Tag Archives: oac

Browns play, Buckeyes play.. But the real game of the weekend goes down in Alliance, Ohio.

The Browns host the 4-5 Houston Texans Sunday afternoon at First Energy Stadium in a game where they have a chance to get to 7-3. In The Land of 10,000 Lakes, the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes square off against the #25 University of Minnesota Gophers in a matchup of two top-25 teams.

That’s cool and all. Two pretty big games, right? Nah. The biggest football game of the week in Cleveland (and maybe year) happens in Alliance, Ohio. John Carroll at Mount Union. #3 vs #6. Winner wins the OAC and punches an automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. Loser finishes the regular season with a loss, doesn’t win the conference, but still most likely makes the playoffs.

It’s a Quarterback v Quarterback matchup; Holy War Style. Two of the best quarterbacks in Division III face off on Saturday but their rivalry goes back way before this game. Mount Union senior signal caller Kevin Burke (Saint Edward) and John Carroll QB Mark Myers (Saint Ignatius) are used to rivalry games. During their high school years they were part of “The Holy War;” one of the best (if not the best) high school football rivalries in the entire state of Ohio. Burke and Myers never squared off against each other in high school however. Burke is the reigning Gagliardi Trophy winner (the D-III Heisman) while Myers has about 500 JCU passing records. Cleveland.com had a cool article comparing the two to Johnny Manziel (Burke) and Brian Hoyer (Myers) but I think Russell Wilson vs. Andrew Luck is a more suitable comparison. Watching these two quarterbacks duel is going to be a treat.

Apparently the defenses are both reincarnations of the ’85 Chicago Bears. John Carroll is second in the nation in yards allowed per game. Who are they behind? Yep, Mount Union. The two quarterbacks will have their work cut out for them today.

Mount Union Stadium is expecting one of their biggest crowds in years , perhaps breaking the attendance record of 8,972 set in 2004. All of the seated tickets are sold so there’ll only be standing room only available if you’re planning on making the trip down to Alliance today.

I have a question though, why is this game being played two years in a row at Mount Union? Shouldn’t they rotate where the game is played? I’d be kind of pissed if I was a John Carroll fan, that seems pretty unfair.

Expect a slugfest today. Both teams return a lot of players from last year’s game which Mount won by 8. I know it’s the biggest cliche in the world but the team who wins the turnover battle today wins the game. Joe Tait will be returning to the broadcast booth today working for SportsTime Ohio when the game airs on TV at 11 pm. Why it’s not being aired live is a huge drop of the ball by STO.

If you’re going to the game, take some pictures and tweet them at us @bottlegate

Last meeting: Mount Union 42 John Carroll 34

Bottlegate Prediction: Mount Union 40 John Carroll 35. Mount Union’s winning streak of 92 regular season games turns into 93 when all is said and done.

(Disclaimer- I went to Mount Union and it was really hard to be unbiased. My biased prediction- Mount Union 85 John Carroll 0. Welcome to the machine.)

Fox Sports Ohio’s Zac Jackson may have had the tweet of the day: