Baldwin Wallace beat No. 13-ranked Mount Union 27-21 on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Kehres Stadium in Alliance, ending 30 consecutive losses to the Purple Raiders, claiming the Ohio Athletic Conference championship and locking up the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Baldwin Wallace University athletics and the University of Mount Union athletics both reported the 27-21 final, and FloFootball confirmed the score as well.
The win lifts Baldwin Wallace to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the OAC. It is the Yellow Jackets’ first conference title since 1994 and their first outright title since 1991, according to Baldwin Wallace athletics. For Mount Union, which falls to 6-3 and 5-2 in the league, The Repository reported it is the program’s third loss in a season — something that, before defeats at Wheaton and to Heidelberg earlier this fall, had not happened in a regular season since 2016 for a program with 13 Division III national championships.
The quarterback at the center of it has a story that sounds invented. Charlie Bubonics of Solon threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-30 passing, with Baldwin Wallace athletics, Mount Union’s game account and The Repository all agreeing on the line. Bubonics is the son of Ed Bubonics, a star Mount Union receiver in the early years of the Larry Kehres dynasty who caught 102 passes for 1,769 yards and 14 touchdowns, The Repository reported. Charlie told The Repository: “I grew up seeing plenty of games in this stadium, sitting with my dad.” He also told The Repository: “It’s about Baldwin Wallace today.”
Baldwin Wallace head coach Jim Hilvert, in his 10th season, told The Repository: “This means a lot to the school, to the alums, and to this football team. It’s unbelievable. Words can’t describe how good I feel.” The Repository reported that Bubonics once took a recruiting visit to Mount Union before choosing Baldwin Wallace, and that his father — now a longtime teacher and coach at Solon, where he serves as defensive coordinator — was, in Charlie’s words to The Repository, “totally supportive.”
After a scoreless first quarter between two offenses averaging more than 90 points a game combined, a muffed Mount Union punt gave Baldwin Wallace the ball at the 5-yard line, and Bubonics found Xavier Balson for a 3-yard touchdown. Owen Warrick’s 41-yard field goal with 1:52 left in the half made it 10-0 at the break, according to the scoring account from Baldwin Wallace athletics, which Mount Union athletics also reported.
The third quarter turned into a shootout. Mount Union quarterback Mikey Maloney ran 19 yards for a touchdown to cut it to 10-7, Bubonics answered with a 49-yard strike to Seandelle Gardner, and Maloney hit Brayden Harris on a 55-yard touchdown on the very next play to make it 17-14. Baldwin Wallace responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by Bubonics’ 22-yard touchdown pass to Colin Quinlan for a 24-14 lead — a sequence both schools’ athletics sites reported the same way.
Warrick’s 43-yard field goal pushed the lead to 27-14 with 5:49 to play, but Mount Union scored just 37 seconds later on a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-21 with 5:12 left. Mount Union got the ball back with 1:49 remaining, but the Baldwin Wallace defense forced four straight unsuccessful plays and a turnover on downs, and the Yellow Jackets took over with 48 seconds left and ran out the clock, according to Baldwin Wallace athletics.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: Baldwin Wallace sacked Mount Union six times and forced four turnovers, including three fumble recoveries, with JD Crouse recording five tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks, according to Baldwin Wallace athletics. Balson finished with nine catches for 88 yards, George Linberger ran for 128 yards on 28 carries, and Maloney accounted for two Mount Union touchdowns with 200 passing yards and 37 rushing yards, Mount Union athletics reported. Attendance was 3,458, The Repository reported. What we are still waiting on: the final NCAA Division III playoff bracket, and whether Mount Union — its 32-year playoff streak on the line, The Repository reported — can claim an at-large berth.
The history underneath Saturday is what made Alliance shake. The Repository noted the series dates to 1896, with Mount Union leading 41-22-1 across 64 meetings, and that Baldwin Wallace’s own 1978 Division III national title team was coached by Lee Tressel, father of Jim Tressel. A streak that began in 1994 — older than every player on the field — is finally over.
What happens next: Baldwin Wallace closes the regular season at home against Muskingum on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1:30 p.m., according to Baldwin Wallace athletics, with its playoff berth already secured. Mount Union finishes at Otterbein on Nov. 14 with a 12:45 p.m. kickoff, Mount Union athletics reported, needing help to keep its postseason streak alive when the Division III field is announced.
Photo: Pdcook, CC BY-SA