Nose guard B. J. Hammer (Carmel, IN/Carmel) returned a Manchester fumble 64 yards to score the first touchdown of his football career. Hammer's TD put Wabash in front 24-7, setting the table for more big plays by the Wabash defense in the fourth quarter.
On the next series, defensive back Lonnie Heck (LaFontaine, IN/Wabash Southwood) stepped in front of a Spartan pass and raced 69 yards to score the second defense touchdown of the season for the Little Giants and put the game out of reach with 9:22 remaining in the contest. One more interception by freshman Terance Nance (Dallas, TX/J. J. Pearce) setup the final score of the afternoon for Wabash. Backup quarterback Joe Lonnemann (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) connected on a 35-yard pass to Matt Piechocki (Evansville, IN/North Posey), the first completion and touchdown in both players' careers, to finish the scoring in the game.
Wabash scored two first half touchdowns when starting quarterback Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) found H-back Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) for scoring strikes of 16 and 33 yards. Short finished the day with a career-best in receptions (8), yards (109), and touchdowns (2). Freshman running back Chris Morris (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) finished the first game of his career in a Little Giant uniform with 25 carries for 120 yards.
Knott, who set the NCAA Division III freshman record in 1999 for passing yards (2,612) and total offense (2,780), finished the day 18-34-1 with 229 yards passing. He passed David Cogdill '76 to move into 10th place on the Wabash career passing yardage list with 2,841 yards.
The Wabash defense recovered three of the four Manchester fumbles and had three interceptions. Nathan Boulais (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis), the leading tackler for the Little Giants in 1999, led the Wabash defense in stops with nine against Manchester.
Wabash will continue its pre-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday, September 16, travelling to Chicago to play the Wheaton Crusaders. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.