Wabash football coach Erik Raeubrn doesn’t think intensity will be an issue as the Little Giants travel to Oberlin, Ohio 1 p.m. Saturday.
Wabash is coming off two emotional games against top teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference — a 10-7 loss to Wittenberg and 37-27 victory at Wooster — and now face one of the bottom teams in the conference in Oberlin. The Yeomen picked up their first win of the season last Saturday — a 19-13 victory at Earlham on its Homecoming — to move to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in league play.
“We have guys right now that are banged up and are sick, that we are going to have a lot of new guys on the field for us this week,” said Raeburn, whose team carries a 6-1 overall and 4-1 league record into Saturday. “And those different guys on the field are going to be anxious to step up and show what they can do.
“I don’t foresee us having a hangover or drop off after two tough conference games in a row.”
Junior wide receiver Wes Chamblee will miss Saturday’s game because of a knee injury. He is second on the Little Giants with 42 catches for 547 yards and five touchdowns. He also leads Wabash with 10 punt returns for 145 yards and has 14 kickoff returns for 313 yards.
Raeburn said during Wednesday’s press conference he expects both senior safety Addrian Frederick and junior corner back Dan Ryan Wood to miss Saturday’s game. Frederick was injured during a Wittenberg game where he had four interceptions and missed last Saturday’s game at Wooster. Wood was injured in the opening half against Wooster and didn’t return for the second half.
Sophomore Kyle Najar played Frederick’s spot last Saturday. Raeburn said Najar did a good job, but the Little Giant coach was also impressed with junior Jake Martin, who took over more of the vocal role in the defensive secondary. Martin also had one of Wabash’s two interceptions on the day.
“Jake Martin really stepped up and took care of the checks and the key reads,” Raeburn said. “Him doing that really helped with Kyle just concentrating on doing his job.”
Junior Blake Powell is Wood’s backup at corner back. Quarterback Matt Hudson will return after missing two games with an injury.
Wabash provided a balanced rushing attack with three Little Giants having at least eight carries against Wooster. Freshman Kyle Stevens led the way with 10 carries for 56 yards.
Raeburn said early in the game against Oberlin, he plans on giving each of his running backs reps. As the game goes along and one or two backs separate themselves from the rest, they might go to one or two backs and feature them.
“We have just been so up and down at running back,” Raeburn said. “I thought Kyle was the one that ran the hardest against Wooster.He played well even though we didn’t give him a lot of big holes to run at. He made some big runs at crucial times for us.”
The Little Giants have never lost to the Yeomen since joining the NCAC in 1999 and have won the last 11 meetings with Oberlin.
Raeburn, however, has seen Oberlin make continued improvement on the season — especially on defense. The Yeomen gave up an average of 30.6 points in their first five contests. In the last two games, they have allowed an average of just 17 points per contest.
“Defensively, they have eliminated the big play and they have done a much better job of tackling,” Raeburn said. “To be successful, we have to be patient on offense and take what the defense is giving us and throw the short passes. We can’t get anxious and greedy and throw the long ball all the time.”
Yeomen freshman defensive back Matt Misorski was named the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week after having a fumble recovery and interception in last week’s win over Earlham. The Yeomen created six turnovers in the victory.
Oberlin freshman quarterback David Kalgren had a season best 142 yards and one touchdown in the win over Earlham. Sophomore Sean Curtis leads Oberlin with 108 carries for 366 yards. Kalgren is second on the team with 281 yards and two touchdowns.
“When they get their running game going they are difficult to stop,” Raeburn said. “In the last couple of games, they have been able to get in third-and-medium and third-andshort situations. We have to get them in second down and third down and long situations to make them one dimensional.”