Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
After losing three straight games, the Wooster football team started their three-game road trip by running over Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio on Saturday. The game was tied at 14 after three quarters, then became a 35-14 rout for the Scots as quarterback Brett Frongillo ’14 and running back Robert Flagg ’12 combined for 371 yards rushing against the Terriers (1-7, 1-3 NCAC).
The game was scoreless for most of the first quarter. With five minutes left in the period, Wooster (3-5, 2-2 NCAC) was pinned on its own one-yard line. Flagg created some breathing room with a six-yard burst followed by a five-yard carry, before Frongillo broke free for 21 yards to the Wooster 33. Frongillo added 13 more yards on his next two carries before completing a 28-yard pass to Cameron Daniels ’12 to get into Hiram territory. After a few more short runs, the 99-yard drive was capped by a 14-yard rushing touchdown from Frongillo to make it a 7-0 game.
The Terriers drove into Wooster’s red zone on the ensuing drive, but Taylor Trout ’12 came up with an interception on the eight-yard line to stop them from countering. Later in the second quarter, Frongillo had a 53-yard run with a Hiram personal foul tacked on to get the ball to the Terriers’ 14-yard line. Flagg was given the ball on the next two plays, finishing the drive with a five-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. Hiram failed to get on the board in the first half after Brandon James ’15 intercepted a pass at the Wooster 15-yard line.
Midway through the third quarter, Frongillo threw a pass that was intercepted by Dominick Harper in Scot territory. The Terriers capitalized with a four-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Hanna to Richard Simpson, narrowing the gap to 14-7.
On the following Wooster possession, the Scots drove 18 yards before Jon Hull forced and recovered a fumble from receiver Zack Weidrick ’13 and returned it to the Wooster 39-yard line. Dan Terhune ’12 sacked Hanna on Hiram’s first play and forced a fumble, but Hiram’s Chris Austin recovered it. After Austin gained some yardage back with an eight-yard burst, Hanna connected on a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Schofield to tie the game at 14.
Wooster quickly regained the lead and never looked back. Flagg’s 34-yard run placed the ball in enemy territory, and Frongillo got the ball into the red zone at the end of the third quarter with a 10-yard carry. Flagg was tackled for a four-yard loss on the next play, but Frongillo took it 23 yards to the endzone on the next play to give the Scots a 21-14 lead.
After Wooster forced a punt, Flagg ran for 63 yards before being tackled at the one-yard line. He got into the endzone on the next play, increasing the Scots’ lead to 28-14.
The Terriers only went backwards on the following possession. Terhune was in the backfield on the first two plays of the drive, sacking Hanna for a loss of eight on first down and a loss of five on second down. Facing third-and-23, Hanna was tackled for a one-yard loss by Brendon Taylor ’14 and Girard Ogletree-Crawford ’13, and Hiram had to punt again.
The Fighting Scots sealed the game by grinding the clock down during a 13-play, seven-minute drive. The dagger came when Frongillo rushed for 22 yards on fourth-and-8, putting the ball on the four-yard line. John Battaglia ’14 scored the insurance touchdown on a three-yard carry with under two minutes to go.
Frongillo’s 207 yards rushing marked the first time that a Wooster quarterback had run for over 200. Flagg finished with a career-best 156 yards on the ground. Hiram’s offense only had 190 yards total, despite Wooster running just two more plays.
Tomorrow, the Scots will travel to Gambier, Ohio to take on Kenyon College (0-8, 0-4 NCAC) at 1 p.m.