SWC75
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In an amazing game, the #1 ranked colossus of the division, Mount Union held on for dear life to beat Wesley College of Delaware, 62-59, after taking a 31-0 lead after one quarter. Joe Callahan of Wesley was 35 for 52 for an astounding 633 yards and 8 touchdowns! That was the fourth most passing yards in NCAA history and the most TD passes ever in a playoff game. Steve Koudossou caught 11 passes for a Wesley single-game record 273 yards and two touchdowns and two other receivers had over 100 yards.
The Purple Raiders had it easy early. BJ Mitchell bolted 67 yards for a touchdown on the first play. Callahan’s first pass was picked off and Kevin Burke passed 23 yards to Sherman Wilkinson for a second score. They clearly decided to blow the Wolverines out early and recovered an on-sides kick. Wesley rose up and stopped them on downs but had to punt and Luc Meacham returned it 76 yards for a third score. Two more Callahan interceptions led to two more scores, a touchdown and a field goal and it was 31-0, Mount Union, after 15 minutes. It all seemed so easy. Then Callahan started finding his own receivers.
He threw the second quarter TD passes , including a 78 yarder to Koudossou but the Wolverines were still behind 20-48 at the half. Callahan threw two third quarter TDs to Jamar Banyard while the Wolverine defense started to put up more of a resistance and the game was suddenly in doubt going into the fourth quarter at 48-34. Then came the wild fourth quarter. Callahan hit Bryce Shade from 16 yards out to make it 48-41. Burke three his third TD pass to Wilkinson from 42 yards out to give the Purple Raiders some breathing room at 55-41 with 8:46 left. A safety, (following an interception at the Mount Union 1 yard line), with 5:45 left made it 55-43. Burke himself ran it in from 16 yards at 3:51 to push it to 62-43. Callahan three an 81 yard bomb to Shade who caught it in the sunshine and made it 62-51 after a conversion pass to Koudossou with 2:54 left. The Wolverines got the ball back one more time and Callahan got one more TD pass, a 51 yarder to Koudossou with 1:30 left. He then passed to Kyle George to make it 62-59, which became the final score when Mount Union recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock. The winners were outgained by the losers, 447-635. It was Mount Union’s 80th post season win and their most dramatic.
With Mount Union suddenly looking very vulnerable, here comes their old nemesis, Wisconsin-Whitewater, who defeated #2 ranked Linfield of Oregon, 28-17. They also had a first quarter deficit to overcome but this one was only 0-10, although it grew to 0-17 before the Warhawks took over with four unanswered touchdowns. The Wildcats took advantage of good field position, including a fumbled kick-off to get the 10 point lead and then hit a 60 yard TD pass from Josh Yoder to Evan Peterson to push it to 17-0. (Like all the quarterfinal losers, Linfield outgained their conquerers, 399-378.)The comeback was all on Matt Behrent’s passing as he completed 26 of 36 passes for 275 yards and 4 touchdowns. You wonder if he can match Callahan’s output against the Purple Raiders if they meet for the title for the eighth time in nine years.
But first they’ve got to get past Mary Hardin-Baylor, who eliminated New York State from the tournament by downing St. John Fisher 45-23. It was another game where the losing team outgained the winner with a lot of passing yards. Oddly, “The Cru” initiated the scoring with a safety on an intentional grounding call in the end zone on Tyler Fenti. That was created by a hard rush from Andy McAteer, who then intercepted a pass to set up a field goal that made it 5-0. Broderick Crain then intercepted another Fenti pass and returned it 35 yards for a score to make it 12-0. They went on to a 19-6 halftime lead and 29-6 in the third quarter. Then Fenti went to work, leading a 75 yard drive ending in a one yard plunge by Cody Miller. Another Cody, returned a try for two 98 yards for two points for The Cru. But a field goal and Fenti touchdown pass and two point conversion pass made it 23-31 with 7:58 left. But Mary Hardin-Baylor closed it out with a 96 yard drive ending in a 9 yard run by Brian Gallagher, who got another one from 6 yards out with 1:37 left for insurance. Fenti passed for 411 yards while MHB only gained 371 totally.
North Central used 5 Bethel turnovers to roll over the Royals, 41-17. The Cardinals led 21-3 at halftime, gave up a score and then scored 20 more points in a row to prevent any suspense. Bethel was the fourth loser to outgain the winner, in this case by only 392-396. Ryan Kent rushed for four touchdowns, three from a yard out and one from 2 yards out.
The semifinal pairings:
MOUNT UNION (Ohio) 13-0 (645-226) #1, 80-12 (11)
Vs.
NORTH CENTRAL (Illinois) 13-0 (599-181) #4, 11-8 ((0)
WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER 13-0 (485-107) #5, 37-7 (4)
Vs.
MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR (Texas) 13-0 (637-171) #3, 23-11 (0)
It’s hard to tell what to think of Mount Union after Joe Callahan torched their pass defense. Spencer Stanek is averaging 254 yards a game for North Central, who has never made the final. I’d sure like to see somebody new rather than another Mount Union-Whitewater game. Mary Hardin-Baylor is a high scoring team and a veteran of many playoff battles. But they are 0-4 all-time vs. the Warhawks who clearly have the best defense in the country. Everybody's 13-0 so something's got to give.
