Late touchdown helps Alma stun Mount Union in NCAA football playoffs

ALLIANCE — Just like that, it's over.

A season that began with Mount Union trying to reach the NCAA Division III football summit again came to a crashing end Saturday with a 24-20 second-round loss to Alma. It was the earlier playoff exit since 2019 for the Purple Raiders, last year's national runner-up.

The 2023 Purple Raiders were hoping climb the final rung of the ladder that eluded them last season. Instead, they were were stunned by a 96-yard Scots drive that ended with 10 seconds left when Carter St. John threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Cole Thomas.

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St. John threw two touchdown passes in the final 4:45. His quick strike 76-yarder to Nate Webb ate up just 11 seconds off the previous drive. It was a warning sign of things to come for second-ranked Mount Union, which finished its season at 11-1.

The stunned look on the faces of quarterback Braxton Plunk, running back DeAndre Parker and linebacker Mason McMillen — three Mount Union seniors — at the postgame news conference spoke volumes.

"Right now this stinks," Purple Raiders head coach Geoff Dartt said. "I lost my last game my senior year, too, but this doesn't define who they are and who Mount Union football is."

Alma's game-winning 11-play, 96-yard drive covered just 1:19. A 52-yard pass from St. John to Jordan Williams quickly pushed the Scots into field goal range.

Four plays later, Alma was at the Mount Union 1 and thinking a lot more than field goal. A false start on third down pushed the Scots back, but the Purple Raiders were whistled for defensive pass interference on the next play.

With Alma out of timeouts on first-and-goal from the 2, St. John threw a jump pass to Thomas for the game winner. It was a play that would have made Tim Tebow smile.

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"We called the Tebow pass to get in the end zone," St. John said. " ... I'm sure they were expecting a run on the 2-yard line and I just tried to keep them uneven and make them stop something they didn't see coming."

While St. John celebrated a huge win, Plunk was left almost speechless after a bitter defeat on a record-setting day.

Plunk broke former Mount Union quarterback Bill Borchert's Division III career passing yards record of 14,482 in the first half. The Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist threw for 261 yards to increase his total to 14,599, but was intercepted twice. One was picked off in the end zone.

"It's a very, very humbling end," Plunk said. "Obviously I wish I could have played a lot better and protected the ball, especially in the red zone.

"I'm very humbled. I apologize to these guys for not being at my best."

Dartt reiterated that not one player is responsible for winning or losing.

"Braxton saying that shows you what kind of a person and man he is," Dartt said. "We're proud that he played football here at Mount Union. He'll be a Raider the rest of his life."

Mount Union running back DeAndre Parker choked up a little when talking about Plunk.

"His legacy is set," Parker said. ""He's the hardest worker of everyone on this team. He's a great leader and he's going to be my brother the rest of my life. It means more for me to just go out there and battle with him every week."

Parker and Darnell Williams ran for touchdowns for Mount Union. Deaglan Camron kicked two field goals, including a career-long 44-yarder.

Parker rushed for a game-high 141 yards and ends his career with 3,429, the sixth most in Purple Raiders history. Wayne Ruby Jr. had a game-high 14 catches for 140 yards. He ends his career ranked No. 1 all-time at Mount Union with 362 catches for 5,624 yards and 74 touchdowns.

Alma (12-0) scored all of its points in the fourth quarter after Mount Union grabbed a 10-0 lead. Missed opportunities in the first half prevented a faster Purple Raiders start and kept the door open for the Scots.

"Congrats to Alma," Dartt said. "They played a lot better than us today, and obviously give them a lot of credit. I'll take a lot of the blame as the head coach in terms of having the team prepared."

"We got down in the red zone and couldn't finish there. I'll put that on me from a play-calling standpoint. We have to be able to protect the ball and we didn't do that. That's not on the players. That's on me as the head coach and the offensive play caller."

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Alma rallies past Mount Union second round of NCAA football playoffs