Mount Union: 2017 NCAA Division III Football National Champions

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mount Union Purple Raiders capped a memorable season by winning the NCAA Division III football national championship on Friday with a 12-0 victory over defending champion Mary Hardin-Baylor in the final Stagg Bowl game in Salem, Virginia.

The championship was the 13th for Mount Union in 20 Stagg Bowl championship appearances. So winning the final in Salem was special to the Raiders.

"It's really special," Mount Union coach Vince Kehres said after the game. "The people down here are so good to us. ... They're so friendly, so welcoming. This place does a great job of making it special for the teams here."

It was the second national title for Kehres, who took over for his father, Larry Kehres, five seasons ago.

Vince Kehres is now 70-4 since 2013 and led the Raiders to the national title game four times in his five seasons. No college coach has won more games since 2013 than the 70 by Kehres. He has been part of 12 of Mount Union's 13 national titles as either a player, assistant coach or head coach.

Making the season even more special, Larry Kehres was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last week in New York after leading Mount to 11 national championships. Kehres had a 332-24-3 overall record with 23 OAC championships and his .929 winning percentage is the best among coaches at all levels of college football.

And earlier this week four Raiders were named to the Associated Press Little All-America Division III team: senior center Cole Parrish, senior linebacker Charlie Dear, senior defensive lineman Elijah Berry and sophomore wide receiver Justin Hill.

The Raiders finish the season at 15-0 and now own a 99-16 record in NCAA Playoff games. They have been in the tournament a record 29 times, including 26 consecutive years.

The loss snapped a 29-game winning streak for Mary Hardin-Baylor and evened the series with Mount at 2-2.

Mount Union tallied eight sacks and two interceptions while limiting the Crusaders (14-1) to 144 yards, 75 of which came in the first quarter.

Alex Louthan booted a 31-yard field goal, quarterback D'Angelo Fulford found Hill for a 42-yard touchdown pass and Nick Brish added a late safety for the Purple Raiders on Friday. Brish was named the game's Most Outstanding Player.

"Really hats off all around on defense," Brish said. "We have outstanding defensive linemen, who made it easy on me because they were putting so much pressure on the guy, keeping them in the cage, keeping our landmarks and our pass rushes."

Among those offering congratulations to the Raiders was Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, the Massillon native and Mount Union alum who is getting praised for his work with the Cyclones after four successful seasons at Toledo.

Mount Union: 2015 NCAA Division III Football Champions

SALEM, Va. (AP) — Mount Union is back on top of Division III football, and coach Vince Kehres finally has one of his own.
Taurice Scott threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score and Mount Union won its NCAA-best 12th football title, beating St. Thomas of Minnesota 49-35 on Friday night in the Division III championship game.
It was the Purple Raiders' 11th consecutive appearance in the game, but the first time in the last three years with Kehres as the coach that they came out on top.
"It means a lot," Kehres said after adding to the family lore that saw his father, Larry, guide the Purple Raiders to the first 11 titles. "I had the great mentor and a lot of mentors to get to this point. ... I think it feels great for a lot of us."
Logan Nemeth ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns for Mount Union (15-0), which took over by scoring 21 unanswered points in the third quarter, turning a 21-14 deficit into a 35-21 lead in a span of just over five minutes. And they did it while working against a wind that had limited them to 30 yards in the first quarter.
"The offensive staff wanted to be able to run the football in the third quarter going into that wind," said Kehres, who was part of 10 titles as a player and assistant coach under his father.
They did it with a fast-paced approach, something they haven't used much in the playoffs.

"The offensive line did a great job and I think all that speed flying around had to mess with them a little bit," Nemeth said.

Jordan Roberts ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns for St. Thomas (14-1), which was appearing in the game for only the second time. The Tommies also played for the title in 2012, losing 28-10 to Mount Union.
"I've said it now for many years," coach Glenn Caruso said. "They are the standard in Division III."
The Purple Raiders took command with three four-play touchdown drives sandwiched around a turnover and a three-and-out by the Tommies. St. Thomas rallied with a fluky touchdown, but the Tommies had no answer for the big-play capabilities of the Purple Raiders.
"Three of the four times that we scored, they came right back and scored," Caruso said. "That's the sign of a championship team."
In the 21-0 third-quarter burst, Scott hit Roman Namdar for 63 yards to highlight the first drive, a fumble recovery set up the second, and Nemeth had a 42-yard run on the third drive before Scott's 18-yard scoring run.
St. Thomas got within 35-28 when Nick Waldvogel fumbled on run up the middle, and the ball bounced sideways and into the hands of quarterback John Gould, who outran the defense 55 yards.
Mount Union let Nemeth do most of the heavy lifting in the final quarter as it chewed time off the clock.
Unable to generate any offense moving into the stiff wind in the first quarter, Mount Union scored on its first two possessions of the second quarter with the wind at its back. Nemeth set up the first score with a 40-yard run, and Scott hit Lane Clark from 7 yards out for the touchdown. It was the 42nd touchdown pass of the season for Scott. He later hit Clark for another, from 13 yards, to make it 21-all.
After a three-and-out for the Tommies, Nemeth had runs of 15 and 3 yards, and Scott hit Namdar for 29 yards and the touchdown, his 20th scoring catch of the season.
The Tommies got help from a pass-interference call in converting a fourth-and-6 play from the Mount Union 30. After a holding call, Gould hit Charlie Dowdle for 25 yards. Dowdle initially bobbled the ball as he passed through the end zone, but a review ruled he gained possession in time for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
It was the largest deficit the Purple Raiders have faced this season, and the Tommies doubled it in the second quarter, again with help. It came in the form of a fake punt by Mount Union that failed, giving St. Thomas the ball at the Purple Raiders 34. Eight runs later, Jordan Roberts ran it in on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
It was Roberts' 33rd rushing touchdown, tops among NCAA players at all levels this season.

