ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996 TAG: 9612160136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
BILL BORCHERT, Mount Union's quarterback, threw for 505 yards and seven touchdowns Saturday.
For days Bill Borchert had been hearing a weather forecast that called for clear skies and moderate temperatures Saturday, which doesn't mean he believed it.
``I didn't want to jinx myself,'' said Borchert, the starting quarterback for Mount Union College. ``I watched last year on TV and knew it snowed 10 inches the day before the game.''
The weatherman didn't err Saturday, however, and neither did Borchert.
No snow or wind or freezing temperatures could have been any more miserable for Rowan than Mount Union's pass-happy offense, which produced five unanswered second-half touchdowns as the Purple Raiders won their second Stagg Bowl in three years, 56-24, at Salem Stadium.
And, what if it had snowed or the winds had howled, as they have virtually every other year in Salem?
``I don't know that we would have changed a whole lot,'' said wide receiver Reiko Golatte, who had six receptions for 166 yards and two touchdowns. ``We've been playing in the rain and snow all season and still putting up the numbers.''
Granted, Mount Union (14-0) seldom has put up numbers the way it did Saturday and certainly not under the aura of a national championship game. Borchert completed 26 of 38 passes for 505 yards and seven touchdowns, setting Stagg Bowl records in each of the latter categories.
``I really didn't know how many [touchdown passes] I had,'' said Borchert, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior. ``When somebody told me, all I could say was, `Wow.' I didn't think that was going to happen at all. Early in the game, as I recall, we had quite a few incompletes.''
Borchert completed only two of his first seven passes, but it wasn't as if the Purple Raiders weren't moving the ball. They were forced to punt just once, following the first series of downs, and trailed at the half, 24-21, only because Rowan attempted a field goal and missed.
Borchert had a respectable first half, completing 12 of 22 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, but it was nothing to rival his second-half performance, when every one of his rainbows found a pot of gold.
In the second half, Borchert had completions of 71, 51, 45 and 36 yards.
Golatte and tight end Brian Finn tied a Stagg Bowl record with two touchdown receptions apiece and Kevin Knestrick had seven receptions for a Stagg Bowl-record 211 yards.
``These numbers are stunning by even our standards,'' said Knestrick, who entered the game with 57 receptions for 1,277 yards and 17 touchdowns. ``Our offense was almost flawless.''
Knestrick's longest reception was a non-scoring 71-yarder that came on a simple stop-and-go pattern.
``I think Kevin saw Ray Golatte] catch a couple and decided he wanted one, too,'' Borchert said. ``Generally, you're going to miss a couple of those long ones, but we were in sync today. Those aren't high-percentage passes.''
At least for some pass offenses, they aren't.
``I can't tell you how often I go back to the '93 film and get ideas for our own offense,'' said Rowan coach K.C. Keeler, whose Profs lost to Mount Union 34-24 in the first Stagg Bowl played at Salem Stadium. ``If I could just sit in the stands and watch, what a beautiful sight!''
Borchert was a senior in high school in 1993, not knowing where he would play in college and not having any special attraction to Mount Union. He wanted to play for Dayton, a Division I-AA program that does not give scholarships, but the Flyers' interest lagged.
His coach knew Don Montgomery, the offensive coordinator at Mount Union, which was looking for a quarterback to replace Jim Ballard, winner of the Gagliardi Trophy as the top player in Division III.
Borchert became a starter in his freshman year and, as a sophomore, led Division III in passing efficiency. However, nothing could have prepared him for a junior year in which he led Division III in passing efficiency for the second time while throwing for 4,035 yards and 55 touchdowns.
``It's really fun to play in this offense,'' said Borchert, whose mentor, Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres, played quarterback at Mount Union from 1967-70. ``I don't think you could find a better offense.''
Or, a better Division III quarterback. Borchert would be the envy of many Division I-A teams.
``You think about that a little bit when you watch some games,'' said Borchert, who has thrown 111 touchdown passes, four shy of Ballard's Division III record. ``But, if I had it to do over, I'd pick [Mount Union] again. I don't know how things could have turned out any better.''
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. Mount Union quarterbackby CNBBill Borchert scampers for yardage against Rowan during the Division
III title game.