The Purple Raiders had it easy early. BJ Mitchell bolted 67 yards for a touchdown on the first play. Callahan’s first pass was picked off and Kevin Burke passed 23 yards to Sherman Wilkinson for a second score. They clearly decided to blow the Wolverines out early and recovered an on-sides kick. Wesley rose up and stopped them on downs but had to punt and Luc Meacham returned it 76 yards for a third score. Two more Callahan interceptions led to two more scores, a touchdown and a field goal and it was 31-0, Mount Union, after 15 minutes. It all seemed so easy. Then Callahan started finding his own receivers.
He threw the second quarter TD passes , including a 78 yarder to Koudossou but the Wolverines were still behind 20-48 at the half. Callahan threw two third quarter TDs to Jamar Banyard while the Wolverine defense started to put up more of a resistance and the game was suddenly in doubt going into the fourth quarter at 48-34. Then came the wild fourth quarter. Callahan hit Bryce Shade from 16 yards out to make it 48-41. Burke three his third TD pass to Wilkinson from 42 yards out to give the Purple Raiders some breathing room at 55-41 with 8:46 left. A safety, (following an interception at the Mount Union 1 yard line), with 5:45 left made it 55-43. Burke himself ran it in from 16 yards at 3:51 to push it to 62-43. Callahan three an 81 yard bomb to Shade who caught it in the sunshine and made it 62-51 after a conversion pass to Koudossou with 2:54 left. The Wolverines got the ball back one more time and Callahan got one more TD pass, a 51 yarder to Koudossou with 1:30 left. He then passed to Kyle George to make it 62-59, which became the final score when Mount Union recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock. The winners were outgained by the losers, 447-635. It was Mount Union’s 80th post season win and their most dramatic.
With Mount Union suddenly looking very vulnerable, here comes their old nemesis, Wisconsin-Whitewater, who defeated #2 ranked Linfield of Oregon, 28-17. They also had a first quarter deficit to overcome but this one was only 0-10, although it grew to 0-17 before the Warhawks took over with four unanswered touchdowns. The Wildcats took advantage of good field position, including a fumbled kick-off to get the 10 point lead and then hit a 60 yard TD pass from Josh Yoder to Evan Peterson to push it to 17-0. (Like all the quarterfinal losers, Linfield outgained their conquerers, 399-378.)The comeback was all on Matt Behrent’s passing as he completed 26 of 36 passes for 275 yards and 4 touchdowns. You wonder if he can match Callahan’s output against the Purple Raiders if they meet for the title for the eighth time in nine years.
But first they’ve got to get past Mary Hardin-Baylor, who eliminated New York State from the tournament by downing St. John Fisher 45-23. It was another game where the losing team outgained the winner with a lot of passing yards. Oddly, “The Cru” initiated the scoring with a safety on an intentional grounding call in the end zone on Tyler Fenti. That was created by a hard rush from Andy McAteer, who then intercepted a pass to set up a field goal that made it 5-0. Broderick Crain then intercepted another Fenti pass and returned it 35 yards for a score to make it 12-0. They went on to a 19-6 halftime lead and 29-6 in the third quarter. Then Fenti went to work, leading a 75 yard drive ending in a one yard plunge by Cody Miller. Another Cody, returned a try for two 98 yards for two points for The Cru. But a field goal and Fenti touchdown pass and two point conversion pass made it 23-31 with 7:58 left. But Mary Hardin-Baylor closed it out with a 96 yard drive ending in a 9 yard run by Brian Gallagher, who got another one from 6 yards out with 1:37 left for insurance. Fenti passed for 411 yards while MHB only gained 371 totally.
North Central used 5 Bethel turnovers to roll over the Royals, 41-17. The Cardinals led 21-3 at halftime, gave up a score and then scored 20 more points in a row to prevent any suspense. Bethel was the fourth loser to outgain the winner, in this case by only 392-396. Ryan Kent rushed for four touchdowns, three from a yard out and one from 2 yards out.
The semifinal pairings:
MOUNT UNION (Ohio) 13-0 (645-226) #1, 80-12 (11)
Vs.
NORTH CENTRAL (Illinois) 13-0 (599-181) #4, 11-8 ((0)
WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER 13-0 (485-107) #5, 37-7 (4)
Vs.
MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR (Texas) 13-0 (637-171) #3, 23-11 (0)
It’s hard to tell what to think of Mount Union after Joe Callahan torched their pass defense. Spencer Stanek is averaging 254 yards a game for North Central, who has never made the final. I’d sure like to see somebody new rather than another Mount Union-Whitewater game. Mary Hardin-Baylor is a high scoring team and a veteran of many playoff battles. But they are 0-4 all-time vs. the Warhawks who clearly have the best defense in the country. Everybody's 13-0 so something's got to give.
