Cover photo by Blake Raymond ’28
ALLIANCE -- The Purple Reign has ended.
The Heidelberg University Football team has done the unthinkable.
They went into Kehres Stadium in Alliance -- a venue that hasn't seen the Purple Raiders lose a regular season game since 2016 -- and picked up a thrilling 37-34 win on Saturday.
The Student Princes stood toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champs of the OAC, traded punch for punch for four quarters, only to emerge on the other side in victory formation.
HU sealed the long-awaited win on its final drive. Facing 3rd-and-5 from the Mount Union 42 at the two-minute timeout, the eyes of the Purple Raiders defense and, well, most of the D3 football world were focused on All-American tailback Drew Miller. With three touchdowns and 100+ yards on the day, he would have been the logical number to call to try to ice the game with a first down.
Instead, the Student Princes rolled the dice, as they had all day. Tight end Justin Reiter slipped across the line of scrimmage and was wide open. Quarterback Lance Rickle, making his first start of the season, hit the sophomore in stride -- allowing him to seal the victory with a 24-yard completion.
Two kneel-downs later, and the Student Princes erupted in triumph.
The win was Heidelberg's first over Mount Union since 1988, and first on the road since the vaunted 1972 Stagg Bowl-winning team grabbed a 24-7 win.
"To say how proud I am of every single player and coach on our team is the understatement of the year," said Heidelberg Head Coach Scott Donaldson, now in his 11th year. "Our coordinators, Jason Lewis and Branden Jakubcin, had a great game plan going in, and our guys executed well in the toughest place to play in the conference."
After trading punts to start, Heidelberg got on the board first. Lance Rickle found Mason Flicker open up down the seam for a 35-yard completion on 3rd-and-long. Runs from Drew Miller pushed HU into the red zone. After the drive stalled, Gryffin Bradley connected on a 33-yard field goal.
Trailing 3-0 early in the second, Mount Union faced 4th-and-2 inside the red zone. Going for it, quarterback Mikey Maloney scrambled, but was upended short of the line to gain by Tai Peterson.
The 'Berg momentum was short-lived. An interception gave the ball back to the Purple Raiders, who scored a touchdown on their second play.
Undaunted, the Student Princes responded. Rickle connected with Tyreese Clerveau on a 62-yard completion along the Heidelberg sideline. Facing 1st-and-goal, the Tricolor was unable to punch it in and, instead, settled for a 20-yard field goal from Bradley.
On the next Mount Union drive, a sack by Tyler Jackson and hard hits from Deuce Caldwell and Austin Niederkohr dislodged a pair of passes.
Knolan Albert made a leaping grab to convert on 3rd-and-8 on the next possession, setting up a touchdown run from Miller. Bradley's PAT gave Heidelberg a 13-7 lead, which they carried into halftime.
Mount Union regained the lead on the opening possession of the third quarter.
Trailing 14-13, Bradley hit his third field goal of the day -- a 30-yarder that put HU up, 16-14.
After the Purple Raiders scored on a long pass play, Rickle and Aiden Bradshaw returned the favor. Blown coverage left the speedy wide receiver all alone for an 86-yard touchdown completion. HU led, 23-21.
Aaryion Manley intercepted a Maloney pass in Mount territory, giving the ball back to the offense at the 30. One play after a defensive pass interference in the end zone, Miller plunged in from two yards out. HU led, 30-21, after three.
Mount inched closer on the second play of the fourth, scoring on an 80-yard bomb. An interception thrown by Rickle -- his fourth of the game -- was converted into another touchdown. Maloney found the end zone from two yards out and Mount Union led, 34-30, with 9:48 to play.
Undeterred, HU bounced back once again. Up against a 1st-and-20 after a holding penalty, Rickle connected with Dmitry Peters on a nice 69-yard pitch and catch. After one more first down, Miller scampered in from eight yards out, cutting to his right and scoring untouched. Bradley's PAT gave The Berg a 37-34 lead with 6:35 left.
The Berg defense stepped up the challenge and forced a pair of turnovers on downs near midfield -- the second of which was secured by a pass breakup by Caldwell.
From there, it was the pass to Reiter that did it.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Rickle threw for 402 yards on 17-of-37 passing. He threw a touchdown and battled through five interceptions … Miller's 108 yards and three scores came on 29 carries … Peters finished with 126 yards on four catches and Bradshaw had five grabs for 121 … The HU defense sacked Maloney four times, with NIck Finn grabbing 1.5.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Peters (126) and Bradshaw (121) became the first receiving duo to reach the century mark in the same game since Maceo Matthews and Dimitri Penick did against Capital in 2021 … The last 'Berg QB to surpass 400 yards passing was Tyler Stoyle, who threw for 419 yards against Capital in 2017 … Bradley is 6-for-6 on field goals this season … The win over the No. 8 Purple Raiders is HU's first victory over a ranked opponent since beating No. 21 John Carroll, 27-21, in 2021.
UP NEXT
Heidelberg, now 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the OAC, will host Muskingum next Saturday on Hall of Fame and Families Weekend. Kickoff inside Hoernemann Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.