2006 Division III Playoffs

[Colonel_Reb]

Mount Union is in the Semis for the 12th straight year playing St. John Fisher. In the other game Saturday, Wisconsin Whitewater plays Wesley. As you can see, there are whites aplenty. The championship will be on ESPN at 4 PM Eastern next Saturday.

Mount Union has RB Nate Kmic 1,883 yards and 23 TDs and dual threat QB Greg Micheli 394 and 8 TDs on the ground, plus he's thrown for 944 yards and 8 TDs. Starting QB Mike Jorris threw for 1742 yards and 22 TDs on the year. RB Matthew Barge has 415 yards rushing, They are very run oriented, but they throw to Kmic 173 yards and 2 TDs, WR/TE Anthony Antonucci 177 and a TD, WR Brandon Boehm 200 yards and a TD.
RB Justin Wray has 449 yards and 5 TDs thanks to his feet and 243 yards and 3 TDs thanks to his hands.

St. John Fisher has RBs Mark Robinson 1,460 and 23 TDs and 136 yards receiving, Ryan Hanson 803 and 9 TDs, and James Reile 444 and 3 TDs. On the receiving end, they have WR Sean Nowicki with 746 and 6 TDs, WR Corey Jackson with 529 and 5 TDs, TE Chris Harmon 341 and 7 TDs, and WR Tim Marion with 373 and 3 TDs.

Wisconsin Whitewater has RB Justin Beaver with 1,216 and 4 TDs, as well as RB Brady Pittz 398 and 6 TDs, RB Derek Underwood with 416 and 5 TDs. Catching the ball are WR Matt Gifford 381 and 2 TDs, WR Neil Mrkvicka 673 and 5 TDs, TE Pete Schmitt 447 and 8 TDs, WR Lance Douglas 261 yards and 2 TDs. RB Travis Reuland had 153 yards and 4 TDs on the ground and had 86 yards on 9 catches out of the backfield. Their number one receiver is black.

Wesley has TE Jon Lanouette with 314 and 5 TDs, FB Chris Barnes 18 yards running and 102 receiving, TB Mike Pennewell with 248 yards rushing and 3 TDs and WR Jason Schatz with 726 yards and 7 TDs on the season. As you can probably tell, the top go to guys on this team are black. Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

For those who are interested, today's D-III Semi-final games will be viewable online at http://www.ncaasports.com/broadcast/schedule/champ-audio

or by clicking on the links after expanding the small boxes on this page
http://www.d3football.com/schedule.html

Mount Union vs. St. John Fisher is at 12 Eastern.

Wisconsin Whitewater vs. Wesley is at 1 Eastern.

They should be fun to watch!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Mount Union won 26-14 behind Nate Kmic's new personal and school record 371 yards rushing on 42 carries, 3 of which were TDs! Thats an 8.83 YPC average! Awesome! He broke his own 361 yard record set last year in the playoffs!

This guy is a Sophomore who could end up setting a national rushing record by the end of his career. Simply unreal performance in the second half. RB Justin Wray had 5 catches for 24 yards and a 2 yard run. WR/TE Anthony Antonucci had 2 grabs for 24 yards. Their black receiver managed to make 1 catch with his broken hand in a padded wrap, but wasn't a factor at all.

St. John Fisher RB Mark Robinson had more yards against the Mount Union defense than any RB this year, with 28 for 110 and a TD and 2 catches for 22 yards. WR Jimmy Smith had 5 catches for 67 yards, and WR Corey Jackson had 3 catches for 34 yards and a TD.


Wisconsin Whitewater RB Justin Beaver 18 runs for 66 yards
RB Brady Pittz 14 runs for 97 yards and a TD
WR Neil Mrkvicka 5 catches for 74 yards and a TD
WR Pete Schmitt had a 14 yard TD catch


Wesley TE Jon Lanouette 2 for 13
WR Jason Schatz 5 catches for 23 yards and a TD
TB Mike Pennewell 6 runs for 39 yardsEdited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Colonel_Reb]

2006 Division 3 National Championship</font>

Here's who to look for in the title game Saturday, which comes on ESPN at 3PM Central.

Mount Union-3 guys may not seem like much, but when combined with QBs Mike Jorris and Greg Micheli, that equals 90% of their offense.
RB Nate Kmic with around 2,300 yards this year
RB Justin Wray
WR/TE Anthony Antonucci


Wisconsin-Whitewater-Along with QB Justin Jacobs, you have RB Justin Beaver who would be over 2,000 yards had he not missed 4 games earlier in the season because of an injury
RB Brady Pittz
WR Neil Mrkvicka
WR Pete Schmitt

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Mount Union continued its dominance, turning a tight, defensive contest in the first half into a rout in the second.

back-up quarterback Greg Micheli led the Purple Raiders, going 18-22 for 202 yards and 3 TDs passing and 9 rushes for 42 yards and another score.

standout sophomore running back Nate Kmic added 111 yards on 25 carries.

for Wisconsin-Whitewater, running back Justin Beaver was held in check by the tough Mount Union D, gaining 87 yards on 23 carries.

Nate Kmic running

Kmic, holding the National Championship trophy last season. the Purple Raiders repeated this year behind Kmic's dominant running game.

 

[Sark6354201]

Thanks for the great coverage guys.

 

[whiteCB]

Mount Union is a kick ass dynasty that I don't see being mediocore anytime soon. Head coach Larry Kehres doesn't get enough credit as he has coached the team since 1993 and has 9 titles. That my friends is unbelieveable but what is even more unbelieveable is that he still has not gotten a better coaching opportunity. It seems as though the big division programs can't accept the fact that Larry gets the job done with a buch of too slow too small white kids you know the deal. So they just screw Kehres out of getting a better coaching job. This guy is better than half the coaches in D1 and any program he takes over would rise up to the next level.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

here's an article about Mount Union superstar Nate Kmic when he was coming out of high school. note that the "reason" Nate wasn't highly sought after was his size... at 5-9, 180-pounds he was evidently deemed egregiously tiny and unfit to be on a football team that could get "real" running backs.

Article published Thursday, November 25, 2004
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sidelines: The Delta dart
Sensational Kmic did it all throughout career with Panthers
By STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

DELTA  Even before the season began, Northwest Ohio Athletic League football fans were aware of the versatile talents of Delta's Nate Kmic.

But few  including Panthers coach Mike Vicars and even Kmic himself  ever imagined that the senior would have the kind of season that small-town legends are made of.

Delta fans won't soon forget Kmic's season, which included 1,681 rushing yards on just 165 attempts (10.2-yard average), 10 receptions for 240 yards, 496 return yards and, most notably, his incredible total of 294 points in 12 games (24.5 per game).

This lofty figure by The Blade's 2004 Player of the Year was achieved on 39 touchdowns (33 rushing), 57 conversion points (53 on PAT kicks), and one field goal. It was accumulated despite Kmic not playing offense in the second half of seven games.

"No, I never expected that," Kmic said. "At the beginning of the season, just to say I'd do something like that would have been crazy. But it was a great season and it was an awesome experience.

"As a team we played awesome. The offensive line blocked unbelievably well. It's not so hard to get yards when you're running through holes the size of trucks."

What Vicars will remember best is how his undersized 5-9, 180-pound senior star  who also had 65 tackles and five interceptions on defense  did it all with class.

"The best thing I can say about Nate is that he's a terrific and humble human being that God has blessed very well," Vicars said. "He has always strived to do his best at everything. He realizes the talents he has, and has tried to develop them.

"In that whole process, he's tried to stay humble. He comes from a terrific family."

Vicars knows why No. 11 is so successful.

"Nate's got all the tools," Vicars said. "He has unbelievable vision and just always seems to be able to find the right place to go, even when it looks like there's no place to go. He's also got great speed and strength, and the elusiveness to make people miss.

"Usually, even with good running backs, you don't get everything. Some guys are fast but don't have good vision. Some guys don't have the strength. Some guys can make good plays but don't have the speed or the agility to go 70 yards."

Kmic did just that on several occasions. But talk to him about the 294 points and he'll point to the six he did not get, which would have made him just the fifth player in the history of Ohio high school football to score 300 points in a season. Not because he is focused on personal stats, but because 300 might have led to a second-round Division IV playoff victory over top-ranked Coldwater.

Delta was tied 35-35 in the second overtime against the favored Cavaliers, who had rallied in the final 1:08 of regulation for a 28-28 tie.

On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Panther quarterback Ryan Vicars yelled an audible call, switching first to an inside handoff play and then to a pitch to the right to Kmic.

Kmic heard the first play change, but not the second. When Vicars turned to pitch, he had no pitch man. He froze and was sacked. Coldwater took its turn with the ball and scored a game-winning TD for a 41-35 win.

"You can always look back and say 'What if?' Kmic said. "I felt like I let the team down."

The bitter ending was unfortunately symbolic of Delta's hard-luck season, which followed a surprising state-semifinal run in 2003.

A fourth-quarter Panther fumble on a fourth-and-goal play enabled NWOAL champion Patrick Henry to hold on for a 29-26 victory. League runner-up Liberty Center scored in the closing minute to take a 27-23 win over Delta.

"We were three plays away from being 12-0 and in the regional final," Kmic said.

"Nate's going to have to decide where to go," Vicars said. "He fights the size parameters. Can he play at the Division-I level? Yes. But he's going to have to get some place that would give him that opportunity."

Kmic acknowledges the obvious size hurdle, but thinks he could clear it if given a chance.

"I really think [the size factor] has a lot to do with it," Kmic said. "But I think my heart makes up for my lack of size."

Contact Steve Junga at:sjunga@theblade.com or 419-724-6461.