A 49-yard field goal attempt by Wabash College on the final play of the game sailed wide right, denying the Little Giants a shot at a come-from-behind victory at home on Saturday afternoon. Wabash fought back from a 33-9 deficit, only to lose 33-30 to the College of Wooster.
Senior wide receiver Brandon Clifton (Lafayette, IN/McCutcheon) (photo left) tied a Wabash record, catching four TD passes but it was not enough to keep the Little Giants’ 17-game home winning streak in tact. The last time Wabash lost a home game was September 15, 2001 in a 58-33 defeat against Wheaton.
The 21-point comeback by the Little Giants, #23 in the latest D3football.com and 13th in the American Football Coaches Association polls, started with an 11-yard TD pass from junior Russ Harbaugh (Evansville, IN/Evansville Bosse) to Clifton with 1:06 left in the third quarter. Just a few minutes later, it was Harbaugh finding Clifton again, this time for seven yards to cap a seven-play, 67-yard scoring drive with 13:17 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
The Wabash defense held the Scots on fourth down after Wooster had marched the football down to the Wabash 28 yard line, giving the offense a chance to trim the lead to three. That’s exactly what happened when Harbaugh found Clifton for the third time for a touchdown in the second half and fourth time in the game. The pair connected on a 25-yard pass to draw to within three.
The Little Giants held on defense on the next three plays by the Scots, handing the ball back to the offense again. On this occasion, Harbaugh’s pass to Clifton in the endzone was picked off by Wooster’s Brian Kight at the three, appearing to end the Wabash comeback.
But the Wabash defense rose to meet the challenge. The Little Giants held the Scots on three consecutive plays again, forcing Wooster, 12th in D3football.com and 14th in the AFCA polls, to punt the ball with 19 seconds remaining in the contest. Harbaugh hit Joe O’Connell (SO/Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) with a 16-yard pass to move the football to the Wooster 32. Two consecutive incompletions brought up fourth down with three seconds showing on the game clock. Junior kicker Mark Server (Plainfield, IN/Plainfield) stepped onto the field for the 49-yard field goal attempt. His kick was long enough, but went right of the upright to send Wooster to 3-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play and 6-0 overall for the season.
Wabash took a 6-0 lead on their bread and butter play of the day, a TD pass from Harbaugh to Clifton on a four-yard fade into the left corner of the endzone. A missed extra point on the play would haunt the Little Giant the remainder of the afternoon. Wooster responded with a 41-yard field goal by Richie McNally to cut the lead to three, then took a 9-0 lead when Chris Craig picked off a middle screen by Wabash and returned it 20 yards for the first Wooster touchdown of the game.
The Little Giants kept All-American running back Tony Sutton in check for a quarter and a half before he exploded for a 38-yard TD run in the second period to put Wooster up 16-6. Sutton finished the game with two TDs and 150 yards on 30 carries. Most of the offensive damage came from sophomore quarterback Justin Schaffer. The second-year starter threw for 168 yards on 13-of-24 passing, and rushed for another 77 yards and a touchdown at the start of the third quarter.
Server and McNally traded field goals late in the second half to make it 19-9 at the break. After Schaffer’s TD to open the third period, Sutton added his second score on a six-yard run to make it 33-9, setting up the Wabash comeback.
Wooster outgained Wabash 396 yards to 379 for the Little Giants. Wabash rolled up 347 yards in the air, while the Scots balanced their attack with 168 yards passing and 228 yards rushing.
Harbaugh was 31-of-50 with two interceptions and four TDs. He threw for a career-best 347 yards, the 16th-best single game effort by a Wabash quarterback. Clifton had a career-best 12 receptions for 123 yards and four TDs. He tied the single game TD reception record held by Ryan Short and Kurt Casper.
The Little Giant ground game struggled all day against the Wooster defense. Wabash finished with 32 yards on 30 carries. Aaron Lafitte (SO/Goodyear, AZ/Ironwood) had 32 yards on nine carries to lead all Wabash rushers. Adrian Pynenberg (FR/Montgomery, IL/Oswego Community) made a career-best 13 tackles, including six solo tackles. Wabash would make only one sack in the contest, a one-yard stop by Darryl Kennon (Tempe, AZ/McClintock).
Wabash falls to 5-1 with the loss, 3-1 in the NCAC. The Little Giants travel to Springfield, Ohio next Saturday to play the Wittenberg Tigers at noon (EST).
QUICK HITTERS
--- Brandon Clifton tied the record for TD catches in game set by Ryan Short (4 vs. DePauw in 2002) and Kurt Casper (vs. Allegheny and Denison in 2000).
--- Wabash had won ten consecutive NCAC home games before the loss to Wooster.
--- This is the first time Wooster has won in Crawfordsville in the history of the series.
--- Harbaugh is the ninth quarterback in Wabash College history to throw for more than 300 yards in game. The others are Jake Knott (14 times), Brett Butler (5 times), Bill Padgett (3 times), Chris Ings (3 times), Dave Harvey (twice), Brandon Armstrong, and Steve Hoffman.
--- Wooster is the first team to defeat the Little Giants in consecutive meetings since Wabash lost to Wittenberg in 2000 and 2001.