Darrian Owens

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster jumped out to a 29-0 halftime lead, behind a record-setting performance by wide receiver Darrian Owens, then the Fighting Scots never allowed Denison University to get any closer than 22 points in the second half, securing a 43-21 victory in the North Coast Athletic Conference rivals' annual Old Red Lantern Trophy game Saturday night at John P. Papp Stadium.

Wooster (4-3, 4-2 NCAC) gets to keep the Old Red Lantern for the first time since the 2010 season.

Owens had a school-record 230 receiving yards in the first half alone, eclipsing Chris Cabot's mark of 200 yards against Kenyon College on Sept. 22, 2001, and Owens total came on just four catches, three of which went for touchdowns. For good measure, he also threw a touchdown pass.

Less than a minute into the action, Scot quarterback Richard Barnes escaped heavy pressure from Denison (4-3, 3-3 NCAC), kept his eyes downfield, and found Owens streaking open down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the first quarter, Wooster marched 58 yards in just four plays, a drive that started with a Justin Rice 39-yard rush on a reverse. On 2nd-and-goal from the two, Barnes received the snap and went towards the right sideline, then handed off to Owens, who threw a strike to running back Sean Hackel in the left side of the end zone for the score. The extra point was blocked, as the score stood 13-0 after one.

The next time the Scots touched the ball, Owens got behind his defender for the second time and Barnes hit him in stride, this time down the right sideline, for a 51-yard touchdown and a 19-0 lead (the extra point was missed).

On the ensuing possession, Wooster's defense came up with its first of four takeaways, as Mitchell Czerniak forced a fumble that was recovered by Shawn Bowman. Then, Barnes went right back to Owens down the right sideline as he hauled it in and was knocked out-of-bounds at the 11 for a 50-yard gain. After a series of penalties, the Scots had to settle for a 25-yard Tyler Gerwig field goal (22-0).

Wooster made it 29-0 when Barnes connected with Owens again and the freshman wideout bounced off one would-be tackler and avoided another in sprinting to a 56-yard touchdown.

The Big Red's offense moved the ball late in the half, but the Scots kept them scoreless when Brandon James intercepted a pass at the goal line on the second-to-last play before halftime.

Denison started the third quarter with possession and an eight-play, 66-yard touchdown march, capped by a Brandon Sklenar-to-Richie Wehman 15-yard scoring strike.

Wooster pushed it back to a 29-point margin a few series later, with Hackel doing most of the work on a seven-play, 58-yard drive. He accounted for 54 of the yards, including breaking off a 29-yard touchdown rush.

The Big Red responded with a 10-play, 80-yard march, with Sklenar sneaking it from one yard out for the touchdown near the end of the third quarter (36-14).

Denison was pushing to make it a two-score game early in the fourth quarter, however, Tyson Vogel intercepted a pass for the second time and nearly returned it for a touchdown, getting tracked down at the two-yard line. On the very next snap, Hackel bounced it to the outside and scored his third touchdown of the game to effectively seal the outcome as Wooster went ahead 43-14.

The Scots went over 500 yards of total offense for the third time this season, finishing with 540 on just 59 plays for an average of 9.2 yards, while the Big Red ran 91 offensive plays for 449 yards (4.9 average).

With its big halftime lead, Wooster only attempted six passes in the second half, and only one went in the direction of Owens, which was incomplete. So Owens finished with the 230 receiving yards, averaging 57.5 yards per catch (another school record), and his three receiving touchdowns were a first for the Scots since Luke McCann accomplished the feat in 2009.

Barnes threw just 17 passes, completing eight for 280 yards (35.0 average), and Hackel notched his fourth 100-yard rushing game with 119 on 21 carries.

Sklenar completed 32-of-52 passes for 276 yards, and added another 114 yards on 22 rushes.

One of the leaders of Wooster's defense was Vogel, who had the two interceptions, plus a pass breakup, and seven tackles.

The Scots, now alone in third-place in the conference standings, will be at DePauw University (3-4, 3-3 NCAC) next Saturday afternoon.