WHEELING, W.Va. (Oct. 21) - A late defensive stand helped the Wheeling Jesuit University football team pick up a 23-20 win over the Mount Union junior varsity team Sunday afternoon at Bishop Schmitt Field.

The Cardinals led 23-20 with under three minutes left in the game. Mount Union forced a WJU punt from its own end zone and took over possession inside the Cardinal 40-yard line. Mount Union converted a pair of first downs, before facing a 4th-and-1 on the 10-yard line with 47 seconds on the clock. The Purple Raiders tried to bounce a run to the outside, but freshman Brody Lundeen (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) and the Cardinal defense held the runner short of the first down marker to preserve the win.

Freshman quarterback Tucker Strachan (Kensington, Md./Bullis) finished the afternoon 24-of-31 for 288 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Freshman wide receiver Jake Keenan (Toronto, Ohio/Toronto) recorded 10 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown, while classmate Kiaran Turner (Orange Park, Fla./Ridgeview) posted six catches for 93 yards.

The Cardinals rushing attack was paced by freshman running back Cam'Ron McClain (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg), who finished with 17 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

After punting on its opening drive, Wheeling Jesuit scored the game's first points on an eight-yard touchdown catch by Keenan to put the Cardinals up 7-0 with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter. The touchdown was setup by a 39-yard catch-and-run by Turner on a third and long near midfield.

Mount Union looked poised to even the score up after a 48-yard punt return touchdown early in the second quarter, but the extra-point attempt was blocked and returned by freshman Jayvon Johnson (Upper Marlboro, Md./Largo) all the way back for two points to make the score 9-6 with 9:30 left in the first half.

Wheeling Jesuit added to its lead two drives later when McClain found space and scampered 21 yards for a touchdown to push the Cardinal advantage to 16-6 with just over five minutes left until halftime.

The Purple Raiders responded with a scoring drive of their own, culminating with a six-yard touchdown run by Zechariah Crosby that cut the WJU lead to 16-13 entering halftime.

Mount Union was set to receive the second half kick-off, but the Cardinals left the kick short of the 20-yard line and recovered the ball to set the offense up with great field position. Three plays later, McClain found a hole and scored from 12 yards out to give Wheeling Jesuit a 23-13 lead with 13:29 left in the third quarter.

The Purple Raiders were on the verge of closing the gap on the ensuing possession, before an interception in the end zone by freshman Ryan Gorman (Millersville, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) halted the drive to keep the score at 23-13 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Cardinals were forced to punt on their next possession, but another Mount Union special teams error setup the offense deep in Purple Raider territory. WJU's punt grazed off of a Mount Union player's shoulder and was recovered at the Raider 31-yard line by the Cardinals. Wheeling Jesuit was unable to take advantage and was stopped on a fourth down play inside the red zone to keep the score at 23-13.

Mount Union took over possession and proceeded to drive the length of the field on 23 plays, capped off by a six-yard touchdown pass to make the score 23-20 with 5:11 left in the game.

The Cardinals were unable to convert for a first down on the next possession and punted the ball back to Purple Raiders with less than three minutes left in the game. 

Mount Union's varsity team is currently undefeated and entered the week ranked No. 1 in both the D3Football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Top-25 polls.

WJU will host the Ashland (D-II) junior varsity team next Sunday, October 28 at 1 p.m.