The Mount Union Purple Raiders football program represents the University of Mount Union in college football at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Mount Union have 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 NCAA Division III Football Championship and 36 OAC titles and have 12 undefeated seasons.
Mount Union's first game was an 18–0 loss at home 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 where they defeated 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 (OAC) 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 (10–7, OAC).
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 (42–22–4, OAC) record. During his tenure, he served as both head coach and athletic director for the school. He was followed by Harry Geltz (1932–1941), who was unable to match his long-term success and left the program in 1941, when he went 1–15–1 (0–11, OAC) 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) Ken Wable 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) Larry Kehres 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 (1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2002, 2005–2006, 2008, 2012).
Kehres' teams hold several NCAA records. In addition to owning the two longest winning streaks in NCAA history, 54 wins from 1996 to 1999 and 55 wins from 2000 to 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 (.960) in his final five seasons is the best in college football history, surpassing Tom Osborne's 60–3 (.952) 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 (AFCA). 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)
Vince Kehres, 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 would leave the university with the highest winning percentage in program history.
Head coaching history +NameSeasonsYearsGamesRecordWinning pctConf. titlesNat'l titlesGeoff Dartt2020–present67267–560Vince Kehres2013–2019710195–662Larry Kehres1986–201227359332–24–32311Ken Wable1962–198524220123–95–210Duke Barret1956–196165215–3700Nelson Jones1950–195565018–29–300Pete Pederson1942, 1946–194984322–20–100Harry Geltz1932–1941108734–45–800John M. Thorpe1922–1931109455–32–700Eddie Casey1920–19212177–9–100George O'Brien1917–19193239–1400Robert Dawson1909–191687749–24–400H. B. Emerson19081105–4–100E. J. Stewart19071119–200Harry Pierce1906182–5–100Roy Beechler1905182–600Pearl Sommerville1903–19042164–11–100Frank Halliday1902196–300Campbell19011115–5–100Wendell H. Phelps1900161–4–100Melvin L. Battles1899175–1–100Joe L. Stamp1897172–4–100Albert J. Norton1896183–4–100Herbert C. Davis1894194–500Jerome Dodson1893131–200Total1893–present1291281864–395–373413
Championships Through the 2025 season, the Purple Raiders have won 36 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) 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. +Ohio Athletic Conference championshipsYearCoachConf. record1985Ken Wable8–01986Larry Kehres8–01990Larry Kehres9–01992Larry Kehres9–01993Larry Kehres9–01994Larry Kehres8–11995Larry Kehres9–01996Larry Kehres9–01997Larry Kehres9–01998Larry Kehres9–01999Larry Kehres9–02000Larry Kehres9–02001Larry Kehres9–02002Larry Kehres9–02003Larry Kehres9–02004Larry Kehres9–02005Larry Kehres8–12006Larry Kehres9–02007Larry Kehres9–02008Larry Kehres9–02009Larry Kehres9–02010Larry Kehres9–02011Larry Kehres9–02012Larry Kehres9–02013Vince Kehres9–02014Vince Kehres9–02015Vince Kehres9–02017Vince Kehres9–02018Vince Kehres9–02019Vince Kehres9–02020Geoff Dartt4–02021Geoff Dartt9–02022Geoff Dartt9–02023Geoff Dartt9–02024Geoff Dartt9–02025Geoff Dartt8–0
Through the 2025 season, Mount Union has won 13 NCAA Division III National Championships and has 23 total appearances in the Stagg Bowl, including 11 consecutive appearances from 2005 to 2015, along with 36 playoff appearances. +Stagg Bowl appearancesYearOpponentOutcome1993RowanW 34–241996RowanW 56–241997LycomingW 61–121998RowanW 44–122000Saint John's (MN)W 10–72001BridgewaterW 30–272002Trinity (TX)W 48–72003Saint John's (MN)L 6–242005Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 35–282006Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 35–162007Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 21–312008Wisconsin–WhitewaterW 31–262009Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 28–382010Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 21–312011Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 10–132012St. Thomas (MN)W 28–102013Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 14–522014Wisconsin–WhitewaterL 34–432015St. Thomas (MN)W 49–352017Mary Hardin–BaylorW 12–02018Mary Hardin–BaylorL 16–242022North Central (IL)L 21–282024North Central (IL)L 25–41
Individual awards and achievements NCAA Division III Player of the Year 1993: Jim Ballard 1996: Bill Borchert 1997: Bill Borchert 2001: Chuck Moore 2002: Dan Pugh 2008: Nate Kmic & Greg Micheli 2013: Kevin Burke 2014: Kevin Burke
Mike Gregory/Bob Packard Award Awarded to the OAC's Most Valuable offensive back and offensive lineman. The award was renamed in 2008.
