Mount Union Purple Raiders football


The Mount Union Purple Raiders competes as part of NCAA Division III, representing the University of Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union played their home games at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio since 1913, which makes it the oldest college football stadium in Ohio. The Purple Raiders have claimed 13 national championships, 30 conference titles and have 12 undefeated seasons.
The first game was a 0–18 home-loss to Kenyon College, from Gambier, Ohio, on November 7, 1893. The first program victory came 11 days later in a 20–0 win over Salem University in Salem, West Virginia. The team competed as an independent from 1893 until 1913, and joined the OAC in 1914.
The Purple Raiders played in the OAC for 71 years before winning their first conference title, which came in 1985 under coach Ken Wable. Since then, the program has won 30 titles in 35 years, including a 24-year streak from 1992 to 2015. During this run, the Purple Raiders went 214–2 versus OAC opponents. The title-streak spanned two coaches, Larry Kehres and Vince Kehres. John Carroll University ended the streak by winning the OAC title in 2016 when they beat Mount Union 31–28 on November 12, 2016.

History

Beginnings (1893–1913)

The first football game played by Mount Union was on the school's baseball field on November 7, 1893 against Kenyon College. In their first year they went 1–2, with their lone win coming against Salem University. The following season, the team had their first coach, Coach Davis, who led them to a 4–5 record. In 1895 and 1898 the team failed to field a team, but was able to have their first winning season, under Coach Battles in 1899, with a 5–1–1 record.
It wasn't until 1903 and 1904 that the program maintained a head coach for two consecutive years, which was Pearl Sommerville, who went 4–11–1 in his two seasons. The program built stability when Robert Dawson took over as coach in 1909 and oversaw the program as it joined the Ohio Athletic Conference in 1914.

A growing program (1914–1961)

In addition to Dawson's eight-year tenure and a transition to the OAC, Mount Union Stadium was built which gave the program a permanent home and even more stability. Over the course of Dawson's career, he went 49–24–4.
From 1920 to 1921, Mount Union was coached by Eddie Casey, who went on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Following his time at Mount Union, he coached Harvard, the National Football League's Washington Redskins, and the American Football League's Boston Bears.
John M. Thorpe coached the Purple Raiders from 1922 to 1931, compiling a 55–32–7 record. During his tenure, he served as both head coach and athletic director for the school. He was followed by Harry Geltz, who was unable to match his long-term success and left the program in 1941, when he went 1–15–1 in his final two years.
Pete Pederson was hired in 1942, but after one season the program was suspended due to World War II. The program remained suspended for three seasons and returned under Pederson in 1946. Pederson left after the 1949 season to take over as head coach at Marshall.

Ken Wable era (1962–1985)

was hired as the head coach for the Purple Raiders in 1962. He had previously served as an assistant coach at Wake Forest, Muskingum, and Cornell. Wable coached at Mount Union for 24 seasons, where he went 123–95–2. Beginning in 1979, Wable coached the team to a winning record of 7–2, and every season since, the program has maintained a winning record. Wable was named OAC Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1985. In 1985, he led the Purple Raiders to their first conference title and first berth in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs.

Larry Kehres era (1986–2012)

became the athletic director at Mount Union. In 1986, he took over as head football coach. His teams have won 11 NCAA Division III Football Championships.
Kehres' teams hold several NCAA records. In addition to owning the two longest winning streaks in NCAA history, 54 wins in 1996–1999 and 55 wins in 2000–2003, the Mount Union Purple Raiders won a conference title in 23 of his 27 seasons; at Kehres' retirement, Mount Union had an ongoing streak of 21 conference titles. During his tenure, Kehres only lost eight games and tied three times in conference play. From 1994 to 2005, his squads won 100 consecutive games against Ohio Athletic Conference opponents. The 1994 season was the last under his tenure in which the Purple Raiders lost more than one game. Finally, his record of 72–3 in his final five seasons is the best in college football history, surpassing Tom Osborne's 60–3 in his final five seasons at Nebraska.
Kehres is 3–1 against college football's all-time winningest coach, John Gagliardi, having beaten Gagliardi's St. John's squads twice in playoff match-ups and traded wins in the national title game in 2000 and 2003.
In 2009, Kehres was named first vice president of the American Football Coaches Association. He was elected President of the AFCA in January 2010. In 2013, Kehres retired after 27 years as head coach to become the Athletic Director of Mount Union.

