ALLIANCE, Ohio -- On Saturday afternoon, the Capital University football team fell by a final score of 63-0 at the hands of No. 4 ranked University of Mount Union.
In the game, the Purple Raiders showed everyone watching why exactly they have been ranked among the nation's best teams for the past several years. Across four quarters of play, Mount racked up 660 yards of total offense, while holding Cap to just 29 yards of offense.
The hosts did the bulk of their damage in the first half as they carried a 35-0 lead into the halftime intermission. Mount Union still managed to effectively put up 28 points in the second half to overwhelm the Comets by a final score of 63-0.
With starting quarterback Braxton Plunk in the game, Mount moved the ball through the air as Plunk passed for 25 completions on 33 attempts for 269 yards and four TDs. On the ground, Mount moved the ball just as effectively as they rushed for 323 yards, led by an even 100 yards from Josh Petruccelli. The Purple Raiders rushed for four touchdowns, led by two from backup QB, Noah Beaudrie. Beaudrie also passed for 68 yards and a score.
For the Comets, offensive yardage came hard to come by as the strength of the Mount Union defense showed through. For the Purple Raiders, this was the third consecutive game in which they shut out their opponent.
Drew Engle put up the most yardage in his eight attempts rushing the football. He picked up 26 yards, but netted 23 after getting dropped for a loss of three. Both
Lance Matthews and
Antwan Shipp rushed for nine yards each, while
Tyson Shutler and
Ben Everson drew a negative gain on the ground.
Everson also attempted seven passes. In those pass attempts, he managed just two completions for six yards.
Sam Pickett had the lone catch for a gain, while
Mike Smith had a catch at the line of scrimmage.
On the defensive side of the football, several Capital players were busy.
Balor Appiarius and
Quintin Lott led the team with seven tackles each, while
James Curtis and
Jack Blaisdell had six apiece. Blaisdell once again found a way into the opponent backfield as he had 2.5 tackles for a loss of 12 yards, including a half of a sack.
Zhy Perry and
Nick Fisanick each had five stops on the day as well. Lott, Fisanick and
Malik Davis each had a pass breakup. Four players --
Kobe Swackhammer,
Louie Hoersten, Davis, and
Dez Turkson -- ended the game with four tackles each.
The Purple Raider defense was led by Mason McMillen's seven tackles. Matt Lilja was in on 1.5 of the team's four sacks on the day. Derrick Bradley and Josh Jones each had a defended pass.
On special teams,
Kameron Lee was called upon 10 times. With his 10 punts, he totaled 379 yards, good for an average of nearly 40 yards per boot. His long ball came on a 48-yarder. In the return game,
Lance Matthews had two kickoff returns for a total of 43 yards.
Eric Noble had one kickoff for 44 yards.
The Comets will look to rebound on the field next Saturday as they travel to Ohio Northern. Kickoff in the home of the Wilson Football factory (Ada, Ohio) is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