1975: Gary Frost 1982: Dave McLaughlin 1983: Steve Harter & Tony Colao 1985: Scott Woolf 1986: Mike Groff & Scott Gindlesberger 1987: Russ King 1989: Mike Garn 1990: Brad Petro & John Bouloubasis 1992: Jim Ballard & Mike Elder 1993: Jim Ballard 1994: Matt Johnson 1996: Bill Borchert 1997: Bill Borchert 1998: J. W. Wearley 1999: Tom Bauer 2000: Gary Smeck & Jason Gerber 2001: Ed Malone & Chuck Moore 2002: Dan Pugh 2003: Larry Kinnard 2004: Zac Bruney 2005: Jason Lewis 2006: Jason Lewis 2007: Greg Micheli 2007: Derek Blanchard 2008: Nate Kmic 2012: Kevin Burke 2014: Kevin Burke 2017: D'Angelo Fulford 2018: D'Angelo Fulford 2019: D'Angelo Fulford 2021: Braxton Plunk 2024: Tyler Echeverry
OAC Defensive Player of the Year 1984: Troy Starr
Paul Hoernemann Award Awarded to the OAC's most valuable defensive lineman
1985: John Heather 1992: Mike Hallett 1993: Mike Hallett 1997: Jim Eismon 1998: Jeremy Yoder 2001: Matt Campbell 2002: Matt Campbell 2007: Pat McCullough 2008: James Herbert 2011: Charles Dieuseul 2012: Matt Fechko 2014: Tom Lally 2015: Tom Lally
Ed Sherman Award Awarded to the OAC's Most Valuable Receiver
1988: Ed Hogya 1992: Rob Atwood 1993: Ed Bubonics 1996: Kevin Knestrick 1997: Kevin Knestrick 1999: Adam Marino 2000: Adam Marino 2003: Randell Knapp 2005: Scott Casto 2006: Pierre Garçon 2007: Pierre Garcon 2008: Cecil Shorts 2009: Cecil Shorts 2017: Justin Hill 2018: Justin Hill 2019: Justin Hill 2021: Wayne Ruby Jr.
Bill Edwards/Gene Slaughter Award Awarded to the OAC's most valuable or top linebacker. The award was renamed.
1990: Dave Lasecki 1993: Rob Rodgers 1994: Rob Rodgers 1995: Mike Wenderfer 1998: Jason Hall 2000: Jesse Pearson 2001: Jason Perkins 2004: Shaun Spisak 2005: Mike Gibbons 2009: Sam Kershaw 2012: Charles Dieuseul 2015: Hank Spencer 2018: Danny Robinson 2021: Mason McMillen
Lee J. Tressel Award Awarded to the OAC's most valuable defensive back.
1996: Sean Moore 1997: Mark Black 1998: Kris Bugara 2001: Chris Kern 2002: Chris Kern 2004: Jesse Clum 2008: Daryl Ely 2009: Drew McClain 2011: Nick Driskill 2012: Nick Driskill 2014: Alex Kocheff 2015: Tre Jones 2018: Louis Berry IV 2019: Kordell Ford 2021: Malik Britt
Ken Wable Award Awarded to the OAC's top offensive lineman.
2011: Antonio Tate 2012: Antonio Tate 2016: Brooks Jenkins 2017: Cole Parish 2019: Sean Sherman 2021: John Valentine
Clyde A. Lamb Award The Clyde A. Lamb Award is presented annually to the top male and female senior scholar-athlete at each Ohio Athletic Conference institution.
1985: Rick Marabito 1986: Scott Woolf 1987: Scott Gindlesberger 1988: Joe Knoll 1989: Paul Hrics 1992: Jeff Bartolet