Mount Union: 2012 NCAA Division III National Champions

SALEM, Va. (AP) - Mount Union is back on top of Division III football, and failure was the inspiration.

Kevin Burke led two second-half touchdown drives and the Purple Raiders ended a three-year losing streak in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl with a 28-10 victory over St. Thomas of Minnesota on Friday night.

Those three straight losses, coach Larry Kehres said, gave him a sense of urgency to win again, and keep his seniors from being his first class in 20 years to leave without a title.

"It was a difficult three years to see the seniors experience loss in the final game," Kehres said. "I felt for them. This group inspired me to do everything I could coaching to make sure we got every chance to win the championship this year."

The victory gave Kehres his 11th national title in 16 appearances in the Stagg Bowl, all in the past 20 years. He's staggering 332-24-3 in 27 seasons, and those seniors did a lot of the heavy lifting.

Linerbacker Charles Dieuseul blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown as the Purple Raiders (15-0) took an early 14-0 lead, and wide receiver Chris Denton rebounded form fumbling a punt away with a 17-yard TD catch on a fourth down play.

"It's the best feeling in the world," Dieuseul gushed after also having six tackles and a sack. "We worked all summer to get to this point right here. All the hard work - 6 a.m. lifting, practicing in the snow - and it paid off tonight."

Burke, the game's most outstanding player, threw the scoring pass to Denton on fourth down late in the third quarter to give the Purple Raiders a 21-10 lead, then directed a 14-play, 87-yard drive for the clinching score with 4:28 to play.

"I think it was these guys kind of buckling down," Burke said. "You looked at where you are and kind of realized that this is it. This is our last second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter. That hits you hard and you've got to step up at that point."

The sophomore quarterback stepped up, too, completing three third-down passes to keep the final drive alive. Burke finished 21 for 28 passing for 222 yards with the touchdown, and avoided the turnovers that often alter title games.

The Tommies (14-1), making their first appearance in the championship game and playing in the Eastern time zone for the first time since 1949, managed only 35 yards of offense in the second half against Mount Union's top-rated defense, and couldn't stop the Purple Raiders' top-ranked offense after Paul Graupner's 38-yard field goal made it a 14-10 game.

"I do think for sure one of the pivotal points of the game was when we did get within those four points and then they came back and they answered and I think that's the mark of a championship team," fifth-year coach Glenn Caruso said.

The Tommies seemed poised to make it a game down to the wire until Burke and Co. took command.

"We're crushed," wide receiver Dan Ferrazzo said, "and like coach said, we're going to own this pain and we're going to get better from it."

Mount Union's offense, stymied for several series, came alive after Graupner's field goal midway through the third quarter. The scoring play was set up by the game's first turnover, a fumble by Denton recovered by Zach Novaczyk at the 27.

The Purple Raiders took over at their 19 and went 81 yards in 12 plays. Burke hit Julius Moore for 12 yards on a third-and-four and Jasper Collins for eight yards on a third-and-12 from the St. Thomas 25.

Kehres opted to go for it on fourth-and-four, and Burke hit Denton in the left corner for the TD.

A leaping, fingertip interception by Isaiah Scott at the Purple Raiders' 13 ended the Tommies' attempt to answer, and Burke completed three passes on third down to keep the ensuing nearly 9-minute drive alive.

The third one, on third-and-6 from the St. Thomas 43, went to Jasper Collins, who juked Sean Hamlin after the short catch, turning it into a 38-yard gain. Two plays later, Jake Simon's second 1-yard TD run made it 28-10.

The Tommies struggled early, but used a trick play to get untracked, and on the scoreboard.

Facing fourth-and-10 from the Purple Raiders' 10, they lined up for a 27-yard field goal. The snap came to Ferrazzo, the holder, who bolted for the right pilon, diving for the touchdown to make it 14-7 just 1:29 into the second quarter.

The Tommies should have tied it later in the quarter when Matt O'Connell hit Matt Misiewicz in the hands a few steps from the end zone, but the ball glanced off the big tight end's hands and the drive stalled.

O'Connell finished 15 for 35 for 116 yards. He was sacked five times and under pressure all game.

The Purple Raiders looked intent on reclaiming their perch atop Division III football from the start. From its own 18, Mount Union needed just seven plays, the biggest a 41-yard pass from Burke to Collins, to go ahead 7-0. They actually scored twice, too, because the officials said they needed to review Burke's 10-yard pass to Denton to the 1, but didn't decide to do it until after Simon scored on a 1-yard run. After a lengthy review, Simon ran it in again on the do-over.

Mount Union made it 14-0 after an exchange of punts. The Purple Raiders held again, and when Tommies' 6-foot-6 punter Garrett Maloney had to jump to catch a high snap, he was swarmed as he tried to punt.

"I was going to score regardless, even if I had to drag 20 people," Dieuseul said.

It was Mount Union's fourth punt block, and third return for a TD, in the past three games.