In a football game between Wabash College and the Battling Bears of Washington University (St. Louis) that became the "battle of the backup quarterbacks," it was sophomore Dustin Huff (Martinsville, IN/Martinsville) (photo right) who stepped to the forefront, throwing for two TD passes and running for a third to lead the Little Giants to a 21-10 victory.
Wabash, ranked 24th in first AFCA Division III coaches poll, fell behind 10-0 to the Bears when Washington took advantage of a 72-yard scamper by Kevin McCarthy on its second play from scrimmage. The Bears capped the six-play, 77-yard drive with a 40-yard field goal by Ben Lambert to move ahead 3-0. Washington forced a Wabash fumble on the very next play from scrimmage, taking the 10-0 lead two plays later on a 21-yard TD run by quarterback Adam Meranda.
The Bears finished the first quarter with 112 yards on 10 rushing attempts. They would see that total nearly cut in half in the final three quarters.
The Wabash defense rallied after the first quarter scoring attack by Washington, recording 14 tackles for losses totaling 72 yards. The Bears used three quarterbacks in the game – Meranda, Nick Henry, and Pat McCarthy. All three were under pressure the rest of the contest as the Little Giant defensive unit recorded 10 sacks, the most by a Wabash defense since picking up 10 sacks against Denison University in 2001. Junior linebacker Tim Parker (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) (photo left) led the way with four sacks for 26 yards, half a sack short of tying the school single-game record. Junior linebacker Aaron Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) led the defensive charge with nine tackles, three tackles for losses totaling 11 yards, and one sack for five yards.
The relentless Wabash defensive wall continued to cut into the Washington rushing totals. The Bears finished the game with 31 carries for a net of 68 yards on the ground.
While the Little Giant defense was taking control of the Bear’s offense, Wabash turned to a backup quarterback to spark the offense.
Huff could not play football as a freshman, recovering from injuries suffered while playing baseball as a senior at Martinsville High School. He showed no signs of any problems recovering from those injuries on Saturday afternoon. Huff came into the game with 2:08 left in the first half and quickly marched the Little Giants down the field for a four-play, 64-yard scoring drive that ended with a TD strike to Brandon Clifton (JR/Lafayette, IN/McCutcheon) for 16 yards to make it a 10-7 contest.
Huff connected on his first eight passes of the game, two in the second quarter and six in a row in the third, finishing the contest 10-of-12 passing for 147 yards in relief of Russ Harbaugh (JR/Evansville, IN/Evansville Bosse), who was 8-of-17 for 85 yards. Huff found Clifton a second time during that eight-pass completion streak on a four-yard pass for the pair’s second score of the contest to give Wabash its first lead of the game. Huff would add a 51-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the game away for Wabash.
The Little Giants finished with 365 yards of total offense to 201 for the Bears. Clifton had nine receptions for 89 yards, moving into 19th on the Wabash all-time receiving list. He passed Wabash Athletic Hall of Famer and current Indianapolis Colts assistant coach Pete Metzelaars '82, who finished his Wabash career with 77 receptions for 1,196 yards. Clifton’s nine catches give him 83 for his career. He has 1,218 receiving yards and eight career TDs.
The three Washington quarterbacks combined for 133 passing yards.
Wabash moves to 2-0 with the win. The Little Giants open North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday at Earlham College at 1 p.m.
QUICK HITTERS
--- Wabash is 22-15-2 against Washington University.
--- The 10 sacks by the Little Giants are the most since recording 10 against Denison in 2001.
--- Tim Parker joins Blair Hammer '04, Jake Gilbert '98, and Tracey Smith '95 in a tie for third on the Wabash single-game sack list. Josh Stanton '03 and Dave Adich '88 are tied for first with 4-1/2 sacks.
--- Huff's 51-yard run is the longest play from scrimmage for Wabash this season.
--- Wabash's 14 tackles for losses are the most by the Little Giants since recording 15 against Kenyon College on September 28, 2002.