ALLIANCE — Any doubts over the Mount Union football team’s ability to make it to the finish line have been dismissed.
After a one-year absence and a challenging regular season, the Purple Raiders are back where they always hoped to be.
Mount Union held off Johns Hopkins 45-37 on Saturday to a earn a berth in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the 23rd time. The Purple Raiders will face North Central for the NCAA Division III national title on Jan. 5 in Houston.
This was one of the most difficult roads any Mount Union team has taken to a Stagg Bowl. The Purple Raiders squeezed out some narrow wins to finish the regular season 10-0. Their playoff run has included two tight games and a road trip.
Their 2024 playoff success is a far cry from last year when the Purple Raiders were knocked out in the second round.
“Obviously we were going to be counted out from last season based on the finish, but no one could really see inside the locker room,” running back Tyler Echeverry said. “The guys we had and how tight-knit the group is, that’s just a huge part of it. All these guys love each other and there’s no bad blood in the locker room. It’s just a great team.”
It took a great team to knock off a great team like Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays went toe to toe with the Purple Raiders, answering several Mount Union touchdowns with one of their own.
The Purple Raiders couldn’t deliver the decisive blow until Echeverry converted a fourth-and-1 with an 8-yard run from the Johns Hopkins 41 with two minutes left. It wrapped up a high-scoring game on a day when the defenses were expected to feast.
“We just beat an outstanding Johns Hopkins team that had an excellent plan,” Mount Union head coach Geoff Dartt said. “… They probably saw some things on tape they took advantage of. They executed really well.”
So did the Purple Raiders.
Johns Hopkins came in with the nation’s top-ranked red zone defense. Mount Union was 4-for-4 in the red zone.
Echeverry ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He topped his career best of 176 yards set against John Carroll during the regular season and in the playoffs.
Two Echeverry’s touchdown runs during a 2:30 stretch in the fourth quarter gave Mount Union a 45-29 lead. The second came on a 54-yard run.
“I’ll always speak for the O-line,” Echeverry said. “They were doing a great job up front. We just keep grinding it out until one pops.”
Darnell Williams, Shaun Thomas and quarterback TJ DeShields also ran for touchdowns for Mount Union. DeShields threw for 218 yards. Tyrell Sanders caught seven passes for 148 yards.
Mount Union’s offense erupted for 518 total yards. Most of it was needed. Johns Hopkins finished with 531 yards.
The Blue Jays just couldn’t take advantage of every golden opportunity. Von Factor’s fourth down sack of quarterback James Rinello in the fourth quarter stopped a Johns Hopkins drive that reached the Mount Union 28.
“Maybe the defenses didn’t play great, but we made stops when we had to,” Dartt said.
The Purple Raiders will head to the Stagg Bowl looking for their 14th national title and their first since 2018. They will be underdogs against North Central, which clobbered Susquehanna in Saturday’s second semifinal.
Being the underdog won’t faze them.
“We’re not done,” linebacker Rossy Moore said. “Our goal at the end of this year was to win the national championship. Before this season we knew nobody was going to believe in us, especially after last year. We didn’t expect anybody to. We carry that chip on our shoulders and are ready to go whenever we need to make plays.”
Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mount Union football holds off Johns Hopkins, reaches Stagg Bowl
