The improved balance of the North Coast Athletic Conference has been on full display throughout the 2005 football season. Kenyon knocked off Wooster; Oberlin and Hiram have notched big wins; and Denison University, entering Saturday's game with a 5-3 record, is poised to post one of its finest seasons ever.
"There are no pushovers in the NCAC this season," Wabash coach Chris Creighton said in the pre-game radio show last week. "There are no games on the schedule where can just show up and expect to win."
In past years if Wabash was to host Denison on Senior Day, it might be a yawner. Not so this year. For Wabash to win Saturday — and secure its second undefeated NCAC Championship — it will need to play better than it did at Allegheny last week, a 26-20 Little Giant victory. Click here for a story about Wabash's seniors.
"It’s kind of crazy to think that we're 8-0 and we still haven’t accomplished any of our goals," said Creighton. "We’ve put ourselves into a position to accomplish them — win an outright conference championship, go undefeated in NCAC play, earn a playoff berth — but we haven’t completed any of those goals yet."
Not only does Denison come in with a 5-3 mark, it does so with the confidence of back-to-back league wins over Earlham and Oberlin. Coach Nick Fletcher’s team offers a dead even balance of a running and passing offense and a defense that has forced 28 turnovers, an average of four per game.
The Big Red is paced by running back Fred Lee, who averages 77.1 yards per game but rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown in last week’s win over Oberlin. The 230-pound junior averages 4.3 yards per carry and has four touchdowns to his credit. His backfield mate, Brian Mason, is another 220-pounder who has five TDs on the season.
But it’s quarterback Larry Cappetto (pictured at right; courtesy of Denison University) who is the engine of the Denison offense. The 6-1 senior averages 184 yards passing and 41 yards rushing. He’s thrown for 15 touchdowns and rushed for another four.
He spreads the ball out to a half-dozen different receivers, paced by pre-season All-American tight end Frank Roe (23 catches, 408 yards, 5 TDs), receiver Andrew Pace (18-190-2), and big-play threat Matt Peterson (21.9 average, 3 TDs).
"Denison runs the ball well and they have a very good quarterback in Cappetto," said Coach Creighton. "Defensively they have good players, including a couple of freshmen, who are very good. They move well, react to the football, and read the field well. They were down 10-6 to Wittenberg at halftime. We only led Wittenberg 14-13 at the half. That should tell you we’re about even. The team that makes plays Saturday will be the team that wins."
Denison has intercepted a league-leading 20 passes this year and allowed just seven passing touchdowns in eight games. Senior Eric Meibers and junior Andrew Terlecky lead the way with four interceptions each, while Jason Wright has three. Linebacker Rob Hackett is the top defender with 59 tackles and 10 tackles for loss. Junior lineman Chris Kuntz has great speed as evidenced by his 43 tackles and team-leading five sacks.
Wabash will offer the best passing attack Denison has faced to date. Quarterback Russ Harbaugh has thrown for 2,469 yards and 22 touchdowns, while throwing only three interceptions all year. That it is Senior Day and he will be throwing to fellow seniors Eric Summers (39-571-5), Kyle Piazza (32-296-1), Chris Ogden (9-66), and Brandon Roop (3-35), to name only four of his targets, could spell trouble for the Big Red. Toss in Geoff Walker (34-502-3), Mike Russell (33-506-6), and Ray Green (22-394-4) and Denison’s secondary will be tested.
Two seniors hope to go out with a bang in the backfield, too. Ogden and Roop have emerged as a solid 1-2 combo, combining to average 90 yards per game with nine touchdowns. Don Juan Brown scored a touchdown at Allegheny, and averages 38 yards rushing per game.
Punching holes in Denison’s defense will be an offensive line led by seniors Jake Koeneman, John Maddox, and Brandon Barkley. Another senior, Hunter Fields, has been a part-time starter the last three years.
But this game could well be decided by Wabash’s defense. After giving up 20 and 21 points in the last two weeks, it’s a safe bet that senior linebackers Aaron Selby, Tim Parker, and Josh Foster will want to tighten things down today. The team is allowing an average of just 10 points per game and opponents get just two yards per carry, but Wittenberg and Allegheny mounted some unsettling drives.
Selby (pictured at left) ended two critical drives by himself, stopping Wittenberg’s tailback on fourth down and knocking down an Allegheny pass to close out Saturday’s victory. Selby, Parker, and Foster have been in the starting lineup all four years and together have combined for 535 tackles, 55 tackles for loss, 26 sacks, and nine interceptions.
Defensive end Tamarco White is a four-year letterman and Pete Kempf is a three-year letterman, giving Wabash its most experienced defense in years.
Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium.