Box Score


WESTERVILLE, Ohio—Third-ranked University of Mount Union kept its unbeaten regular-season winning streak alive, defeating Otterbein University, 66-7, on a cold, blustery Saturday afternoon in Westerville.
 
The Purple Raiders, with the victory, ran its regular-season win streak to 91 games and maintained its share of first place with seventh-ranked John Carroll University in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Otterbein, despite the loss, lost no ground in the OAC standings. The Cardinals, 5-3 overall, came into the game alone in third place in the OAC, but now share that spot with Heidelberg University, each 5-2 in league play.
 
Things looked good for the Cardinals early. The Otterbein defense held Mount Union on downs in the Raiders opening drive. Otterbein inside linebacker Preston Pearson sacked Mount Union quarterback Kevin Burke for a 4-yard loss on the Otterbein 31-yard line to end that drive.
 
The Purple Raiders struck first, however, on their very next series. Running back Bradley Mitchell ripped off an 87-yard run for a touchdown to put the Raiders up, 7-0, with 11:07 to play in the first quarter.
 
The Cardinals caught a break later in the quarter. Mount Union, punting from its own 30-yard line, got off a punt that went straight up and was caught by a blast of wind for a negative punt of minus-5 yards. Six plays later, Brick Davis ran it in for a 4-yard touchdown, and place-kicker Alana Gaither added the extra point, to make it a 7-7 game with 5:21 to play in the first quarter.
 
It was all Mount Union after that. The Purple Raiders scored 31 unanswered points in the second quarter, including touchdown runs of five and three yards from Mitchell to take a 38-7 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
The Cardinals could generate just 74 yards of total offense against Mount Union, who came into the game leading NCAA Division III in both total offense and total defense.
 
Otterbein quarterback Brick Davis completed 12 of 25 pass attempts for 51 yards. He threw one interception and was sacked twice. Logan Stepp, Travis Laird, and Ryan Thombs, each made three receptions in the loss.
 
The Cardinal defense forced no turnovers in the game, but did tally three sacks.
 
Pearson led the team in tackles, with 10, including one sack for a loss of four yards. Inside linebacker Austin Jones added eight stops, including five unassisted. Jones had one tackle for loss of two yards. Outside linebacker Zac Hamilton was credited with 1.5 sacks for a loss of seven yards along with one pass break-up.
 
Otterbein is scheduled to travel to John Carroll next Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff in University Heights.