At the top of the mountain is Division III Mount Union

Sporting News, The, Jan 5, 1998 by Tom Dienhart, Mike Huguenin

At the top of the mountain is Division III Mount Union

If you look around Mount Union Stadium, you won't find any luxury boxes. And don't expect a back to be affixed to your seat. Long, hard bleachers abound in the creaky 5,800-seat facility, which opened in 1915.

If you're looking for amenities, the best the school can offer is a covered section of seats. But those are tough to get, as there are only 1,500 precious slots available, so people hang on to them. Hey, if you're going to have an achy back while watching the premier program in Division III, you might as well stay dry.

A mountain full of victories in the 1990s has cured any lumbar pain Purple Raiders fans might have suffered while Mount Union has staked its claim as college football's team of the decade. Check out the evidence.

* A 14-0 record and NCAA Division III title this season, which Mount Union has added to the 1443 marks it posted en route to winning it all in 1993 and '96. The Purple Raiders, who beat Lycoming (Pa.), 61-12, in the title game, have gone unbeaten in the regular season three other times this decade (1990, '92 and '95).

* In each of the past nine seasons, Mount Union has won the title or lost to the eventual champion. No Division III team has enjoyed such domination since Augustana (Ill.) won four titles from 1983 to '86.

* A 94-6-1 record in the 1990s, which gives the Purple Raiders the most victories and top winning percentage (.936) among football-playing NCAA schools.

* The longest regular-season winning streak in college football (34), as well as the longest current overall winning streak (28).

"In the '70s or '80s, we wondered if it was really possible for a private college our size to compete nationally in a big-team sport," Mount Union coach tarry Kehres says. "Winning our first title in 1993 showed us we could do it. It also sends that message out to other small colleges, and to our town. We have a lot of players who played at Alliance High, so there is a feeling we're representing our town when we are out competing."

Those are big feats for a school of 1,500 students nestled in Alliance, Ohio, home of Len Dawson and a place where iron and steel once were king. The reason for the dominance is Kehres. He speaks in the measured Midwestern tones any good Ohio football coach could appreciate, giving pause and thought to each word in hopes he dearly is understood. Kehres (pronounced CARE-us) is a Mount Union man, having graduated in 1971 from the northeastern Ohio school (located 70 miles south of Cleveland and 80 miles northwest of Pittsburgh). Kehres knows how important the sport is to every generation of Ohioans who wore letter jackets. And he knows the guys who wore those letter jackets, the Ohio-bred guys, are a major reason his program has enjoyed great success.

"Ohio high school football has a real solid background in fundamentals, he says. In coach Woody Hayes' days at Ohio State, he conducted clinics for all of the high school coaches. We would go down there and learn from his staff about the significance of blocking and tackling. There was so much key, solid information on the fundamentals of football. And I think that is ingrained in the Ohio high school coaches. That's a part of the very nature of Ohio high school football. The coaches turn out players who are pretty solid. And we continue to teach those things, but the young players have a good, solid foundation."

Kehres has been at the school since 1974, when he began an 11-year run as an assistant before becoming the top man in 1986. Kehres' staff also has stood by his side, helping the Purple Raiders develop a pass-oriented offense that has been nearly unstoppable.

Mount Union has scored at least 30 points 76 times this decade, compiling a 75-1 mark in those games. Kehres' crew was at its best in 1997, when it set a modern college record for points scored in a season (752) and won by an average of 54-8.

Those gaudy numbers are a product of a West Coast-style offense that features a small number of plays run efficiently and from a variety of formations. Quarterback Bill Borchert (6-1, 195), one of 31 seniors on the 1997 squad, run the attack with precision, setting the college record for career touchdown passes (141) and throwing a touchdown pass in every regular-season game in which he played (an NCAA-record 40). Including the postseason, Borchert's TD streak reached 53. Overall, Raiders quarterbacks have thrown scoring passes in 87 consecutive games dating to October 1991.

But those dizzying numbers haven't caused egos to grow out of control. It's hard to think you are a big shot at the non-scholarship Division III level. Most players are involved in a work-study program to help foot the bill for school expenses that run around $18,000 a year. Borchert, for example, earned money by washing the team's uniforms.

Kehres, who credits former Mount Union teammate and current Carolina Panthers coach Dom Capers with helping him develop into a great coach, is a humble Division III man who understands he must focus on the furore. He knows his 1998 squad will feature many young and untested players. There is work to be done.