ALLIANCE, OH – Host and third-ranked Mount Union got a pair of Tyler Echeverry touchdown runs in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter and held off visiting Johns Hopkins, 45-37, in a wild NCAA Semifinal game at Kehres Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Purple Raiders improve to 14-0 and advance to the national championship game on January 5, while the Blue Jays' finish the season at 12-2.
In a back-and-forth game in snowy conditions that featured more than 1,000 yards of total offense, Johns Hopkins senior quarterback James Rinello polished off a four-play, 63-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run with 1:40 remaining on the third-quarter clock and Brad Paxton's extra point trimmed what had been a 31-22 Purple Raider lead to 31-29 as the game went to the fourth quarter.
After the teams traded punts to open the final period, Mount Union took over at its own 45 and worked its way into Blue Jay territory. A 16-yard TJ Deshields strike to Tyrell Sanders converted a third-and-10 from the Blue Jay 30 and Echeverry went in from nine yards out two plays later to push the lead to 38-29.
The Blue Jays moved to the Mount Union 28 on their ensuing possession, but an incompletion on third-and-six was followed by a sack that turned the ball over on downs. Echeverry then gave Mount Union a two-score lead at 45-29 when he got loose down the sideline from the Purple Raider 46-ayrd line with 4:22 on the clock.
The Blue Jays needed less than a minute to pull within 45-37 as Rinello hit Cole Crotty on a crossing route and Crotty went 45 yards down the sideline to set the Jays up at the Mount Union 25. Rinello followed with a 25-yard touchdown pass to EJ Talarcio with 3:26 on the clock that made it 45-37.
Mount Union recovered the ensuing onsides kick and Echeverry converted on a third-down run that sealed the game for the Purple Raiders.
In a game that forecasted to be low-scoring, the offenses came out firing early with Mount Union jumping out to a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Working into a stiff wind, the Purple Raiders took the opening kickoff and went 53 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 31-yard Darnell Williams run to grab an early 7-0 lead.
The Blue Jays responded with one of their best drives of the post-season to pull even late in the period. Working from their own 30, the Blue Jays used an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ate just under six minutes off the clock with junior Geoff Schroeder powering in from a yard out to polish off the drive. The Blue Jays were forced to convert just twice on third down and Schroeder covered the final 10 yards on three running plays.
Mount Union pushed out to a 10-point lead with back-to-back scoring drive that bridged the first and second quarters. An Echeverry 13-yard scoring run came just over two minutes after Schroeder's touchdown and the Purple Raider defense followed by forcing a quick three-and-out that they turned into a 36-yard Ian Maric field goal just eight seconds into the second quarter to make it a two-score game.
The Blue Jays had a chance to trim the deficit as they followed the Maric field goal with a 72-yard drive that moved them from their own 12-yard line to the Mount Union 14, but a fourth-and-two pass from Rinello to Crotty into the end zone fell incomplete to end the threat.
Mount Union moved out near midfield on its ensuing possession, but the Blue Jay defense forced a punt and the Jays took over at their own 13 with just under six minutes remaining in the half. After getting backed up to their own six on the first play of the drive, and then converting on a fourth-and-one at their own 22, the Blue Jays used a 21-yard Rinello-to-Crotty completion to move out near midfield and later used a nine-yard Schroeder run on third-and-two in Purple Raider territory to keep the drive alive.
Rinello then converted a second-and-15 from the 24 as he dropped one in perfectly to Talarico inside the 10-yard line and he fired a strike down the middle one play later that Crotty climbed the ladder to snag in the middle of the end zone to account for a 17-13 halftime score.
The Blue Jays had the deficit at one (17-16) after a third-quarter-opening drive ended with a 48-yard JP Furman field goal, but the Raiders answered with a four-yard Deshields run that extended the lead to 24-16.
A 59-yard strike from Rinello to Crotty down the middle pulled the Jays within 24-22 just over a minute later, but Shaun Thomas capped a quick, five-play, 62-yard drive that gave Mount Union the 31-22 lead late in the period. When Rinello answered a short time later with his scoring run, the Jays were within 31-29, but Echeverry's fourth-quarter touchdown runs gave Mount Union just enough separation to hold off the Blue Jays and advance.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Johns Hopkins rolled up 531 yards with a season-high 393 through the air and 138 on the ground.
• Rinello finished 20-of-33 for 393 yards with a career-high three touchdown passes and also rushed for a team-high 65 yards to account for a personal-best 457 yards of total offense
• Crotty punched up eight receptions for a career-high 168 yards and two scores while Talarico (4-88-1), Will Leger (3-72-0) and Robby Enright (3-50-0) also topped the 50-yard mark.
• Senior Oliver Craddock (11 tackles) and junior Jack Schondelmayer (10) paced the Blue Jays defensively.
Inside the Box Score – Mount Union
• Echeverry fueled a 249-yard rushing effort for the Purple Raiders as he rushed 25 times for 183 yards and three scores.
• Deshields was 17-of-27 for 218 yards and added the rushing touchdown to help fuel an offensive output generated the 45 points and 518 yards of total offense.
• Marcus Jackson and Jazz Jackson tied for the team-lead with eight tackles each to lead the way defensively for Mount Union.
- 30 -