ALLIANCE — Looking every bit the part of its No. 2 national ranking, Mount Union handed Wilmington College a 66-7 setback in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Mount Union Stadium Saturday night.
The Quakers are now 0-2 in the OAC, 0-3 overall. Mount Union moves to 2-0 in the conference, 3-0 for the season.
"Mount Union has so much speed. That's what separates them from anybody else we have played so far," Wilmington head coach Ken Minor said. "They just have speed everywhere. Even though we might have had the right schemes to be where we were supposed to be, we didn't quite get there."
The Raiders scored touchdowns on all seven of their first-half possessions while Wilmington was unable to move the ball. At the break, Mount Union led, 49-0.
Mount Union pushed its advantage to 56-0 early in the third quarter and appeared headed toward another score when the Quakers got a fumble recovery from defensive end Aaron Day (Cincinnati/Walnut Hills) at the Wilmington 32-yard line.
Sophomore quarterback Brandon Arehart (Wilmington) led the Quakers downfield on a 68-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 7-yard strike to Malcolm Heard II (Wilmington). Max Gabbard (Waynesville) drilled the PAT to make the score, 56-7. The points marked the first time Wilmington scored against Mount Union since a 65-9 loss to the Raiders in 2006.
"It was a combination of the defense causing a turnover and then some pretty good passing by Brandon," Minor said. "The touchdown pass was nice. It felt pretty good to score on them."
For the game, Arehart passed for 99 yards, with Heard pulling down five receptions for 37 yards. Kyle Akers (Sabina/East Clinton) had a big 27-yard catch during Wilmington's touchdown drive.
Cornerback Joe Joe Knecht (Lancaster) and linebacker Matt McFadden (Sabina/East Clinton) led Wilmington's defense with 10 tackles each. Linebacker Antwoine Shelton (Dallas, Texas/Duncanville) finished with nine stops.
Wilmington will return to Williams Stadium Oct. 1 for the 2011 Homecoming game. Coming to town will be the unbeaten Muskingum Muskies, who are now 3-0 after walloping No. 9 Ohio Northern, 27-7, Saturday.
"Muskingum is one of the better teams in the league. What an impressive win to have over Ohio Northern. We know we will have our hands full," Minor said.