Vince Kehres era (2013–2019)

, who had previously served as defensive coordinator, was hired as the next head coach of Mount Union on May 8, 2013, replacing his father. During his time as coach Vince went 95–6 winning six OAC titles and two national titles in his seven years. He was named OAC Coach of the year three times. On January 13, 2020, it was announced that Vince was leaving the program to take a position with the Toledo Rockets. All together, Vince spent 13 years with Mount Union, eight of which were as defensive coordinator. He leaves the University with the highest winning percentage in program history.

Head coaching history

Championships

Through the 2019 Ohio Athletic Conference season, the Purple Raiders have won 30 titles. They won their first OAC title in 1985 and repeated in 1986, followed by a third title in 1990. Beginning with their 1992 OAC championship, the team won 24 consecutive OAC titles, with their 2015 championship being the final in the streak.
YearCoachConf. record
1985Ken Wable8–0–0
1986Larry Kehres8–0–0
1990Larry Kehres9–0–0
1992Larry Kehres9–0–0
1993Larry Kehres9–0–0
1994Larry Kehres8–1–0
1995Larry Kehres9–0
1996Larry Kehres9–0
1997Larry Kehres9–0
1998Larry Kehres9–0
1999Larry Kehres9–0
2000Larry Kehres9–0
2001Larry Kehres9–0
2002Larry Kehres9–0
2003Larry Kehres9–0
2004Larry Kehres9–0
2005Larry Kehres8–1
2006Larry Kehres9–0
2007Larry Kehres9–0
2008Larry Kehres9–0
2009Larry Kehres9–0
2010Larry Kehres9–0
2011Larry Kehres9–0
2012Larry Kehres9–0
2013Vince Kehres9–0
2014Vince Kehres9–0
2015Vince Kehres9–0
2017Vince Kehres9–0
2018Vince Kehres9–0
2019Vince Kehres9–0

Through the 2018 season, Mount Union has won 13 Division III National Championships and has 21 total appearances in the Stagg Bowl, including 12 consecutively, along with 30 playoff appearances.
YearOpponentOutcome
1993RowanW 34–24
1996RowanW 56–24
1997LycomingW 61–12
1998RowanW 44–12
2000St. John's W 10–7
2001BridgewaterW 30–27
2002TrinityW 48–7
2003St. John's L 6–24
2005Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 35–28
2006Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 35–16
2007Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 21–31
2008Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 31–26
2009Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 28–38
2010Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 21–31
2011Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 10–13
2012St. Thomas W 28–10
2013Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 14–52
2014Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 34–43
2015St. Thomas W 49–35
2017Mary Hardin–BaylorW 12–0
2018Mary Hardin–BaylorL 16–24

Individual awards and achievements

NCAA Division III Player of the Year

Awarded to the OAC's Most Valuable offensive back and offensive lineman. The award was renamed in 2008.
Awarded to the OAC's most valuable defensive lineman
Awarded to the OAC's Most Valuable Receiver
Awarded to the OAC's most valuable or top linebacker. The award was renamed.
Awarded to the OAC's most valuable defensive back.
Awarded to the OAC's top offensive lineman.
The Clyde A. Lamb Award is presented annually to the top male and female senior scholar-athlete at each Ohio Athletic Conference institution.
Arena Football-2011-Northern Kentucky River Monsters Camp-2012-Canton Cougars-Saginaw Sting-Wpa Sting-2013-Kane County Dawgs-Flint Fury vs. Saginaw Sting-2014-Detroit Thunder-2015-Bloomington Edge Camp-Lancaster Chargers vs York Capitals;April 29,2015-2016-Central PA Capitals Camp;Team World 2017 vs Team America
Cedar Rapids River King’s of the IFL; Wide Receiver #18 Vs Green Bay Blizzard June,15,2019