ALLIANCE, Ohio – The 2022 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) champion, No. 12-ranked Wartburg College Knights (13-1), fell just short of making an appearance in this year’s NCAA Division III Football Championship. The No. 2-ranked University of Mount Union Raiders (14-0) defeated the Knights 34-31 in a hard-fought battle on their campus in Alliance, Ohio this afternoon. The Wartburg Knights incredible season comes to an end with an overall record of 13-1.
 
Mount Union got on the board first with a 32-yard passing touchdown, but the Knights quickly responded with a Hunter Clasen seven-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at seven. The Raiders put themselves ahead once again with a seven-yard rushing touchdown with just under two minutes remaining in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Owen Grover forced a huge fumble that Nate Link recovered to put the Knights in a good field position to score two plays later when Nile McLaughlin found Carter Henry for a 14-yard touchdown. The score remained tied 14-14 heading into halftime.
 
The Raiders found the end zone first in the second half to put them ahead 21-14. After a fumble by the Knights that was recovered by Mount Union, Trent Roling, intercepted a pass in the end zone to give Wartburg the ball back. The Knights 66-yard drive ended with a Cael O’Neill 32-yard field goal to close in on the Raiders 17-21 early in the fourth quarter. Mount Union’s next drive ended with a punt that was mishandled, resulting in the Knights to take over on the Raiders 21-yard line. Wartburg capitalized with a Drake George 26-yard touchdown pass from McLaughlin for the first lead of the game for the Knights (24-21). With four lead changes in the fourth quarter, the Mount Union Raiders found the end zone for a 28-24 lead. It took Wartburg just four plays to the find the endzone on a 59-yard touchdown pass from McLaughlin to Henry to take the lead once again (31-28). However, the Raiders were able to score with just 30 seconds remaining in the game to knock the Wartburg Knights out of the playoffs 34-31.
 
The Knights quarterback, McLaughlin threw for a total of 334 yard with two touchdown passes to Henry and one to George. Henry led the receivers with 158 total yards and Clasen had 53 rushing yards with one touchdown. Grover led the defense with 15 total tackles, including 10 solo stops, two for loss, and one forced fumble. On the defense, Roling followed Grover with 10 tackles, eight solo, one interception, and one pass breakup. Parker Rochford and Dylan Steen each recorded two pass breakups for the Knights.
 
Wartburg made the playoffs for the 15^th time and advanced to the semifinal round for the first time in school history. The Knights are the first team from the A-R-C to advance to the semifinal round since Simpson College in 1997.