Eight things to know about Saturday's Ohio Athletic Conference football game between Mount Union and Ohio Northern:
Saturday, 2 p.m., at Mount Union Stadium.
The game will be broadcast live on WDPN-AM (1310 AM) and WRMU-FM (91.1). It will be telecast live online at oac.boxcast.com or the OAC app on smart TV. A television tape delay broadcast will be on WIVM-TV 39.1 (Spectrum Cable Ch. 989) in Canton at 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Links for all are available at athletics.mountunion.edu/coverage.
This will be the 63rd meeting between the two, which began on Thanksgiving Day in 1907 with a 52-0 Mount Union victory. Mount Union has won the last 14 meetings and leads the series, 48-13-1. ONU’s last win came in 2005 in Alliance, 21-14. The Purple Raiders won 63-24, at home in 2019. The teams did not meet during the 2020 spring season.
Ohio Northern is 3-3 in the OAC, 4-3 overall. Mount Union is 6-0, 7-0. The Purple Raiders maintained their hold on fourth place in both the AFCA and D3football.com polls. ONU is not ranked.
Geoff Dartt is 11-0 in his second season at Mount Union. Dean Paul, a native of Garrettsville and a 1990 Mount Union graduate, is 114-61 in his 18th season at ONU.
The Purple Raiders have the inside track to the OAC championship, their 32nd, and a Division III playoff appearance, although it is still mathematically possible for either Baldwin Wallace and/or John Carroll to earn a title share. The Raiders own the most prolific offense in the conference ¡ averaging 48.1 points and 575.6 yards per game — and the top defense — holding opponents to six points and 193 yards per game. It is virtually impossible for teams to run against the Raiders, as they have held opponents to 56.4 yards on the ground per game. Linebacker Mason McMillen had 16 tackles at Heidelberg, which was a career-high for him and the most tackles in a game for a Purple Raider since Alex Kocheff had 17 against Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2014.
A promising season was dealt a stick in the eye last week when the Polar Bears were upset by lowly Capital at home. Still, they are second only to Mount Union in offense, averaging 448.7 yards and 37.4 points per game. The defense also is second only to the Raiders as it has held opponents to 24.6 points per game. Louisville High School graduate Brody Hahn has two excellent receivers in seniors Austin Eick and Chase Rose. Eick leads the OAC in receiving yards (115.4) and touchdowns (10) and Rose is fourth in yards (96.6) and second in TDs (8). Hahn was held out of the second half of last week's game for undisclosed reasons.
Mount Union plays host to Muskingum in the regular-season finale next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Mount Union Stadium.