Mount Union 41, Cortland State 14

ALLIANCE, OH — Nate Kmic posted his fourth straight game with over 200 yards rushing as he had 227 yards on 45 carries with four touchdowns to lead top-ranked Mount Union College to a 41-14 win over No. 16-ranked Cortland State (NY) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs in a driving snow storm Saturday at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio.

The Purple Raiders are in the national semifinals for a 14th straight year and will take on Wheaton (IL) College next Saturday at noon at Mount Union Stadium.

Mount Union dominated time of possession controlling the football for over 42 minutes and limiting Cortland State to zero rushing yards and 200 yards total offense. Linebacker Chas Yoder and defensive end James Herbert had four stops and a sack.

Kmic, who last week set NCAA Division III rushing record, now has 7,676 career yards which leaves him 286 yards shy of all-division rushing record of 7,962 yards held by Danny Woodhead (2004-07) of Chadron State (NE) College. Kmic also tied an NCAA Division III record with 35 career games over 100 yards rushing and added to his all-division scoring records with 126 touchdowns and 756 career points.

Aside from Kmic, quarterback Greg Micheli completed 16 of 21 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown was a 22-yarder to tight end Chad Reynolds, who had a career day with five catches for 111 yards to pace an offense that gained 537 yards.

Cortland took the opening kickoff and moved 75 yards in six plays and scored when quarterback Ray Miles hit Dave Murphy on a five-yard pass to go up 7-0. It marked the first time this season that Mount Union trailed in a game.

The Raiders did not trail for long as they took the ensuing drive 57 yards in eight plays as Kmic barreled in from one yard out to tie the game at 7. Mount Union finished the quarter with a 10-7 lead after a 21-yard Ryan Wilk field goal.

Wilk posted another field goal from 19 yards out and Kmic had his second score of the day on a two-yard run to give the Raiders a 20-7 lead with 1:06 to go in the second quarter. Cortland would respond in just 17 seconds as Miles covered 54 yards in a pair of passes, the second of those a 31-yard scoring strike to Jeffery Lang to close the gap to 20-14 at the half.

Kmic started the third quarter with his third touchdown of the game as he finished off a 13-play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run then on the second play of the fourth quarter put it in the end zone for a fourth time with a three-yard run to make it 34-14. Micheli’s scoring pass to Reynolds finished the scoring for the 41-14 final.
Press release submitted by on Dec 06, 2008 at 04:04 PM Eastern