Ben Blotner
Sports Editor
The Fighting Scots football team took its first defeat of the season on Saturday, falling 51-24 to the DePauw Tigers, while honoring late teammate Clayton Geib ’18. The Tigers’ offense was impressive from the beginning, surging to a first-quarter lead and never looking back.
Wooster players took the field with heavy hearts to pay respect to Geib, putting just 10 players on the field for the first offensive play of the game and leaving a hole in the spot where Geib would have been standing.
“I am incredibly grateful for the support our team has received from the Wooster community and for DePauw University for allowing us to honor our teammate in what we felt was the most appropriate way,” said Nick Whaley ’20. “Along with the play, we held a moment of silence for our friend.”
After the tribute, the Scots quickly took a 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal kick by Trevor Bowden ’18, but it didn’t last. DePauw’s Tanner Cleveland ’20 scored on a 10-yard run later in the quarter for a 7-3 lead. Quarterback Matt Labus ’19 then connected with Andy Hunt ’19 for a 14-yard pass that extended DePauw’s edge to 14-3.
The Tigers continued their impressive run at the outset of the second quarter, as Chase Sadler ’18 came up with a touchdown on an 18-yard throw by Labus. After Jake Tanner ’19 kicked a 39-yard field goal for a 24-3 lead, Wooster finally got back on the board. Scots quarterback Gary Muntean ’18 unloaded a 34-yard pass to Nick Strausbaugh ’20 to cut Wooster’s deficit to 14 points.
DePauw was able to top this lengthy pass when Labus fired a 57-yard bomb to Hunt, teaming up with the wide receiver for their second touchdown of the day. Muntean was later able to dart into the end zone from one yard out to get the points back. This brought the score to 31-17 in DePauw’s favor at halftime.
Early in the second half, Hunt continued his red-hot performance with his third touchdown, this time on a 36-yarder from Labus. This, along with a touchdown catch by Jake Hagan ’18, essentially put the game out of Wooster’s reach.
Muntean found Antonio Bailey ’19 early in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard pass to cap off the Scots’ scoring for the day. Cleveland ran for three yards and scored for the second time, putting an exclamation point on the decisive victory by DePauw.
Labus, Cleveland, Ramon Lopez ’19 and Jake Weber ’19 each rushed for 40 or more yards, with Nick Delgado ’19 adding 28. Hunt was DePauw’s offensive star of the day with three touchdowns and 133 receiving yards. Brooks Hepp ’19 had nine tackles, while Matt Crupi ’19 had eight.
For Wooster, Muntean accumulated 365 passing yards in the game, eclipsing Labus’ 303. Strausbaugh was also a standout with 102 receiving yards. On the other side of the ball, Christian Santos ’20 led all defenders with 11 tackles, with Jake Cohen ’20 earning eight and D’Andre Brown ’20 six.
While Wooster’s hopes of an undefeated season are over, they still take a solid 3-1 record into their next game.
The Scots will host Wabash College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30.