It was a tale of two halves.

Trailing by just seven heading into halftime, the John Carroll football team was unable to score against the nation's top ranked defense in the second half.

Mount Union scored 26 unanswered points, defeating the Blue Streaks, 36-3, on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Don Shula Stadium.

JCU falls to 8-2 overall, and 7-2 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. Mount Union clinches the OAC Championship with a final regular-season record of 10-0, and 9-0 in conference play.

Mount Union opened the scoring on its first possession. Senior quarterback Taurice Scott found junior Jordan Hargrove in the end zone to get the Purple Raiders on the board with 12 minutes left in the first quarter.

Later in the first, senior running back Logan Nemeth's 62-yard run set up a 33-yard Mount Union field goal by Jake Antel. The Purple Raiders held a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

At the beginning of the second quarter, JCU sophomore Mason McKenrick had a huge sack, forcing a turnover on downs. Another sack by freshman Ray Brown in the second quarter forced the Purple Raiders to punt deep in their own end zone.

Following a swing of field position and an inopportune penalty, JCU was forced to attempt a field goal on 4th and long with 3:11 left in the half. Sophomore kicker Jake Vivonetto converted, narrowed the JCU deficit to seven heading into halftime.

Mount Union came out strong in the third quarter. Within the first seven minutes, Scott connected with senior Roman Namdar for a 35-yard touchdown and scored a 4-yard touchdown run. The Purple Raiders led 23-3 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Following a JCU turnover on the ensuing kickoff, Scott connected connected with Hargrove again for a 24-yard touchdown pass, but the two-point conversion failed, increasing the margin at 29-3.

On the ensuing drive, Schaefer worked the offense down to the 13-yard line. The senior found Marshall Howell in the back on the end zone, but it was ruled incomplete on third down. JCU was unable to convert on fourth down, allowing UMU to take over.

Mount Union's next offensive drive stalled, but Nemeth ran 51 yards for a touchdown on a fake punt. Nemeth's touchdown ended the scoring at 36-3.

JCU allowed 501 total yards on defense. The Purple Raider defense held the Blue Streaks to 168 yards on offense.

"We had a hard time getting anything going on offense as a result of penalties, sloppy plays, and not being able to convert on third downs," JCU head coach Tom Arth said. "We have to give credit to them. That's a great defense."

"We got some big stops defensively and had great field position, unfortunately we just couldn't put it in the end zone," Arth continued. "We had some great opportunities, but we just couldn't get it done. Our guys played. They played hard and they left it all out there."

After the loss, junior Reese Armstrong reflected on the future.

"We had high hopes coming into the game," said Armstrong. "There wasn't anyone on the team that didn't think we could get it done. We just weren't able to execute like we should've. From here we are just praying we get a shot to go to the NCAA playoffs. If we can make it there, we know we are going to prosper."

John Carroll must wait until tomorrow to see if they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs.