Hooper Has Big Day in Scots 49-10 Win Over Oberlin

Scott McManamon runs past the Oberlin running back on his way to a 14-yard fumble return for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

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WOOSTER, Ohio - The College of Wooster football team proved on Saturday that it has more than one offensive weapon, as senior fullback Rob Hooper (Mt. Vernon, Ohio / Mt. Vernon) caught three touchdowns and had 163 all-purpose yards to lead Wooster past visiting Oberlin College 49-10.

Oberlin (1-4, 1-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) managed to limit the Scots' Tony Sutton (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban), who entered the day as the NCAA Division III leading rusher (198.0 yards per game), to 125 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries, but Hooper counterbalanced that.

Midway through the first quarter, Hooper was on the receiving end of a Jeff Spraggins' (Garfield Hts., Ohio / Garfield Heights) four-yard pass on a third-down play to give Wooster (5-0, 2-0 NCAC) a 7-3 lead.

The Scots started to pull away just :14 into the second quarter, when linebacker Scott McManamon (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay) picked up a fumble by the Yeomen quarterback and jogged the ball 14 yards into the end zone. McManamon's touchdown - the second of his career, as he previously had a 40-yard interception return against Oberlin in 1999 - came just three plays after Sutton scored from 21 yards out.

Hooper made it 28-3 Wooster midway through the second, collecting a screen pass from Spraggins and galloping 63 yards for the touchdown.

The Yeomen did mount a mini-comeback, scoring on the ensuing drive via a 45-yard pass play from Chris Moffatt to Brian Senne and then moving the ball to the Scot 41-yard line late in the half. However, Wooster stopped them on downs with :20 left and turned around to march 59 yards in two plays - a throw to to tailback Scott Jones (Uhrichsville, Ohio / Tuscarawas Central Catholic) that went 23 yards, and with just :02 left, a 36-yard pass to tight end Matt Ralls (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) in the middle of the end zone.

Scott Jones gets to the corner on his way to a 23-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.

Leading 35-10 at the break, the Scots elected to grind it out and work the clock in the second half. Wooster did score twice more, including another one by Hooper on a five-yard pass play from Spraggins. That marked Hooper's third receiving touchdown, just the seventh Scot to do so in a single-game.

Overall, Hooper totaled 117 receiving yards on only four catches and ran the ball six times for 46 yards. Jones also added 79 yards on the ground, as Wooster totaled 270 rushing yards on 51 attempts for the day.

Spraggins had another efficient day, completing 11-of-23 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns.

Besides its two scoring drives, Oberlin had trouble moving the ball on the Scot defense, which was led by Tim Cline's (Gambier, Ohio / Mt. Vernon) 15 tackles, finishing with 273 net yards. Moffatt was 10-for-27 passing for 167 yards, while Travis Oman led the rushing attack with 66 yards.

Next week, Wooster will face a big test, as it travels to Allegheny College (2-3, 1-1 NCAC), while Oberlin stays on the road and heads to Kenyon College (0-6, 0-3 NCAC).