Wabash held Vienna’s offense in check through the first 13 minutes of the game. But the Vikings capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive with a six-yard TD run by Kyle McIntosh, a former Syracuse University running back, to take a 7-0 lead with 2:24 left in the first quarter. The Little Giants could not move the ball on the next drive, punting the football back to the Vikings. Vienna made Wabash pay. MacIntosh scored his second touchdown of the game, returning the punt 45 yards to give the Vikings a 14-0 lead.
The Little Giants cut the lead in half on the next series. Josh Bronaugh (Crawfordsville, IN/North Montgomery), the fourth-leading kick returner in Division III in 2002, ripped off a 54-yard kick return to give Wabash the football at the Vikings’ 37 yardline. Three plays later running back Chris Morris (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) raced 28 yards to make it a 14-7 contest.
Vienna had an answer for Wabash, however. The Vikings cranked out another long drive, this time going 74 yards in ten plays while taking 4:46 off of the game clock. The drive ended when former Canadian quarterback Shawn Olson found Ralph Pointer in the endzone for a six-yard TD strike to give Vienna a 21-7 lead.
Wabash cut the lead to seven just before halftime. Quarterback Dustin DeNeal (Muncie, IN/Delta) hit on four of his six pass attempts on the final drive of the first half, completing the series with a six-yard strike to tight end Nick Dawson (LaFontaine, IN/Southwood) to send both teams to the locker room with Vienna holding a 21-14 lead.
The Little Giants took the second half kickoff, but could not move the football, giving it to Vienna at its own 26 yardline after a Wabash punt. The Vikings went 74 yards in ten plays for the second time in the game, this time scoring on a seven-yard pass from Olson to Cameron Frickey to take a 28-14 lead.
Wabash wasn’t done on the offensive end. The Little Giants marched 80 yards to draw within seven points again, scoring on a nine-yard pass from DeNeal to Bronaugh with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
The Vikings put the game away in the fourth quarter, scoring on the first play of the period with a 47-yard pass from Olson to Luke Atwood for the final 35-21 score.
Morris, a 1,000-yard rusher for Wabash last year, finished with 47 yards and one TD on eight carries. DeNeal was 14-of-23 for 130 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and one interception. Bronaugh hauled in eight receptions for 95 yards and one score. He also had three kickoff returns for 116 yards.
Kyle Piazza (Clarksville, IN/Jeffersonville) led the Little Giants on defense with eight tackles. Dustin Deno (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) added six stops and Josh Foster (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) had an interception to add to his five tackles.
Olson was 19-28 for 207 yards and three TDs for the Vikings.
"This was a good lesson for our team," said Wabash head coach Chris Creighton. "During this journey we grew together as a team and that should help us a lot during the regular season in the fall."
"We had a good game, but you still have to remember that Wabash is a team in its offseason, while we are in mid-season shape," said Olson. "We hope that we can come out with the same approach in 14 days playing the Bergamo Lions in the Eurobowl semifinals in two weeks."
Wabash finished the 2002 season with a 12-1 record, advancing to the NCAA Divison III quarterfinals before losing to eventual national champion Mount Union. The Little Giants open their 2003 season on September 13 at Kalamazoo College.
The Vikings are now 5-0 in Charity Bowl games. The 21 points by Wabash are the most points scored against Vienna in the Charity Bowl since the Vikings defeated Millsaps College 40-28 in 1999.