Wooster Blows Past Denison 59-3 in Home Finale

Tony Sutton breaks into the clear on his way to an 83-yard touchdown run against Denison.

WOOSTER, Ohio — Behind the running of All-American junior running back Tony Sutton (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban), The College of Wooster closed out its home schedule with an easy 59-3 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over Denison at John P. Papp Stadium.

Sutton, who entered Saturday’s game leading all NCAA Divisions in rushing (215.1 ypg), all-purpose yards (245.3 ypg), and scoring (18.0 ppg), only added to his total after rushing for 270 yards and five touchdowns on 29 carries. His big day – the third time this season that he has rushed for 270 yards or more and the seventh time in eight games that he had at least 170 yards rushing – gives Sutton 3,101 rushing yards for his career in just 17 games.

With one game remaining, Sutton has within his sights three significant single-season NCAC records. He needs 19 yards to break Matt Capone’s (Ohio Wesleyan) record for all-purpose yards (2,106 / 2001); 60 yards to break Jon Warga’s (Wittenberg) record for rushing yards in a season (1,836 / 1990); and two rushing touchdowns to tie the conference record held by Allegheny’s Stanley Drayton (1991) and Shane Ream (2000) of 27.

Wooster (7-2 / 4-2) jumped ahead quickly, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions. Each drive started in Denison (3-6 / 2-4) territory, and each was capped by a Sutton touchdown. The first drive started at the Big Red 25-yard line after a fumble. The other two drives started just inside Denison territory after strong defensive stands by the Scots forced Denison to punt from deep in its own end.

The Big Red’s only offensive threat of the afternoon came late in the first quarter, when Frederick Lee on a third-and-1 play broke through the line of scrimmage cleanly and raced 62 yards all the way to the Wooster three-yard line. But after reaching the one-yard line, an offsides penalty against the Big Red moved them back, and they were unable to score a touchdown. Andy Stromwall converted the 22-yard field goal for the Big Red’s only points of the game.

The first play of the second quarter saw Sutton’s fourth touchdown of the game, as he first ran the ball to the right side of the field, then crossed all the way back to the left for a 39-yard scoring run.

After a 33-yard field goal by Richie McNally (Westerville, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales) made the score 31-3, quarterback Justin Schafer (Bethesda, Ohio / Union Local) hit freshman wide receiver Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) on a 12-yard scoring pass with just 53 seconds left before halftime to give Wooster a 38-3 lead at the half.

The highlight of the second half was an 83-yard touchdown run by Sutton, the longest run of his career. Schafer also connected on his second touchdown pass of the game, this time 27 yards to Dan Steck (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick).

Schafer had a strong all-around for the Scots, completing 14-of-20 passes for 157 yards and two scores while rushing for 42 yards on nine carries.

For Denison, Lee finished with exactly 100 yards on 11 carries, while Phil Bouwhuis, who entered the game second in the NCAC in rushing behind Sutton, only gained 69 yards on 27 carries.

Statistically, Wooster outgained Denison 531-201, while defensively, the Scots limited the Big Red to just 5-of-24 passing for 44 yards and an interception. Wooster also forced four Denison fumbles.

The Scots close out their season next Saturday (Nov. 15) at Wittenberg. A win by Wooster would secure second place in the final NCAC standings.