For the first time since the 1977 Wabash football team played for the National Championship in the Stagg Bowl, the Little Giants are headed to the Division III football playoffs. Saturday’s 42-22 victory over the 22nd-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots guarantees Wabash a tie for the conference title.
The victory moves the Little Giants to 8-0 for the season, 6-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The win also means that Wabash is now sitting alone atop the NCAC standings with one game remaining in conference play. The Little Giants will travel to Hiram College (0-8, 0-5 NCAC) on November 9. Wabash can do no worse than tie for the conference title, and have defeated Wooster (7-1, 4-1 NCAC) and Wittenberg (7-1, 4-1 NCAC) in head-to-head meetings.
The game itself was nearly a repeat of last year’s meeting between the two schools in Crawfordsville. Wooster took the opening kickoff, but turned the ball over on its second play from scrimmage on an interception. Wabash defensive back Dustin Deno (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) stepped in front of a Jeff Spraggins pass, The Little Giants marched 32 yards in five plays to score the first touchdown of the game on a Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) touchdown pass to Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) for 11 yards.
It was the beginning of the end for the Scots. Wabash held Wooster on the next series, then Knott went up top again. This time the senior quarterback found junior Josh Bronaugh (Crawfordsville, IN/North Montgomery) for a 59-yard TD pass, putting the Little Giants in front 13-0.
Special teams play created the next Wabash score. On fourth and eight from the Wooster 22 yard line, the Scots dropped back to punt, but Ryan Harschuh’s kick was blocked by Deno. Freshman linebacker Tamarco White (Flora, MS/Madison Central) scooped up the football and raced into the endzone to score his first career touchdown while giving Wabash a 21-0 lead after the two-point conversion.
Wabash tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter as junior running back Chris Morris (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) scored from one yard out to make it 28-0. Senior Matt Piechocki (Evansville, IN/North Posey) added the final score of the first half on a 13-yard TD catch from Knott to send the Little Giants to the locker room with a 35-0 lead.
Wooster responded with a touchdown pass late in the third quarter and another to start the fourth quarter to cut into the Wabash lead. But the Little Giants put the game away on a 20-yard TD run by Morris with 7:53 left in the game. Wooster scored a final time with 1:55 left to put the final points on the scoreboard.
Knott finished with 153 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-23 passing. He also rushed for 74 yards. Morris topped the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in a season, finishing with 104 yards and two TDs on 25 carries. Jeff Spraggins threw for 226 yards and three TDs (19-38-1), but was sacked four times by the Wabash defense.
The Little Giants, ranked 10th in the nation in rushing defense, responded to the challenge of keeping the vaunted Wooster running attack in check. Wooster’s Tony Sutton, who was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” two weeks ago, entered the game averaging 192.1 yards per game to lead every running back in the nation in all divisions. He left Saturday’s game against Wabash with a knee injury late in the second quarter after being held to 42 yards on 18 carries. Scott Jones led the rushing attack for Wooster, carrying 18 times for 54 yards.
The Wabash defense was led by freshman Aaron Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont), who had a career-best 13 tackles. He had one of Wabash’s four sacks in the game. Junior Nick Fanelli (Crown Point, Lake Central) reached double figures in tackles with 11. Deno finished the game with two interceptions, making his second at the end of the first half in the Wooster endzone on a pass by Jones, the Wooster running back.
Morris becomes the ninth Wabash running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the tenth to top the 2,000-yard career rushing plateau. Morris has rushed for 1,069 yards this season and 2,100 for his career.
Knott, one of only 16 quarterbacks in NCAA history in any division to pass for 10,000 career yards and 100 career touchdowns, increased his totals. He has thrown for 10,186 yards and 104 TDs in his four years at Wabash.
The Little Giants, ranked 10th in the latest American Football Coaches Association poll, have won 15 consecutive games dating back to last season, tying the school record for consecutive victories. Wabash has won 12 consecutive NCAC games during that stretch. The Little Giants will play Hiram next Saturday, then will conclude the regular season with a home game against DePauw University in the 109th Monon Bell Classic.