A strong defensive effort by the Wabash football team and a three-touchdown passing effort led the Little Giants to a 23-7 win over Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri Saturday afternoon.
(View photos from today's game)
Wabash held the Bears to 46 yards on the ground for the game and 280 yards of total offense in the victory. Senior linebacker Josh Foster (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) led the way with 10 tackles, including nine solo stops and a sack. The Little Giants, after sacking Washington University quarterbacks ten times in last year’s game, came away with six sacks in Saturday’s contest.
The defense made its presence know early, holding the Bears to only four first downs in the first half. Washington had only three drives longer than three plays before being forced to punt or watching the drive end at halftime.
While the defense kept the Bears’ offense in check, Russ Harbaugh (Evansville, IN/Bosse) and the Little Giant receiving corps put Wabash on the scoreboard.
On the third offensive series of the game, Harbaugh pumped once, drawing the Washington defense in on the short route. That set sophomore Mike Russell (Terre Haute, IN/North Vigo) free for a 56-yard touchdown catch and run to give the Little Giants a 7-0 lead. After two more drives ended in punts and one ended on a failed fourth down attempt, the Little Giants would strike again.
Taking the football at the Wabash 44, Harbaugh was sacked for one of three times in the game for a loss of six yards. Don Juan Brown (Houston, TX/Mirabeau B. Lamar) got those yards back on the next run. A pass to Ray Green (Phoenix, AZ/Trevor G. Browne) set up a fourth and one at midfield. Kyle Piazza (Clarksville, IN/Jeffersonville) plowed past the first down marker on the next carry, keeping the drive alive.
Two plays later it would be Harbaugh’s turn to keep the chains moving. Scrambling to his right, he found 21 yards of open territory, moving the football to the 11 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Harbaugh hit Green in the endzone just before halftime to put Wabash up 14-0.
Wabash got the second half off to an even better start. Facing third and 15, Washington quarterback Nick Henry dropped back on the opening series of the third quarter and fired a pass toward midfield. But the only person there was Wabash’s Adrian Pynenberg (Montgomery, IL/Oswego Community). Pynenberg made the interception, returning it 15 yards to give the Little Giants’ offense a short field in which to work.
A running play the drove the ball near the goal line on the first play was called back for a motion penalty, giving the Little Giants a first down at the 31 yard line. Harbaugh tossed his third TD pass of the game, hitting Geoff Walker (Schererville, IN/Lake Central) on a sideline pass.
The Little Giants added another turnover on defense when Aaron Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) picked off Pat McCarthy at the start of the fourth quarter. Chad Finley (Alvin, IL/Bismarck-Henning) completed the scoring in the fourth quarter for Wabash with a 43-yard field goal.
The Bears mounted a ten-play, 99-yard scoring drive midway through the final period to end the shutout, but Wabash controlled the clock to earn its second win of the season.
Harbaugh threw for 256 yards, sending him from sixth to fourth on the Wabash all-time passing list. His 4,182 career passing yards moved him past Brett Butler ’90 and Dave Harvey ’78. Green led the receivers with six catches for 65 yards.
Tim Parker (Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central), Jared Lange (Terre Haute, IN/Terre Haute North), Wes Anderson (Holland, MI/Holland), Foster, Pynenberg, and Selby each had sacks for Wabash.
Wabash (2-0) will return to Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium for a 2 p.m. Homecoming contest and North Coast Athletic Conference season opener against in-state rival Earlham next Saturday.