down they'd be heading to Salem instead of Mount.  I feel for McSweeny.  He deserved better.

On the other side of the bracket?  Ugh.  Not surprising considering St Thomas had no idea what they were up against.  The chances of beating Mount or Whitewater on your first try is pretty slim.  On the bright side, at least they didn't let Coppage run for 300+  .

H.S.Coach

You are normally a level headed poster and extremely knowledgeable. So do you really think the 2011 Wesley team is better than the 09 Warhawks led by Jeff Donavan and Levell Coppage?  Having watched a majority of today's game I do not think so.  As BP said taking care of the ball is also a very important measuring stick. 

WarhawkDad

[bleedpurple]

I dont think HC coach was trying to slight WWW, Wesley did have Stagg Bowl talent and how good are they?  They nearly overcame the turnovers to get to the Stagg, that's how good. Mc Sweeney was the best QB I have seen against Mount and I have seen 30 years worth of Raider games.  Will Blanchard be better? Quite possibly, but that will be seen.  Personally, Coppage is the real fear for me, because he can turn nothing into six anytime he touches the ball, so no lead is safe. The other thing that I fear next week is that WWW seems a fast starter and Mount is quite the opposite. That being the case, our offense has been somewhat inconsistent and getting behind could be the kiss of death.
By the way my perspective on the dropped fourth down pass, the receiver came out of his out cut and the ball was on him. Hit him in the chest and bounced away before he could even react.

No I don't think he was trying to slight UW-W at all. I respect his knowledge and I was curious about that take, that's all.  I have gained quite a bit of respect the last several weeks for Wesley.  However, I know this game was kind of a scare for Mount and obviously McSweeny was the real deal.  I wonder if he would have made the same statement in 24 or 48 hours after the "whew" factor wore off.  i also wonder if the fact that Wesley was in position to win after turning the ball over six times reflects on the current state of Mount Union as much as it does how "good" Wesley is.  I'm not trying to start anything with that statement, it honestly just crossed my mind.  Will always respect Mount and will always respect LK. Heck, as long as I'm tossing it around, will always respect HSCoach for that matter.  After all, he IS kind of the LK of D3Boards, isn't he? 

[wesleydad]

first I would like to thank my Mount friends for being great people and allowing us Wesley folk to hangout with you before the game.  As usual I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Alliance.  congrats to Mount for a good win today.  Both teams battled to the end and little seperated them on the field.  the boxscore says the game was pretty sloppy, but I think that had more to do with the caliber of play on the field.  Wesley's 2 fumbles were caused by great plays by Mount players.  In the end Wesley just could not make the play they needed to win the game.  Good luck next week.

[wesleydad]

Quite a game at Mount Union today.  Wesley was a good as any opponent we've faced in Salem.  Trying to remember the last time a QB played like that against Mount.  Tom Arth maybe?  If his receivers could catch perfectly thrown balls on 4th down they'd be heading to Salem instead of Mount.  I feel for McSweeny.  He deserved better.

On the other side of the bracket?  Ugh.  Not surprising considering St Thomas had no idea what they were up against.  The chances of beating Mount or Whitewater on your first try is pretty slim.  On the bright side, at least they didn't let Coppage run for 300+  .

I find this statement very curious. I didn't see the game, so I'd like to know what you mean by good? Are you talking about simply talented? Or are you talking about good? Six turnovers and dropped passes on perfectly thrown balls on 4th down doesn't sound good to me. Execution, discipline, and taking care of the ball are some of the prime ingredients to "good" in my opinion.  But when you have time, I'd like to know a little bit more about your take on that. 

UW-W just played their seventh consecutive game without a turnover.  Don't know how they rank with previous Stagg teams, so they may be no Wesley, but my guess is they are at least the SECOND best team the Raiders will have faced this year. Maybe poll your players after the game next week, it will be real interesting to see how they feel about it after the game next week. 

Wesley sucked today....turnovers, dropped passes, blown coverage...etc..etc...etc. typical welsey in the semi-finals.

Guess that would mean that Mount sucked today also since they had the same issues. 

[02 Warhawk]

Quite a game at Mount Union today.  Wesley was a good as any opponent we've faced in Salem.  Trying to remember the last time a QB played like that against Mount.  Tom Arth maybe?  If his receivers could catch perfectly thrown balls on 4th down they'd be heading to Salem instead of Mount.  I feel for McSweeny.  He deserved better.

On the other side of the bracket?  Ugh.  Not surprising considering St Thomas had no idea what they were up against.  The chances of beating Mount or Whitewater on your first try is pretty slim.  On the bright side, at least they didn't let Coppage run for 300+  .

I find this statement very curious. I didn't see the game, so I'd like to know what you mean by good? Are you talking about simply talented? Or are you talking about good? Six turnovers and dropped passes on perfectly thrown balls on 4th down doesn't sound good to me. Execution, discipline, and taking care of the ball are some of the prime ingredients to "good" in my opinion.  But when you have time, I'd like to know a little bit more about your take on that. 

UW-W just played their seventh consecutive game without a turnover.  Don't know how they rank with previous Stagg teams, so they may be no Wesley, but my guess is they are at least the SECOND best team the Raiders will have faced this year. Maybe poll your players after the game next week, it will be real interesting to see how they feel about it after the game next week. 

Wesley sucked today....turnovers, dropped passes, blown coverage...etc..etc...etc. typical welsey in the semi-finals.

Guess that would mean that Mount sucked today also since they had the same issues.  What is typical is that you are a jack!@#.

No, I don't think UMU turned the ball over six times.

[TooForRaider]

Great day today. Breakfast was awesome and I'm glad I was able to put a face with some names on here.

I honestly think Mount is in trouble next week. I hope I'm wrong. Wesley's qb was very good. I would say Arth was better, though. Hope everyone is healthy for Friday. Safe travels to everyone making the trip.

[wesleydad]

TooFor, nice meeting you today at breakfast.

[country buoy]

great game today.listened to it on the mount site.congrats to both teams.im sure wesley will be back.next week,ahhhhhh uw-w 24    mount 14

[thewaterboy]

Great teams cause other teams to make mistakes. Thats what happened here. Two great teams of relatively equal caliber went at it and this is the cause. FYI, Wesley 6 Turnovers, Mount 5. Either team could have come away with it, but today that was Mount. They proved that they are the Machine once again. Hopefully it'll be same time, same place next year.  Good luck next week Purple Raiders!