Zack Moore

The College of Wooster is not where it hoped it would be at this point in the 2015 season, but the Fighting Scots are still motivated to send out their seniors who are playing their final game at John P. Papp Stadium this Saturday afternoon, Nov. 14, on a winning note, as they'll welcome North Coast Athletic Conference foe Ohio Wesleyan University (4-5, 4-4 NCAC) in the finale. The two teams' seasons have several similarities, as each endured a challenging non-league opener and later lost a series of close NCAC affairs. Wooster has been involved in three games decided by a touchdown or less – a 49-42 win over Kenyon College and respective heartbreaking 28-23 and 40-36 setbacks to Oberlin College and Hiram College – all within the last four weeks, while Ohio Wesleyan lost to both Denison University and Hiram by a single point, sandwiched around a double-overtime win over Kenyon College, and most impressive, the Battling Bishops got past DePauw University 27-22. Opening kickoff for what is expected to be another closely-contested match-up is at 1 p.m. EST.

Prior to kickoff, Wooster's 15 seniors – offensive lineman Taylor Bowen (Rydal, Ga. / Cartersville), wide receiver Adam Coppock (Columbiana, Ohio / Crestview), offensive lineman Nick Flannery (Dayton, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne), tight end Dan Gorzynski (Kendall Park, N.J. / South Brunswick), defensive back Matt Keeney (Weston, Conn. / Weston), offensive lineman Paul Kelbly (Marshallville, Ohio / Smithville), defensive tackle Allan Latsch (Holmesville, Ohio / Waynedale), defensive back Keith Lemke (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville), offensive lineman Matt Margida (Hudson, Ohio / Hudson), defensive end Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas), offensive lineman Dan Misinay (Leavittsburg, Ohio / LaBrae), defensive back/kicker Zack Moore (Leetonia, Ohio / Crestview), defensive back Ethan Nichol (Delaware, Ohio / Hayes), quarterback David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington), and linebacker Jake Vellucci (Massillon, Ohio / Jackson) – will be recognized.

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://portal.stretchinternet.com/wooster/.

All-Time Series: The Ohio Wesleyan-Wooster series, which dates back to 1901, has been very competitive throughout the years. The Scots have won seven of the last nine to take a slight 30-29 edge all-time. Since the NCAC was formed in 1984, Wooster holds a 19-12 lead, thanks to victories in 15 of the last 19 meetings. Among the teams' memorable games, the Scots were down 27-7 early in the fourth quarter of the 2013 match-up and stormed back to win 28-27, marking their largest comeback in school history, and there was a three-season stretch (1999-2001) when every game was decided by a touchdown or less.

Last Week: Trevor Bowden's (Eatonton, Ga. / Gatewood Schools) team-record fifth field goal made – a 31-yarder – gave Wooster a 36-34 lead with 2:17 remaining, but Hiram answered with a 54-yard touchdown and then held off one last rally by the Scots to take an exciting NCAC tilt, 40-36 at Charles A. Henry Field in Hiram, Ohio.

Wooster dug itself an early hole, as the Terriers turned four Scot turnovers during the opening 20 minutes into a 27-7 lead.

Wooster steadily battled its way back into the game. In fact, after falling behind by 20 points, the Scots scored on seven consecutive offensive possessions. However, they frequently stalled in the red zone, settling for the five Bowden field goals from 25, 27, 23, 37, and 31 yards, and that proved to be the difference.

After Bowden gave Wooster its first lead, Hiram gained a couple of first downs in advancing near midfield, then on a 3rd-and-12 play, Nate Eaton turned a short reception into the go-ahead, 54-yard score at the 1:09 mark.

The Scots made things interesting late, as they quickly got the ball to the Terriers' 20-yard line. From there, quarterback Gary Muntean (Poland, Ohio / Struthers), who had a record-breaking day himself, completed three more passes, but only netted seven yards to set up a 4th-and-3 at the 13 with :12 left and no timeouts. Flushed out of the pocket, Muntean threw towards Dan Gorzynski (Kendall Park, N.J. / South Brunswick), who finished with career highs of nine receptions and 164 yards, in the end zone, only for it to be batted away by a Hiram defender to seal the outcome.

Statistically, Muntean passed for a school-record 488 yards and he also broke a 23-year-old team record for completions (37) and an 18-year-old Wooster mark for total offense (482). In addition to Gorzynski's career afternoon, Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) notched a career-high 149 receiving yards on eight catches.

Bowden not only broke the school record for field goals in a game, previously held by Ben Arnold with four in 1997, he established a new NCAC record for points in a game by a kicker with 18.

This and That: Quarterback Gary Muntean (Poland, Ohio / Struthers) produced 400-yard passing games each of the last two Saturdays – 401 at Kenyon and 488 at Hiram. To put that in perspective, there had only been three 400-yard passing games in school history prior to Muntean accomplishing the feat in back-to-back weeks ... Senior defensive end Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas) is climbing the school's career sacks' list, as he now has 16.0, the ninth-most. With 2.5 more, McKinney would move into the top-five ... Wooster entered the 2015 season with an inexperienced team – just seven returning starters (3 on offense, 4 on defense) – and complicating matters, the Scots were bitten by the injury bug this year, as they have 45 games lost to injury, defined as games missed by projected starters.