Riley Markko

The College of Wooster welcomes its oldest rival and fellow North Coast Athletic Conference charter member Denison University (2-0, 1-0 NCAC) to John P. Papp Stadium this Saturday, Sept. 26, as the highlight of the school's newly-named Black & Gold Weekend (a combination of Homecoming and Family Weekend). The two institutions' long, shared history is celebrated in the form of the "Old Red Lantern," which the winner of the annual NCAC match-up gets to put on display until next year's meeting. Opening kickoff at Papp Stadium will be at 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games are broadcast each week by commercial radio station WKVX 960 AM and are streamed live on wkvx.com.

Also, for all five home games, the audio and video from local cable provider MCTV, Inc., will be broadcast live over the web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wooster.portal#.

The Old Red Lantern: The winner of Saturday's rivalry game will be presented with a trophy – The Old Red Lantern. The tradition began in 1989, when the two schools were commemorating the 100th anniversary of their first meeting on the gridiron (Nov. 23, 1889). The lantern represents the light the teams used to travel by (rail) in their early meetings. The rivalry peaked during a 27-year stretch from 1945-71, as they played every season with Denison holding a slim 14-13 lead in those games. That era included legendary coaches Phil Shipe of Wooster (1949-65) and Keith Piper of Denison (1954-92), and they often made the other its opponent for Homecoming. Also of note, Denison and Wooster played the first-ever NCAC football game on Sept. 8, 1984.

All-Time Series: The Scots own a 40-36-7 advantage in the all-time series with Denison, including 11-8-1 since the "Old Red Lantern" has been presented to the winner. That includes a 10-game winning streak (1995-2010) for Wooster. Prior to that streak, the Big Red had a similar one of their own, going 10-0-1 (1984-94), which results in a narrow lead of 13-11-1 for them in NCAC games.

Last Week: A Wooster touchdown late in the second quarter made it a one-score deficit (21-13), however, DePauw University came right back and scored on the final play of the half to take a 28-13 lead, then rode that momentum to a 49-20 NCAC victory at Blackstock Stadium in Greencastle, Ind.

The Scots put together back-to-back long touchdown drives – an 8-play, 80-yarder and a 13-play, 75-yarder – in the second quarter and seemed to be the team that would go into halftime with an energy boost as it was within eight points of the Tigers with :54 before the break.

DePauw, even starting from its own 25, had other ideas. The Tigers steadily and quickly marched the ball to Wooster's 24-yard line with :08 on the clock, when quarterback Matt Hunt made the play of the game, avoiding a sack, then scrambling and weaving his way through the middle of the field for a touchdown run and 15-point cushion.

The Scots turned the ball over on the intial possession of the second half, and two plays later, Hunt threw a 29-yard touchdown dart to extend DePauw's advantage. Things continued to snowball for Wooster, as the Tigers scored on a 62-yard touchdown pass the next time they touched the ball, and suddenly it was 42-13.

The Scots also started slow, as poor field position led to a pair of short touchdown drives of 42 and 31 yards for DePauw during the first quarter.

Wooster's comeback bid began when freshman running back Antonio Bailey (Duluth, Ga. / Meadowcreek) found a hole on the right and got through the defense for a 49-yard touchdown rush down the sideline.

After the Tigers answered with another score to make it 21-6, the Scots converted a 4th-and-1 in their own territory en route to the 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Quarterback David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) capped it with a 15-yard throw to Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland), but they apparently left too much time on the clock for Hunt, who changed the game's complexion on the last play of the half.

Both offenses operated at a high level throughout, combining for 57 first downs (30-27 in favor of DePauw) and 918 yards of total offense (527-391 DePauw).

The loss overshadowed a record-setting performance by Vogel. He hauled in 15 passes to break an 18-year-old Wooster mark for receptions in a game, held by Brandon Good (13 at Allegheny College, 1997). Vogel turned those into 104 yards and the one score.

Smith completed 23-of-34 for 170 yards before exiting in the third quarter, while Russell Boston (Renton, Wash. / Liberty) paced the Scots' rushing attack with 64 yards on 18 carries.

This and That: Sophomore Gary Muntean (Poland, Ohio / Struthers) is expected to get his fourth career start at quarterback this week, taking over for senior David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington), who left last Saturday's game with an injury ... It was an even busier game week than usual for Wooster head coach Frank Colaprete, as he and wife Jessica welcomed their second child – a daughter named Adriana – on Monday, Sept. 21 ... The Scots will all be wearing gold-colored shoelaces this Saturday, as part of Go4theGoal's "Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer" campaign. Gold is the color for childhood cancer awareness, and September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month ... Legendary Wooster running back Tony Sutton will be inducted into the W Association Hall of Fame on Friday evening, along with 10 other former Fighting Scot greats. Sutton continues to hold the NCAA Div. III record for rushing yards per game (187.1) as well as several other national, conference, and school records.