Mount Union 17, Capital 14
(ALLIANCE, Ohio)-For the second year in a row, Mount Union College rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Capital University, 17-14, in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Football Championship Saturday in Alliance, Ohio.
Mount Union (13-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation, advances to the national semifinals for a 12th straight year, while Capital ends its best season in school history at 11-2, with both losses at Mount Union.
"To have two OAC (Ohio Athletic Conference) teams ranked in the top five in the country shows the level of play in our conference," commented Capital head coach Jim Collins. "I am proud of how we played; we showed great heart and desire."
The game was tied at 7-7 entering the final quarter when the Raiders used field position and a stifling defense to score 10 points on a Mike Zimmerman 20-yard field goal and a one-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Greg Micheli to lead 17-7 with 6:46 to play. Capital senior quarterback Rocky Pentello (Columbus/Westerville South) tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to junior Derick Alexander (Grove City/Grove City) to close the gap to 17-14 with 5:10 to play but the Crusaders did not get the ball back until there was just 14 seconds left and the rally ended at the Mount Union 47-yard line.
"Capital played well in this game last year and I expected the same this year," stated Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres. "I never felt the game was in hand."
Mount Union posted 302 rushing yards with sophomore Nate Kmic leading the way with a game-high 169 yards on 38 carries, while Micheli came off the bench to run for 116 yards on 24 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Pentello led Capital with 255 yards (20-for-36) with a pair of touchdowns and finished third in NCAA Division III history and 12th overall in all of college football with 12,569 yards (1,011-for-1,568). His top target was Alexander who had a game-high eight catches for 129 yards.
The Crusader defense held Mount Union to a season-low 28 yards passing and its second-lowest point total of the season. Junior defensive back James Starks (Toledo/Toledo-St. John's) had a game-high 12 tackles. Mount Union was led defensively by Daryl Ely with six stops and Justen Stickley finished with four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
In the first quarter, Capital defensive back Matt Coleman (Westerville/Westerville South) picked off quarterback Mike Jorris on the Raiders first possession, but the Crusaders were forced to punt. On the very next play, Pentello was pressured and threw just his seventh interception of the season as Matt Vucelich got the interception. Mount Union answered with 10 plays all on the ground for 54 yards as backup quarterback Greg Micheli ran in from eight yards out for a 7-0 score with 2:31 to play in the quarter.
The only score in the second quarter was a 10-yard touchdown pass from Pentello to Mike Niedzwiecki (Norwalk/Norwalk St. Paul) to finish off a seven-play, 61-yard drive and tie the game at 7-7 at the break.
After stopping Mount Union on downs in the opening drive of the second half, Capital took over and saw its drive stopped on its second interception of the game this time by Matt Kostelnik. The Purple Raiders drove to the Capital one-yard line and on fourth-and-one, senior Kyle Hausler (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) met Nate Kmic in mid-air then James Starks (Toledo/Toledo-St. John's) finished the play to give the Crusaders the ball and end the third quarter tied at 7-7.