Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
The Wooster football team failed to keep up the momentum following its 45-14 dismantling of winless Hiram College last weekend. On Saturday, the Scots traveled to Crawfordsville, Ind. to face No. 13 Wabash College, where they were routed 30-0 by the Little Giants.
Wooster was outgained 414-195 in the defeat, including a 295-58 disparity on the ground. The Scots failed to make it into the red zone even once, while the Little Giants made four appearances, scoring on three of them.
Already up 3-0, Wabash scored the first touchdown of the game with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Little Giants started with the ball at midfield, and quarterback Andy Walsh completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Darren Bost to increase his team’s lead to 10-0. It would be the last scoring play of the first half, as the Scots turned the ball over on downs in Wabash territory in the second quarter.
Wooster’s lone highlight of the half came on the ensuing Wabash drive, when Brandon James ’15 intercepted Walsh’s pass. After an illegal block in the back penalty, the Scots started their drive on their own four-yard line. Wooster drove to the Wabash 35, but coach Mike Schmitz elected to punt on 4th-and-7 — a questionable decision considering the field position and the fact that there was only a minute left in the half.
The second half was even worse for the Scots, as Richard Barnes ’14’s pass on the second play of the period was intercepted by Cody Buresh and returned for a Wabash touchdown. The Little Giants failed an attempted two-point conversion, but still maintained a 16-0 lead.
Wooster went three-and-out on the next possession and punted the ball away. Wabash then ran eight straight running plays to get into Scots territory, where Walsh hit Jon Laird for a 20-yard touchdown strike to increase the lead to 23-0.
Wooster drove all the way to the Wabash 38-yard line on the next drive, but failed to convert on third down. Desperate to get something going, Schmitz called for a fake punt, but Dana Obery ’13 could not complete his pass.
The Scots’ Shawn Chaffee ’13 did force a fumble a few plays later, which was recovered by Girard Ogletree-Crawford ’13. However, Wooster failed to capitalize, as two penalties and a sack put the team at 4th-and-30 at its own 43-yard line.
Wabash put the game away for good on the next possession. The nine-play, 65-yard drive ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Walsh to make the lead 30-0. Justin Rice ’15 was ejected from the game after a personal foul on the final Wooster possession. The drive ended on the next play, as Barnes was sacked on fourth down.
The Scots dropped to 2-5 (1-3 NCAC) after the loss. They will hope to get back into the groove tomorrow against DePauw University (1-6, 0-4 NCAC) at John P. Papp Stadium. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.