Wash. U. Holds Off Wooster 14-13 in Defensive Battle

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster had better average field position and outgained Washington University-St. Louis by 68 yards (320-252) on Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium, but the Fighting Scots were done in by three turnovers, the last being a fumble with 1:18 remaining, as well as 100 penalty yards and two missed kicks, which allowed the Bears to walk away with a 14-13 win.

The second missed kick was an extra point that sailed wide right with just 3:03 to play, when it appeared Wooster (3-3) was going to tie the game following a 16-yard touchdown pass from Richard Barnes to Jordan McIntyre, who was wide open on the right side. Instead, the score remained 14-13.

Thanks to a three-and-out by the Scots' defense, they had one last chance, taking over at their own 26 at the 2:01 mark. After a delay of game set them back five yards, Barnes completed a pair of passes to set up a 3rd-and-1, however, on that play, there appeared to be a problem with the quarterback-running back exchange and the Bears' Tate Byers came up with the fumble at the bottom of the pile, sealing the outcome.

Early on, Wooster was unable to take advantage of good field position. The Scots had interceptions by Matt Breidigam and Chris Aukerman on the second and third drives for Washington-St. Louis (4-2), respectively, giving the offense the ball in the opponents' territory. The first time Wooster was unable to muster any positive yards and turned it over on downs, and the second resulted in a blocked 23-yard field goal.

The Scots' next possession also began in pretty good position, as they started from their own 49. Wooster steadily moved down field, marching the 51 yards over 11 plays, highlighted by a 4th-and-13 conversion when Barnes hit Robert Flagg on a 15-yard pass. The points came via a six-yard touchdown for Mike Redick as he took a short pass on the left and weaved his way into the end zone.

The Bears answered with their best drive of the first half, covering 81 yards in just nine plays. Four were on passes of more than 10 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown from Steve Sherman to Tom Gulyas. It marked the third year in a row the Medina native has scored against the Scots.

It remained 7-7 until midway through the fourth quarter. Wooster did enter the red zone once in the third, but was turned away via a holding penalty, a six-yard rushing loss, and a sack.

The Scots' first possession of the fourth resulted in a Brandon Brown interception on an apparent miscommunication on the passing route. Washington-St. Louis turned that into a six-play, 72-yard touchdown drive, with the key play being a 38-yard pass down the middle from Sherman to Drew Sexton. Sherman eventually scored on a quarterback sneak from one yard out to give the Bears a 14-7 lead at the 8:12 mark.

Wooster responded with its second touchdown, a 10-play, 71-yard march, capped by the McIntyre touchdown, which occurred on 4th-and-5.

Statistically, Barnes completed 21-of-32 passes for 179 yards and also led the Scots in rushing with 72 stripes on 17 attempts. Redick continued to be a favorite target, collecting eight receptions for 58 yards.

Sherman was under 50 percent passing (11-for-24), but he piled up 151 yards, with 57 going to Gulyas on five catches, and Jim O'Brien provided the Bears a solid rushing attack with 79 yards on 19 carries.

Wooster wraps up the non-league portion of its schedule next Saturday with a visit to northeast Ohio rival Case Western Reserve University (6-0) at 1 p.m.