WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster played No. 9 ranked Wabash College evenly throughout the first half, then the visitors struck for two quick touchdowns to turn a 10-7 game into 24-7 and they eventually left John P. Papp Stadium with a 55-7 triumph in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the final lopsided score, Wooster (1-6, 1-5 NCAC) can take some positives away. The 275 yards of total offense it put together was the second-most Wabash's (7-0, 6-0 NCAC) vaunted defense has allowed this season, and the Scots became just the third team to score a touchdown on the Little Giants in 2015.

Wooster nearly became the first team to score on Wabash during the first quarter this year, as it successfully moved the ball. On the game's second play from scrimmage, freshman running back Connor Allan, making his first career start, burst through the line for a 35-yard run. Following another first down, though, the Scots fumbled it away on a 2nd-and-8 play at the Little Giants' 30-yard line.

After Wabash used a heavy dose of Mason Zurek runs during a 12-play, 60-yard touchdown drive, Wooster appeared that it might answer back. The Scots pushed their way into the red zone, gaining three first downs and 54 yards, but were turned away when Delon Pettiford made a nice deflection of a pass near the end zone on 4th-and-4 from the 14.

Freshman Connor Allan made his first career start and delivered 52 yards receiving and 37 yards rushing against one of the top defenses in NCAA Div. III.

Wooster again threatened during the early stages of the second quarter, as it got to the Wabash 30. From there, Trevor Bowden's 47-yard field goal had the distance, but sailed just wide to the right.

The Little Giants responded with a field goal of their own, Andrew Tutsie connecting from 30 yards out, to make it 10-0.

Following a punt, the Scots' defense made a key play. Marcus Bowers stripped Zurek, with Aaron Roberson pounced on the fumble, giving the offense possession at the Wabash 46.

Ten plays later, David Smith hit Dan Gorzynski in the right flat for a seven-yard touchdown, marking the latter's third score in the last two weeks, and it was 10-7 4:09 before the half.

Wooster's defense followed with a three-and-out, but then a 55-yard net punt by Derek Fox pinned the Scots back at their own 11-yard line with 2:11 on the clock.

What looked to be a close contest heading into halftime suddenly turned, as Wabash forced Wooster into a three-and-out and a 25-yard net punt resulted in a short field. After a 28-yard pass, Zurek took it around the right side for a seven-yard touchdown to make it 17-7 at the 1:22 mark.

The Little Giants weren't done. The Scots got a quick first down, then tossed three incompletions, followed by a shanked punt, and Wabash gained possession on the Wooster 45. Two plays later, Connor Rice scrambled right and found an open Ryan Thomas in the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown on a broken play, as the Little Giants took all the momentum into halftime, up 24-7.

Wabash also started the second half with possession and mounted a 70-yard touchdown drive, with Zurek jumping over the pile on 4th-and-goal from the one.

Then, things snowballed on the Scots as four second-half interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns – a 41-yarder by Austin Brown and a 58-yarder by AJ Clark – resulted in the large margin of victory.

The Scots' 275 yards included 157 through the air from Smith as he completed 18-of-34 passes, despite being frequently under duress. Gorzynski and Adam Coppock each had five receptions for 39 and 38 yards, respectively.

Allan contributed 52 yards receiving and 37 rushing – team highs in both categories.

On the other side, Rice was an efficient 14-of-23 for 228 yards and Zurek posted a game-high 76 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Wooster highlights included four sacks, 2.0 by Stephen McKinney as he moved into the top-10 on the Scots' career list for that category (14.5), and a team-high eight tackles from Ethan Nichol.

Next Saturday, Wooster will be at Kenyon College (2-5, 2-4 NCAC) for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Halloween.