Troy Brown

The College of Wooster football team came away with three takeaways for the game, but touchdowns on each of the first three drives by Ohio Wesleyan University shifted the momentum the Battling Bishops' way as Ohio Wesleyan topped Wooster 42-14 in the rivals' North Coast Athletic Conference meeting in Saturday's season finale at Selby Stadium in Delaware, Ohio.

Despite the final score, Wooster (4-6, 4-5 NCAC) can take some positives away most notably in the takeaway department, as the Fighting Scots only had 15 on the year, seven of which came in the final two games of the season. On the flip side, the offense surpassed 400 yards for the third straight game, and the sixth time this season.

Wooster nearly thwarted Ohio Wesleyan's (6-4, 6-3 NCAC) first touchdown as Christian Santos pried the ball out of the arm of Alex Barrett on the 1-yard line, but the Ohio Wesleyan running back fell on the ensuing fumble in the end zone for the game's first score with 10:58 remaining in the first quarter.

Then, about five minutes later, Dominick Orsini plunged in from 1-yard out, and Barrett did likewise from three yards out on the Bishops' next possession to make it 21-0 with 2:00 left in the first quarter.

Two offensive drives later, Ohio Wesleyan carried over its defensive momentum from stopping Wooster on a fourth-and-4 play from its own 25-yard line as Orsini connected with Adrian Bishop on a 75-yard touchdown with 13:17 left in the second quarter.

Wooster's defense dug in on the next drive with Troy Brown picking off Orsini for the second time in the contest, and the Scots forced punts on the Bishops' next two drives, before Jordan Patterson recorded Wooster's third interception of the game in the third quarter.

Patterson's pick sparked the offense as Antonio Bailey scored on a 43-yard run on the second offensive play of the ensuing drive for Wooster's first points of the game, making it a 28-7 tilt with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

Ohio Wesleyan answered right back with a 16-yard Orsini-to-Tyler DeVitis pass to cap a 12-play, 74-yard drive, before Orsini extended the lead to 42-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard run.

Later in the fourth quarter, Wooster scored on its final offensive possession of the year with Tyson Vogel hauling in a 3-yard pass from Gary Muntean.

Speaking of Muntean, the junior signal-caller broke two more single-season program records during the game, and ended the year with new program benchmarks in yards of total offense (3,140), passing yards (2,940), total offensive plays (516), passing attempts (386), and passing completions (234). On the afternoon, Muntean was 28-for-50 for 248 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions.

Defensively, Brown capped his career with a team-high nine tackles to pair with the two interceptions, while Ben Kumpf finished with eight tackles.

Orsini led Ohio Wesleyan with a 22-for-32 afternoon for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions, while also adding 87 yards and two scores on the ground.

Defensively, Keaton Leppla led the way with 11 tackles and two interceptions.

In addition to Brown and Vogel, Saturday marked the final collegiate game for fellow seniors Christian Golden, Nate Huwar, Kevin Komara, Riley Markko, and Todd Ulmer.    

Wooster finished with a two win improvement in the win column from a year ago, and won two of its final three games, marking a the best closing stretch to the season since the Scots ended the 2012 season with four straight wins.