WOOSTER, Ohio — Seven different players reached the end zone as Wabash easily defeated Wooster 55-19 on Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium.
The Little Giants improved to 3-1 on the year and 2-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play, while the Fighting Scots fell to 1-4 and 0-3.
Brand Campbell led Wabash’s passing attack with 232 yards through the air, tossing three touchdowns against one interception. The signal caller also added one touchdown on the ground.
Xavier Tyler paced the Little Giants rushing attack by accumulating a career-best 185 yards over the course of the game, averaging 12.3 yards per carry. He pushed his career total to 1,177yards to make Tyler the 39th Wabash player to top the 1,000-yard mark in a career. Javon Garry also added 58 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Cole Dickerson chipped in with 51 yards and one touchdown as well, averaging 7.3 yards per carry.
TJ Alexander hauled in three catches for 109 yards and one score. Connor Thompson recorded eight receptions for 80 yards and one touchdown.
The Little Giants’ defense rebounded from an early punch in the mouth. The Scots took a 7-0 lead on a 70-yard touchdown run by Jace Austin on the third play from scrimmage. Wabash limited Austin to 18 yards on his next eight carries, finishing with nine rushes for 88 yards. The Little Giants held Wooster to 301 yards of offense for an average of 4.6 yards per play. The Scots ran for 129 yards and threw for another 172.
Gavin Ruppert led the Wabash defense with eight tackles, including three tackles for losses totaling nine yards and one sack for four yards. Jerry McBee added a sack for eight yards, and Ayden Salpietra recorded his first interception in the win. The Little Giants broke up five passes, with Brock Robertson leading the way with two. Wabash kept Carson Warstler, the Scots’ leading receiver entering the game, without a catch on two targets before he left the game with an injury.
Both teams forced one turnover in Saturday’s contest, with Wabash turning that takeaway into seven points. Wabash logged 577 total yards, 334 on the ground and 243 through the air, to average 8.9 yards per play. The Wabash offense did a good job keeping drives alive, converting on 77.8 percent of third-down attempts. The Little Giants also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
How It Happened
Wabash put up 55 points on eight different scoring plays. The Little Giants took the lead for good with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, opening up a 14-7 advantage on the Fighting Scots on a one-yard touchdown run by Garry after tying the game at 7-7 on a ten-yard pass from Campbell to Thompson. The Fighting Scots trimmed the lead to 14-10 with a 30-yard field goal from Sebestyen Balassy.
Campbell ran for a four-yard TD run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive, giving Wabash a 21-10 lead. Balassy connected on another field goal with 1:48 left in the first half. Campbell marched the Little Giants’ offense back down the field on the ensuing drive before hitting Nick Witte with a 36-yard pass for the freshman’s first catch and a touchdown to put Wabash up 28-13 at halftime.
Wabash dominated the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns on a 14-yard run from Cole Dickerson, a 49-yard pass to Alexander, and a 12-yard run from Garry to go in front 48-13. Adam Mullett closed out the scoring for the Little Giants with a three-yard TD run in the fourth quarter for the 55-19 final.
Game Notes
• Wabash outgained Wooster 577-301, including a 334-129 advantage on the ground.
• Wabash had their highest scoring quarter in the third period when it put up 20 points.
• Wabash converted 7 of 9 third downs while Wooster was successful on 5 of 16.
• Ruppert led the Little Giants with eight tackles.
• Wabash scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, scoring 20 unanswered points in the period.
• Wabash won the time of possession battle 30:20 to 29:40.
• Campbell completed 75% of his passes on the day, going 15-for-20, averaging 11.6 yards per attempt.
• Wabash travels to Oberlin for an NCAC contest on Sunday, October 13 at noon.
• Chanden Lee led the Fighting Scots passing attack, completing 10 of his 23 attempts for 100 yards.
• Austin led the Wooster rushing attack with 88 yards and one touchdown.
