WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster had a couple of possessions to tie or take the lead in the closing moments, but fell just short as Oberlin College upended the Fighting Scots 28-23 in an exciting North Coast Athletic Conference contest held on a cold Saturday night at John P. Papp Stadium.

After Oberlin (3-4, 3-3 NCAC) gained a 28-21 lead when Justin Cruz took advantage of a miscommunication in the defensive backfield for a 30-yard touchdown reception with 3:29 remaining, Wooster (1-5, 1-4 NCAC) appeared that it would tie it right back up.

In fact, the Scots had a 51-yard touchdown on a screen pass wiped away due to a downfield holding penalty. They followed with a 24-yard pass play to set up a 1st-and-goal situation from the nine. The Yeomen snuffed out a quarterback keeper for a five-yard loss on first down, then an incompletion and a four-yard reception led to a 4th-and-10 with just 1:45 left. Wooster's quarterback was flushed out of the pocket and his hurried pass went low, resulting in a turnover on downs.

The Scots were still not done. Oberlin ran one play, followed by back-to-back kneel downs, however, off-setting unsportsmanlike penalties were assessed, stopping the clock with :19 left. The Yeomen punter wasted four seconds before being pushed out of the back of the end zone for a safety, and Wooster got the ball back at midfield after the ensuing free kick was kicked out-of-bounds.

David Smith completed two quick passes to Alex Woods on each sideline – one for 11 yards and the second for nine – but on the latter it was ruled that he was tackled before getting out and the last couple of seconds ran off, thus preventing the Scots one last chance from the 30-yard line.

Dan Gorzynski got loose for this 57-yard touchdown reception during the third quarter, one of his two scores on the night.

Wooster had been ahead after the first, second, and third quarters. Tyson Vogel found a wide open Dan Gorzynski down the right side for a 21-yard touchdown pass, as the Scots took a 7-6 lead at the 3:24 mark of the first.

The Scots gained further momentum when David Smith hit Russell Boston for a four-yard slant in the end zone, capping a 13-play, 51-yard drive early in the second quarter as they went ahead 14-6.

Oberlin responded with a time-consuming possession. The Yeomen took 10:33 off the clock, while grinding out a 16-play, 58-yard series that featured a combined six penalties. The key penalty was a defensive pass interference on a 3rd-and-22 play that gave Oberlin a first down at the Wooster 30. From there, Blake Buckhannon did most of the work, rushing out of the Wildcat formation, including on a one-yard touchdown that made it a 14-12 game.

The Scots nearly added some points right before the half. Smith drove them 58 yards in 1:27 to the Yeomen 16, however, a last-second field goal was narrowly missed.

Oberlin took the second-half kickoff and marched 70 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown, again capped by a Buckhannon score, this time from three yards away.

Later in the third quarter, Gorzynski got behind the Yeomen defense and Smith connected with him for a 57-yard touchdown as Wooster retook the lead at 21-20.

The Scots gained further momentum with a goal-line stand, as Patrick Johnson broke up a pass in  the end zone on a 4th-and-goal play. The offense proceeded to gain five first downs, but turned it back over on downs at the Oberlin 33.

Six plays later, Christian Flynn found an open Cruz for what turned out to be the game-winner.

The final statistics were as close as the game. Each team ran 70 offensive plays, with the Yeomen producing 373 yards and Wooster 367. The Scots had four more first downs, 24-20, and neither offense turned the ball over.

Wooster used two quarterbacks, with Smith completing 17-of-30 for 208 yards and Vogel rushing for a team-high 51 yards plus going 2-for-4 through the air for 45 yards. Boston collected seven receptions for 72 yards.

Flynn totaled 288 yards of offense, 236 coming on 16-of-23 passing and 52 on the ground. His top target was Ryan Gleeson with seven catches for 120 yards.

The Scots will be home again next week as they host No. 10 ranked Wabash College (6-0, 5-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m.