Erie Mason’s Beaudrie playing for a national title
Noah Beaudrie hopes his Mount Union Raiders can go just one more 1-0.
Beaudrie, who rewrote the Erie Mason football record book as a four-year starting quarterback, takes the field tonight for the Mount Union Raiders as they take on North Central Cardinals in the Division III Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl national championship game.
Beaudrie, a 2021 Mason graduate, is a Mount Union sophomore and the backup quarterback. The Raiders finished the regular season 10-0 and won the Ohio Athletic Conference title, and moved to 14-0 during the Division III playoffs.
“The Stagg Bowl is the goal every year – not just to go there, but to win it,” Beaudrie said. “Really, the team goal is to go 1-0 every week. By doing that, we achieve our season goal of winning the OAC championship and then the season’s goal of winning the national championship.
“We’re building and getting better every week. We’re so close to it,” Beaudrie added,
The country’s second-ranked Raiders will take on the top-ranked Cardinals at Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Kickoff is 7 p.m. with ESPNU carrying the game.
Just like he was at Mason, Beaudrie is a dual-threat at QB. He’s played 11 games this year, going 21-for-29 in passing for 242 yards through the air, with 1 touchdown pass and 2 interceptions.
On the ground, Beaudrie is Mount Union’s third-leading rusher, with 37 carries for 314 yards and 4 TDs.
“With Braxton Plunk being a senior, I knew he’d be back at quarterback,” Beaudrie said. “I’m just doing everything I can do to learn and help the team so that, when game time comes around and I get those chances, I can make the most of the opportunities.”
North Central has played in the last two Stagg Bowls, winning in 2019 and finishing runner up in 2021. (The 2020 championship game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Mount Union, which has 13 national titles in its resume, last played in the championship game in 2017.
“With the national championship game being the magnitude that it is, one of our coaches said, it is just another football game,” Beaudrie said. “If we have to prepare differently now, then we weren’t ready all season.
“The preparation is still the same. We just get ready every game, treating each game like it’s the national championship so when we do get there, it’s nothing new,” he said.
Like any smart athlete, Beaudrie won’t give North Central any “bulletin board material” and make a prediction. But, he is confident.
“All season long, it’s been not about who we play,” he said. “We can only stop ourselves and, when the time comes, we’re going to do what we can and not let outside factors contribute to our success or failure.
“It’s all going to be on us,” he said.
And all Beaudrie and his Raiders teammates want to be is one more 1-0.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Erie Mason’s Beaudrie playing for a national title
