ALLIANCE — A message on the scoreboard at Kehres Stadium before John Carroll played Mount in football Sept. 21 read “One Last Time.” This is the Blue Streaks’ last year competing in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Next season, they will join the North Coast Athletic Conference, meaning JCU-Mount football games might be a thing of the past. That’s a shame because so many times since JCU joined the OAC for the second time in 1989, its football games vs. Mount were competitive and entertaining. “One Last Time” on Sept. 21 was another classic. It was also another Mount Union victory in the series. The Purple Raiders won a back-and-forth contest, 37-31, thanks to a couple of huge plays late in the fourth quarter. The first was a 60-yard pass from Noah Beaudrie to Nick Turner off Mount’s end zone that led to a Tyler Echeverry 21-yard TD run that made it a 37-28 game. After a JCU field goal made it 37-31 with 2 minutes to play, a failed onside kick gave the ball to the Purple Raiders (2-0, 1-0 OAC) near midfield. Then on third-and-6 from the JCU 41, Beaudrie fought his way through a group of defenders for 7 yards and a first down. Mount then ran out the clock. “We made too many mistakes,” said JCU coach Jeff Behrman. “I think when you play a team like Mount Union, the margin of error is very, very small … There were too many times on offense we were behind the chains because of lack of discipline and not being aligned right. Defensively, we gave up too many big plays.” Beaudrie was a big-time pest for JCU (0-2, 0-1 OAC) in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. After Nick Semptimphelther threw his fourth TD pass of the game to Jack Cardaman to open the fourth and gave the Blue Streaks a 28-25 advantange, Beaudrie answered with a 53-yard TD run for a 31-28 lead Mount never gave back. Both QBs played exceptionally. Beaudrie was 15 of 19 for 214 yards and a TD and ran for 93 yards on 16 carries. Semptimphelther was 31 of 41 for 325 yards and four TD passes. One thing was certain from the start — JCU put its season-opening 34-7 loss to No. 3-ranked Wisconsin Whitewater and was ready against Mount. It started with Semptimphelther, who was on the mark in the first half. He was 15 of 21 for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters. His big start began with a 63-yard catch and run to Kenston’s Tyler Mintz, who had three receptions for 95 yards in the first half. Mintz finished with seven receptions for 123 yards. Mintz’s big play put the Blue Streaks inside the 10, and on third down Semptimphelther found Evan McVay (eight receptions, 43 yards) alone in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 7-7. Near the end of the first quarter, JCU got to red zone and on the first play of the second quarter Semptimphelther found a streaking Tyren Montgomery down the middle for a TD and a 14-7. Mount took a 16-14 advantage on Ivan Maric’s 38-yard field goal late in the second quarter but Semptimphelther and the passing attack kept chucking the ball. A 40-yard completion to tight end Kenny Rawls was the big play of the drive. Two swing passes to McVay put the ball at the 6 then on the next play Rawls was left alone in the end zone for an easy TD and JCU led, 21-16. At 0-2, Behrman’s message to his team was to keep believing and playing, beginning with Sept. 28 at home vs. Heidelberg. “We should not drop our heads because we’re a good football team,” said Behrman. “There’s a lot of football in front of us right now.” Photos from Mount Union vs. John Caroll football, Sept. 21, 2024. (Brian Fisher – For The News-Herald) The score Mount Union 37, John Carroll 31