Nov 23, 2013 5 min read

ALLIANCE, Ohio – He is fondly nicknamed “Sherm The Worm,” even uses the title on his Twitter account.

But Sherman Wilkinson, the 6-2, 175-pound senior wide receiver for Mount Union, showed he could be an eagle Saturday afternoon when he had the game of his career at the most important time.

Wilkinson flew past defenders, caught seven passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns, including two in a critical first quarter, that provided the cushion for a 34-20 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at a snow-swept Mount Union Stadium.

The win propels the Purple Raiders (11-0), who are the defending national champions and owners of 11 NCAA titles, into next week’s second round against Wittenberg, a 59-17 winner over Lebanon Valley.

Washington & Jefferson, which tied Thomas More for first place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, finished the season at 8-3.

Wilkinson caught a pair of 37-yard touchdown passes in the first quarter, the latter after W&J was penalized for roughing the punter on fourth down, to push the Purple Raiders to a 21-7 lead. The Presidents would only get as close as eight points after that.

“He was wide open,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “Their schemes were very good. Both of them were play-action passes and post patterns. I think we got caught reacting to the play-action. But he’s a very good player.”

Mount Union’s offense rolled up 472 yards against the Presidents, including a career day by tailback B.J. Mitchell. The 5-6, 165-pounder rushed for 181 yards on 31 carries, both personal bests. His 16-yard touchdown run in third quarter gave Mount Union a 34-13 lead.

“If you include the (preseason) scrimmage, he played against us two times, and I think he has 400 yards rushing,” Sirianni said. “He’s so quick and shifty.”

So was quarterback Kevin Burke, who threw the three touchdown passes for Wilkinson and a 4-yarder to Luc Meacham that opened the scoring five minutes into the first quarter. Burke threw for 198 yards and rushed for 60 more on 16 carries. He reset his own record for single-season rushing yards for a Mount Union quarterback with 786 yards, 10 more than he had last year.

“The difference in this game is that we were able to run the football, and we limited W&J’s ability to run the ball,” said Mount Union head coach Vince Kehres. “We need that to set up the pass.”

Except that it worked in reverse in this game. Mount Union had 130 passing yards in the first quarter, 224 total.

But this game was not going to resemble the one in 2009, when Mount Union routed W&J 55-0. That’s because the Presidents battled back, forced the Purple Raiders into five turnovers and recovered an onside kick to start the second half.

“We didn’t really want to give them a short field,” Sirianni said, “but my brother Jay came in to get warm at halftime and said, ‘You have to onside kick to start the second half.'”

W&J recovered the kick, but any momentum ended with a three-and-out.

“They caught us off guard,” said Kehres. “It was a great call by Coach Sirianni, and they executed it well.”

Mitchell scored on Mount Union’s next possession to make it a 34-13 game, and the Presidents would not get closer than 34-20 with 7:20 left in the game. That score came on a three-yard pass from quarterback Pete Coughlin to wide receiver Alex Baroffio.

The two had excellent games for the Presidents. Coughlin, a freshman, was making his second start and first in the playoffs after Matt Bliss was lost for the season with a concussion in last week’s win over Waynesburg. Coughlin completed 20 of 44 passes for 216 yards, no interceptions and three touchdowns, all to Baroffio. He hit the senior with a 24-yarder in the first quarter that cut Mount Union’s lead to 14-7, then again from six yards early in the second that pulled W&J to within 21-13, and the one in the fourth quarter.

“All the pressure was on them,” said Coughlin, a freshman from Upper St. Clair. “They are the defending champions. When the weather turned bad, I never played in anything like that. The last time I played in snow was when I was 6.”

Baroffio caught 12 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He became the school’s career leader in receiving yards with 3,204. His 269 receptions also set a school record.

“Pete did a hell of a job,” Baroffio said. “We played with them the majority of the game.”

Sirianni again criticized the seeding process that sent W&J to the defending national champions, but did say he was proud of the way the Presidents battled.

“Now, I’m (Mount Union’s) biggest fan,” said Sirianni. “If they win it all, it makes us look better. And I’m a graduate.”