Game 6 Football Game Notes (PDF)
The College of Wooster football team (3-2, 2-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) has a chance to knock off the last remaining undefeated team in the conference, as the Fighting Scots take on Wabash College (5-0, 4-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Little Giant Stadium in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Wabash is coming off a 49-20 win over Oberlin College on Saturday, and the Little Giants are just on the outside of this week's D3football.com Top 25 Poll. Wooster is coming off its bye week, and the Scots beat the Yeomen 28-24 in the last game back on October 2.
On The Air: Wabash will carry a livestream of Saturday's game at https://team1sports.com/Wabash/. WQKT Sports Country Radio will not be traveling to Wabash.
All-Time Series: Wooster's just 3-21 all-time against Wabash, in a series that dates back to 1944. Wooster won the last game in the series, and in doing so, snapped the Little Giants' 14-game series winning streak.
Last Time Out Versus Wabash: Wooster was on point all afternoon on October 12, 2019, with three interceptions, seven sacks, and four fourth-down stops, and the offense was equally impressive, as the Scots downed co-NCAC-leading Wabash 24-10. The win marked Wooster's first over Wabash since 2004. Alumnus Christian Santos led the defense with 11 tackles, a sack, and an interception, while current senior Beau Greenwood (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) cliched the game with an interception with 1:39 remaining at Wooster's 20-yard line.
Offense Notes: Wooster ranks 17th nationally with 310.4 passing yards per game. Senior Mateo Renteria (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) is 21st individually at 1,438 yards. Renteria surpassed 6,000 career yards during Wooster's 28-24 win at Oberlin. Wooster's starting offensive line - sophomore left tackle Zach Hershberger (Shreve, Ohio/Triway), junior left guard Colton Rambur (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley), senior center Eli Lohrey (Hamilton, Ohio/Edgewood), sophomore right guard Bryce Kamphues (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester), and first-year (freshman) right tackle Seth Robinson (Mesquite, Texas/Mesquite) - have only allowed five sacks on the year, and the 1.00 per-game average is second in the NCAC and 38th nationally. Junior Andrew Yanssens (Columbiana, Ohio/Crestview) has moved into the team lead in rushing yards at 198. Wooster has five players - senior Cole Hissong (Shreve, Ohio/Triway) (4), first-year Bryant Douglas II (Youngstown, Ohio/Chaney) (2), sophomore Mitchell Heilman (Jeromesville, Ohio/Ashland) (2), junior EJ Humphries (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kiski School) (2), and sophomore Carter Warstler (New Albany, Ohio/Columbus Academy) (2) - with multiple receiving touchdowns on the year.
Defense Notes: Senior Angelo Petracci (Youngstown, Ohio/Canfield) is 5-for-5 when it comes to leading the Scots in tackles, and he has been in double figures four times this year. Petracci is averaging 10.2 tackles per game, a total second in the NCAC and 22nd nationally. Wooster's allowing under 200 yards passing this season, and that's tops in the NCAC. Senior Chris Savaglio (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) leads the team with three sacks, and he's helped the Scots to a third-place rating within the NCAC at two team sacks per game.
Special Teams Notes: Warstler had a 75-yard punt return touchdown in the Oberlin victory, and that marked the first punt return for a touchdown since Nick Cummings' 89-yard one against Kenyon College in 2016. There's only been 34 punt return touchdowns in NCAA Div. III this fall. Junior Matt Ulishney (Greensburg, Pa./Serra District Catholic) is 32nd nationally with 25.8 yards per kickoff return. Junior Lake Barrett (Columbia, S.C./Hammond School) is perfect on kicks this year, going 21-for-21 on extra-point tries and 1-for-1 on field goals. Junior Matt Pardi (Arlington, Va./Washington-Liberty) is averaging 43.6 yards over 16 punts this year.
This and That: While Wooster had interceptions in the 2019 win over Wabash, none of them were returned for a touchdown. An interception returned for a touchdown happened in both of Wooster's other two wins in the series. Wooster is 5-2 under ninth-year head coach Frank Colaprete when coming off a "bye week."
landing page photo by Anna Russell '23