Box Score

John Carroll found out the hard way that giving a very good team a very short field to work with often spells disaster.

A fumble return for a touchdown and an 11-yard touchdown drive -- both of which occured in the second quarter -- provided the impetus for top-ranked Mount Union College to roll to a 41-7 victory over visiting John Carroll Saturday afternoon in Alliance, Ohio.

The John Carroll offense never got rolling on this day, but committed the cardinal sin of making two major mistakes deep in its own end to add to their troubles.

After gaining two yards on its opening drive, JCU punted to Mount Union's 23-yard line. The Purple Raiders put together a 77-yard drive on 13 plays, topping it off with a Nate Kmic seven-yard run. the PAT was missed leaving the score 6-0 in favor of the hosts.

The Blue Streaks and Purple Raiders traded punts on their next drives, setting up John Carroll deep in its own end. On the first play after the punnt, John Carroll quarterback Mark Petruziello was sacked and stripped of the ball at the Blue Streaks' seven yard line. Zac Saum gathered in the ball and raced seven yards for a touchdown.

John Carroll continued to get in its own way. After starting a drive at its own two-yard line due to a botched kick return, JCU completed a pass to its own 11 on a third down play. Hoping to catch Mount Union off guard on fourth-and-inches, the Blue Streaks failed to convert on a quarterback sneak.

Gladly taking the gift of great field possession, the Purple Raiders traveresed the 11 yards in just four plays, with Kmic scoring his second touchdown from a yard out.

Mount Union would take a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

The Purple Raiders would add two touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth to build a 41-0 advantage.

John Carroll would score its first touchdown against Mount Union since the fourth quarter of the 2006 contest when Mark Elsaessar plunged in from two yards out. The scoring play had been set up by a 44-yard completion from Petruziello to Tim Lynch.

The score took place with 7:31 remaining in the contest, but would be the last time the Blue Streaks would touch the ball. The Purple Raiders took the kickoff and maintained possession until the clock struck zero with Mount Union standing at the JCU 12-yatrd line.

Mount Union gained 492 yards to John Carroll's 157.

In dropping its second consecutive game, John Carroll (5-3, 4-3 OAC) was led by Petruziello's 126 passing yards, of which 96 went to Lynch, who made seven catches in his first career start.

On defense, Michael Nettling had nine tackles, Pete Honsberger added eight stops, and Carlo Melaragno had eight tackles and his 12th career interception.