Posted December 1 2001, 09:05 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
ALLIANCE, Ohio — Football coaches always say that games are won in the trenches. The big bodies up front make the difference, whether it’s opening up holes for the running backs, protecting the quarterback from the oncoming rush or pressuring the opposing offense into costly mistakes.
Just ask the Wittenberg Tigers. Making their third trip to Mount Union College Stadium in the last four NCAA Division III playoffs, the Tigers were overmatched in the trenches and on the scoreboard by the defending national champion Purple Raiders in a 49-21 decision. The season continues for MUC, the unbeaten No. 1 ranked team in the nation, with an NCAA semifinal confrontation with St. John’s (Minn.) next Saturday, while Wittenberg’s season comes to a close with an 11-2 overall record.
The first drive of the game set the stage as Mount Union, which is the overwhelming favorite to capture a sixth national title since 1993, drove 68 yards on nine plays, capped by Dan Pugh’s one-yard plunge into the end zone. It was an impressive drive that consumed more than five minutes and was made possible by 47 rushing yards.
Senior All-American tailback Chuck Moore ran 15 yards almost untouched to paydirt with 14:19 left in the second quarter to give Mount Union a commanding 14-0 lead. Wittenberg then sliced into it on junior tailback Daniel Grove’s (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) second run of the game, an electrifying 64-yard burst set up by a devastating block by freshman fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida).
That only set the stage for more Mount Union fireworks, unfortunately for the Wittenberg faithful that had made the trip to Alliance. The Purple Raiders drove back downfield and Pugh punched the ball in from two yards out, and then with 1:27 remaining before the intermission, Moore had another picture-perfect 15-yard run to make it 28-7.
The second half was more of the same, as the Tigers and Grove made some headway against the best defense in NCAA Division III but came away with just 14 more points, both on short touchdown passes from junior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) to junior wide receiver Adrian Crane (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis). Mount Union countered with scoring runs of 28 and 62 yards by Moore and 17 by Pugh.
Moore and the mammoth Mount Union offensive line stole the show in this one, battering a solid Wittenberg defense and pounding right at the strength of it, a senior-dominated defensive line. Moore finished with a Mount Union-record 346 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while Pugh produced 74 yards on 14 carries. As a team, Mount Union rushed for a whopping 449 yards on 55 carries, good for an average of 8.2 yards per carry. Moore averaged 10-8 yards per carry by himself.
Overall, Mount Union rolled up 583 yards of total offense, easily the highest total against Wittenberg all season. The 49 points the Purple Raiders scored were 23 more than Alma hung on the Tigers in a Week 3 defeat.
While the defensive numbers were grim, Wittenberg’s offense gamely fought back. Grove finished with his third straight 100-yard playoff game, this time rambling for 160 yards on 18 carries. Cornett finished 16-of-30 for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but he did fumble twice and was sacked a total of four times. On two occasions he struggled to get up from devastating Mount Union hits late in the game.
Also performing admirably were the Tiger receiving corps of Aljancic, sophomore Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) and Crane. Aljancic made eight catches for 98 yards, including an acrobatic 37-yard reception that set up Wittenberg’s final TD. Ivery had three catches for 30 yards, two of which went for first downs, and Crane had three catches for 20 yards, including the aforementioned scores.
Defensively, Wittenberg was paced by senior safety John Hauser (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley), who had a game-high 13 total tackles. Senior safety Andy Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) chipped in with 8.5 total tackles and an interception.