Fighting Scots Aim to Play Spoiler’s Role Against Undefeated Wabash

Matt DeGrand

The College of Wooster finds itself in an unusual role – the spoiler. This Saturday, Oct. 27, the Fighting Scots will be attempting to prevent nationally-ranked Wabash College (No. 13 D3football.com, No. 9 American Football Coaches’ Association) from clinching at least a share of the 2007 North Coast Athletic Conference championship at Wooster’s 4,500-seat John P. Papp Stadium. The Scots also are trying to avoid clinching their second losing season since 1995 and first since the 2001 campaign (4-6). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster’s football games can be heard live each week in the Wooster area on WKVX 960 AM, or anywhere in the world on the College’s Web site (www.wooster.edu/interactive/). This week’s game will be called by Mike Breckenridge and Ron Hamilton.

All-Time Series: While the series has been competitive for the most part, Wooster has only won twice in 11 meetings with Wabash. Since the Little Giants became a full-fledged member of the NCAC in 2000, they hold a 5-2 advantage, with the Scots’ victories coming back-to-back in 2003 at Wooster (23-7) and in 2004 at Wabash (33-30).

Last Week: On Oct. 20, Wooster came tantalizingly close to pulling out another late victory at Allegheny College, or at least extending it into overtime, however, the Gators’ intercepted a 23-yard pass in the end zone on the last play to clinch their 27-20 victory in NCAC action at Meadville, Pa. Two years ago, the Scots kicked a 32-yard field goal with :02 left to prevail 37-34 at Allegheny, and just last season, they broke a 21-21 tie with a 43-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass as time expired.

This time, Wooster was trailing by a touchdown and pinned deep in its own territory (4-yard line) with 3:08 remaining. Quarterback Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) steadily directed the Scots down the field, completing 8-of-12 passes for 61 yards and running for another 10 yards on two attempts, eventually getting into position for a 4th-and-3 play from the Gators’ 23-yard line with just :06 remaining. This season’s version of the Hail Mary was picked off by Andy Toner.

Allegheny led the majority of the game, scoring a touchdown on the very first possession but missing the extra point for a 6-0 lead. Wooster would go ahead 7-6 later in the opening quarter on a two-play drive. The Scots gained possession on the Gators’ 41. After a 10-yard pass play to Dustin Sheppard (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe), Holter executed a play-action fake, connecting with Jordan Ferns (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield) around the five, and Ferns took it in for the touchdown.

Early in the second quarter, it was Allegheny which took advantage of a short field and grabbed a 13-7 lead. While the game will be remembered for its final moments, the turning point may have come at the end of the first half. Wooster had a 1st-and-10 from the Allegheny 15, but lost yardage on three successive plays, which made it 4th-and-25 from the 30. The Scots turned the ball over on downs and then the Gators quickly scored, recording plays of 11, 11, 9, 17, and 26 yards, the last one being a touchdown pass, as they took a 20-7 cushion with just :12 left in the quarter.

In the third, Wooster quickly got back into the game via an interception by Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) at the Allegheny 23-yard line. A couple of Sheppard runs moved the Scots inside the 10, but they had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Andy Milligan (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville).

Wooster would continue to pull closer, this time with punt returner Keith Adams (Mogadore, Ohio / Field) setting up the offense at the Gators’ 34 via a season-high 45-yard run back. Sheppard would then account for 27 rushing yards of the ensuing touchdown drive, including a 12-yarder to cap it, which brought the Scots within a field goal (20-17). Allegheny responded with a 60-yard touchdown drive on its ensuing possession to go up by 10 again and Wooster would answer with a season-long 39-yard field goal into the wind from Milligan to set up the final exciting drive.

Statistically, Holter had a career-high 21 completions (21-of-36) for 182 yards, while Sheppard registered his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game, going for 110 on 27 carries. He also had five catches for 31 yards. On defense, DeGrand led the way with a career-high 14 tackles, including 2.5 for losses, while senior strong safety Jalam Cutting (Akron, Ohio / Buchtel) also reached a career-high with 12 tackles, including 10 solos.

This and That: Senior return specialist Keith Adams (Mogadore, Ohio / Field) may set a Wooster record this week, as he needs just 15 yards on punt returns to surpass Seth Mastrine’s career mark in that category. Adams has totaled 967 yards (10.4 average) since 2003, while Mastrine went for 981 (9.3 average) from 1997-00 ... Junior Kevin Friedman (Pepper Pike, Ohio / St. Peter Chanel) continues to put together one of