A fantastic finish in Finnie Stadium; Mount Union beats BW 23-21 for unbeaten season

BEREA ― In all likelihood, there have been other equally as memorable victories in Mount Union’s celebrated football history.

Arguable, but likely. The last-second win in the 2012 national semifinals comes to mind. Maybe a few others.

In all likelihood, though, there probably has not been another agonizing, gut-wrenching or excruciating loss in the respectable history of Baldwin Wallace football.

For sure, Mount Union’s improbable, unimaginable and miraculous come-from-behind, 23-21, victory on a dreary Saturday in front of 4,386 Finnie Stadium witnesses will go down in the annals of both programs, albeit for different reasons.

“I have no words,” Mount Union coach Geoff Dartt said while standing alone against a locker room wall wearing a stocking cap, a heavy coat and a mystified look. “No words.”

Understandable. Not many games ended the way this one did, with a bizarre fourth quarter that had the Raiders reeling for the first time since last year’s playoff loss to North Central to the game’s final, had-to-see-it-to-believe-it, Hail Mary, game-winning play.

All it took was the biggest play of the season and maybe the biggest play in any Mount Union regular season.

The Raiders, who had clinched at least a tie for the program’s 33rd Ohio Athletic Conference championship on Nov. 5, can now claim an undisputed title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, as well as celebrate the program’s 31st undefeated regular season.

The bottom line is that Mount Union, despite being held scoreless for more than 30 minutes, scored the game-winning touchdown and won the outright OAC title on its final play of the 2022 regular season.

'You can never lose faith, never' and the Purple Raiders proved it

Here’s the stage: “You can never lose faith, never,” wide receiver Wayne Ruby said. Keep that quote in mind.

Things looked as bleak as the weather for the Raiders after BW scored 21 unanswered points against the nation’s best defense to take a 21-17 lead with a scant 22 seconds to play.

After Orreon Finley made a fair catch of the ensuing kickoff Mount began at its 25-yard line.

Here’s how it unfolded:

First down: Quarterback Braxton Plunk completed a pass to running back DeAndre Parker that gained 13 yards to the Mount Union 39. Timeout. 16 seconds remain.

First down: Plunk completed a pass to backup running back Tyler Echeverry that gained 7 yards to the Mount Union 46. Echeverry alertly ran out of bounds to stop the clock. 11 seconds remain.

Second and 3: Plunk and Echeverry hooked up again, this time for 6 yards to the BW 48. Echeverry, a sophomore, again ran out of bounds. Four seconds remain. Mount calls its last timeout to set up its last play, barring any penalties, etc.

First down: Ruby and fellow receivers Jaden Manley, Edwin Reed and Orreon Finley all split wide and bolted for the right side of the end zone. Plunk took the snap and rolled to his right as the offensive line gave him time. He stopped just in front of the Mount Union bench and heaved a high pass that seemingly took forever to come down.

The ball does not reach the end zone, coming up short around the 10-yard line, where BW’s Robbie Williamson, a former Mount Union player, leaps and raises his arms. The ball appears to slip through his hands and glances off his helmet toward the goal line.

Somehow, it makes it over a maize of players from both teams to Ruby, positioned behind all the others at the 2-yard line. The OAC’s leading receiver catches it just below waist-high and stumbled into the end zone, just inside the pylon.

The Raiders stormed the field and Ruby is mobbed, disappearing beneath a pile of purple and white. Ruby had the wind knocked out of him while sticking a dagger into the hearts of the Yellow Jackets.

Braxton Plunk, Wayne Ruby Jr. react to the winning play

“I’d like to say that we practiced that on Thursday, you know, bouncing it off a guy, but it was crazy,” said Plunk, who completed 29-of-47 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. “I’ve never been involved in anything like that. It was just a great play by Wayne. It was just a Hail Mary to kinda give him a chance, buy some time and throw it up and see what happens.”

Ruby, who finished with six receptions for 94 yards, said he saw the ball all the way.

“You only have a couple of options,” he said. “The O-line gave Braxton time to throw. I was able to follow it. I saw it hit the guy’s helmet. God-willing, it was a tipped pass and I was able to follow it, follow it into my hands and make a play.”

Reese Wamer, a senior quarterback from Oregon, Ohio, came off the BW bench late in the third quarter and came as close as possible to leading the Jackets to the OAC’s biggest upset in who knows how long.

He completed 11-of-21 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball nine times for 31 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown from 1 yard off a nifty play-fake that caught Mount Union flatfooted.

With his team trailing 17-0, it took Wamer 10 plays to get the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard. He scrambled and threw a 15-yard completion to former Canton GlenOak star Darius Stokes and followed with an 18-yard scoring pass to Jake Novak with 13:58 to go.

Both teams punted on their next possessions and Mount Union appeared to have some momentum going but a holding call nullified a first down and the Raiders punted for the fifth time in the second half.

The Purple Raiders’ defense forced another punt but gave the ball right back when a Plunk first-down pass was tipped and intercepted by Dillon O’Donoghue at the Mount Union 33. Four plays later Wamer and Novak, also from Oregon, combined on a 33-yard scoring play to make it 17-14.

BW then went on the 14-play, 53-yard go-ahead drive. Wamer completed 3-of-6 passes for 37 yards and ran four times for 23 yards. BW's all-time leading rusher, Jon Murray, gained 13 of his 40 yards rushing on four carries.

Stokes and Novak combined for 12 receptions for 150 yards.

Parker was a workhorse for Mount Union. The senior from Crystal River, Fla. rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries and caught a team-high nine passes for 68 yards. Reed and Manley each caught four passes for a combined 79 yards and each had a touchdown.

Senior Thomas Piccirillo kicked a 31-yard field goal to give Mount a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.

The victory gives Mount a 38-21-1 lead in the series and was its' 27th straight against the Jackets.

But, it wasn’t easy. In fact, it took a miraculous finish to win.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Mount Union football needs Hail Mary to beat Baldwin Wallace