John Carroll football team stays strong but falls short against Mount Union in 37-31 loss – News-Herald

ALLIANCE — A message on the scoreboard at Kehres Stadium before John Carroll played Mount in football on Sept. 21 read, “One Last Time.”

This is the last year the Blue Streaks will compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Next season, they will join the North Coast Athletic Conference, which means JCU-Mount football games could be a thing of the past.

It’s a shame because since JCU joined the OAC for the second time in 1989, its football games against Mount have often been competitive and entertaining.

On September 21, “One Last Time” was another classic. It was also another Mount Union victory in the series.

The Purple Raiders won a close game, 37-31, thanks to some huge plays late in the fourth quarter.

The first was a 60-yard pass from Noah Beaudrie to Nick Turner from the Mount end zone that led to a 21-yard touchdown run by Tyler Echeverry, making the score 37-28.

After a JCU field goal made it 37-31 with 2 minutes left, a missed kick gave the Purple Raiders (2-0, 1-0 OAC) the ball near midfield. Then, on a third-and-6 from the JCU 41, Beaudrie weaved his way through a pack of defenders for 7 yards and a first down. Mount then ran down the clock.

“We made too many mistakes,” JCU coach Jeff Behrman said. “I think when you play a team like Mount Union, the margin for error is very, very small. … There were too many times offensively where we were behind because of lack of discipline and alignment. Defensively, we gave up too many big plays.”

Beaudrie was a scourge for JCU (0-2, 0-1 OAC) in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. After Nick Semptimphelther threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game to Jack Cardaman to open the fourth quarter and give the Blue Streaks a 28-25 advantage, Beaudrie responded with a 53-yard touchdown run for a 31-28 lead that Mount never relinquished.

Both QBs played exceptionally well. Beaudrie completed 15 of 19 passes for 214 yards and a TD and ran for 93 yards on 16 carries. Semptimphelther completed 31 of 41 passes for 325 yards and four TD passes.

One thing was for sure from the start: JCU lost 34-7 in its season opener to No. 3 ranked Wisconsin Whitewater and was ready against Mt.

It all started with Semptimphelther, who was on a roll in the first half. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters.

His big start started with a 63-yard reception and run to Kenston’s Tyler Mintz, who had three receptions for 95 yards in the first half. Mintz finished with seven receptions for 123 yards.

Mintz’s big play put the Blue Streaks inside the 10-yard line, and on third down, Semptimphelther found Evan McVay (eight receptions, 43 yards) alone in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Late in the first quarter, JCU got into the red zone and on the first play of the second quarter, Semptimphelther found a running Tyren Montgomery up the middle for a TD and a 14-7 lead.

Mount took a 16-14 lead on Ivan Maric’s 38-yard field goal late in the second quarter, but Semptimphelther and the passing attack continued to throw the ball.

A 40-yard completion to Kenny Rawls was the big play of the sequence. Two swing passes to McVay put the ball at the 6-yard line, then on the next play, Rawls was left alone in the end zone for an easy TD and JCU led 21-16.

At 0-2, Behrman’s message to his team was to keep believing and playing, starting on September 28 at home against Heidelberg.

“We can’t give up because we’re a good football team,” Behrman said. “There’s a lot of football ahead of us right now.”

The score

Mount Union 37, John Carroll 31

Originally published: September 21, 2024 at 5:04 p.m.