Top 10 national semifinals of the expanded playoff era |
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| Photo by Dan Poel for d3photography.com |
Mount Union turned the ball over five times, but the Purple Raiders overcame it with an 11-catch, 200-yard day by receiver Junior Collins and scored 34 points in the fourth quarter to rally past Mary Hardin-Baylor.
The Crusaders scored three consecutive touchdowns in an eight-minute span of the second and third quarters, going ahead 28-14 on Brodrick Crain's 42-yard interception return for a touchdown
Purple Raiders quarterback Kevin Burke, a sophomore in 2012, came back with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Julius Moore to cap a 15-play drive, and then Nyejel Thomas recovered a punt blocked by Hank Spencer for the touchdown that tied the game at 28. Crain forced a Blair Skilliter fumble, and LiDarral Bailey connected with Caleb Moore on a 35-yard pass, then ran it in 3 yards for a 35-28 Cru lead with 7:30 left.
Burke threw toward Collins four times on another 15-play drive, including an 18-yard pickup on third-and-6. Skilliter tied the game with a 2-yard run with 3:42 left. UMHB went three and out, and Simon ran for 11 yards on third-and-2, and Burke followed with a 25-yard completion to Collins and a 15-yard run to set up Jake Simon's 12-yard touchdown run, pictured, with five seconds left.
Matt Fechko returned a mishandled UMHB lateral for a touchdown on the game's final play for the final 48-35 margin.