Mount Union masterful in 59 point rout of Wilmington
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
ALLIANCE--Scoring 21 points against Otterbein last week and winning by a shutout according to players and coaches in the Mount Union regime is not what they attest to as "the standard."
How that all changed in one week.
Mount Union went for the early knockout and never let the winless Wilmington Quakers breathe as their offense was sharpened with precise flawlessness as they scored on their first eight possessions and left no doubt about their improvement in the form of a 78-19 ravaging of the visitors in front of a decent crowd at Kehres Stadium on Homecoming afternoon.
Everything went the way of the Purple Raiders from their first possession that only took four plays as senior running back Tyler Echeverry set the tone with a 45-yard scoring scamper. The game was only two minutes and 40 seconds old but the tone was set on an afternoon that saw Mount Union generate 684 yards of total offense against a Quakers team that was yielding at press time an anemic 199 points defensively.
Putting Wilmington away early was the mantra according to fifth-year Purple Raiders head coach Geoff Dartt.
"The first thing is I heard some rumblings like we were supposed to score a bunch of points against Otterbein. That was a good football team. I know their record didn't show it. The guys really took ownership of not being at the standard we was against Otterbein but that game's over," Dartt said. "We got prepared for Wilmington and they did a great job of handling that today."
Echeverry rushed for 97 yards and found the end zone three more times on the afternoon for the Purple Raiders (4-0, 3-0 OAC). Quarterback Noah Beaudrie was every bit as flawless as the offense as he completed all 15 of his attempted passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, connecting to receivers Nick Turner and Tyrell Sanders while also running for an eight-yard score as well. Running back Darnell Williams also etched his way into the scoring column with touchdown runs of 33 and one yard respectively.
The fact that Mount Union returned to their standard was pleasing to Beaudrie, who has the look of every Mount Union quarterback that has come before him in terms of precision and leadership.
"Last week we really focused on our opponent and not ourselves and how good we can be. We had to redial back in and realize it's not about who we are playing but it is about us," he said. "We wanted to get the ball to the edge and we did a good job of doing that today."
Freshman cornerback Zack Liebler, a former Massillon Tigers defensive back who was part of the Tigers undefeated Division II state championship last season defended a pass and broke up another in action today.
Mount Union returns to action at home next week against Heidelberg, who at press time dropped a 35-7 decision to Marietta, who like Mount Union is undefeated in what may be a titanic showdown for the potential outright conference title and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III football playoffs four weeks from now.
Dartt acknowledges that Heidelberg will be ready to compete and expects the same of his horde of Purple Raiders.
"They are really aggressive on defense and always had great personnel on defense so we have to attack that. They always have dynamic running backs and wide receivers. They have our attention and we are excited for the challenge," Dartt said. "We're going to watch film and then get ready for next Saturday."
Last week, Mount Union did not compete up to the standard. All it took was one week to return to "the standard" in a resounding manner.
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