Early Second Half Burst Propels Scots to 31-10 Victory

Joe Francescangeli

The College of Wooster scored on its first three possessions of the second half, building a 24-3 lead and went on to a 31-10 victory at Waynesburg College in the two teams’ first meeting since 1955. Noteworthy, Waynesburg was inaugurating its ProGrass Turf, which was installed this summer.

After a first half, in which the defenses dominated, the Fighting Scots’ offense, led by Justin Schafer (Bethesda, Ohio / Union Local), took the opening kickoff of the second and marched 69 yards to a touchdown. Schafer connected on first-down pass plays to Greg Peltz (Amherst, Ohio / Amherst Steele) twice on the drive and added runs of five and 23 yards to move the ball into the red zone. On 3rd-and-8 at the 16, Schafer completed a throw to David Miller (Uniontown, Ohio / Lake) to the 7-yard line and Joe Francescangeli (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) ran it in on the ensuing play for his first career touchdown.

Wooster (2-0) held the Yellow Jackets to a three-and-out on their first possession of the third quarter and got the ball back around midfield. Three Francescangeli rushes, totaling 24 yards, and a personal foul by Waynesburg moved the ball to the Waynesburg 18-yard line. From there, Schafer found Peltz for their second touchdown connection of the season and a 21-3 lead.

Another three-and-out ensued and the Scots again took over in good field position. This time, after gaining two first downs and 42 yards, they settled for an Andy Milligan (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) 33-yard field goal.

With a three-score lead entering the fourth quarter, Wooster appeared to be in firm control, but in similar fashion to the season-opening 30-22 win, the Scots had to sweat it out a little.

The Yellow Jackets (0-2) went on a nine-play, 84-yard drive early in the fourth, capped by a 19-yard run from Eric Daniels, to pull within 24-10. Waynesburg would advance the ball into Wooster territory on its next two possessions, but turned it over on a fumble at the 46 and on downs at the 14-yard line.

The Scots’ Francescangeli sealed it with an 8-yard touchdown at the 1:54 mark, ending an 86-yard, five-play scoring drive. The key play was an offensive fumble recovery by Jordan Ferns (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield), who proceeded to go 35 yards with the loose ball.

The only scoring in the first half came as a result of turnovers. First, Wooster took advantage of a muffed punt return, recovered by Jalam Cutting (Akron, Ohio / Buchtel), and then went 13 yards, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run for Orlando Jones (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria). The Yellow Jackets would turn a Wooster fumble into a Ben Popson 38-yard field goal.

Statistically, 239 of the Scots’ 322 yards of total offense came via rushing, led by Francescangeli’s 82 on 11 carries, all in the second half. Jones toted the ball 18 times and had 74 yards, while Schafer added 50 net yards on nine attempts. He also completed 11-of-20 passes for 83 yards, with Peltz being his favorite target (4 receptions, 56 yards).

Waynesburg finished with 239 offensive yards, including 62 rushing coming via Daniels. Two quarterbacks split duties, combining to go 16-of-35 for 161 passing yards.

The key statistic of the game may have been the Wooster defense holding the Yellow Jackets to 0-for-13 on third-down conversions.

The Scots do not play next Saturday, as they’ll close out their non-conference schedule at home on Sept. 23 against Case Western Reserve University (1-0 heading into tonight’s game).