Scots Return Home (Football Game Notes)

The College of Wooster football team (1-3, 0-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) is back home for the first time in nearly a month for this Saturday's 1 p.m. game against Wabash College (2-1, 1-0 NCAC). Wooster is coming off a 32-26 loss at Kenyon College (2-2, 1-1 NCAC). Wabash was idle last week and most recently fell 42-21 at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (3-0, 0-0 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) on September 21.

 

On The Air: MCTV produces Wooster's webcasts for home football games and shows the game on delay on Ch. 22 and Ch. 621. Wayne and Stark County MCTV customers should check local listings for air times. Livestreams of Wooster home football games can be viewed at https://northcoastnetwork.com/wooster. 1045 The River (formerly WQKT) is carrying this week's contest on WKVX 960 AM, FM 102.9 FM, and online at https://localsportsohio.com.

 

Ticket and Tailgate Information: Tickets for Wooster home football games are $6.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and youth, and free for College of Wooster students, faculty, and staff with your College of Wooster identification card. You can purchase tickets at the ticket booth located at the main entrance of John P. Papp Stadium (cash and credit card), located off E. University St., or the table at the back access driveway (cash only) located off Gasche St. Tailgate policies can be found at https://woosterathletics.com/information/spectator_information.

 

Special Events: Please note the Scot Marching Band will have a limited performance from the stands this Saturday due to it being fall break at the College. Wooster and the NCAC will present 2023 football alumnus Lake Barrett with the NCAC Don Hunsinger Award (NCAC Male Athlete of the Year) following the band's halftime performance.

 

All-Time Series: Wooster is just 4-23 all-time against Wabash, but the Scots have won two of the last four meetings in the series. The teams first met in 1944. Wooster's win in 2019 snapped Wabash's 14-game series winning streak. In the last Wooster win (2021), College Sports Communicators Academic All-American® alumnus Matt Pardi booted a 55-yard punt to Wabash's 20-yard line and fellow CSC Academic All-American® alumnus Matt Ulishney broke up the Little Giants' Hail Mary pass at Wooster's 5-yard line. Barrett knocked the 19-yard go-ahead field goal through the uprights with 5:29 remaining. Wabash's Jacob Handley missed a game-tying field goal from 39 yards out with 51 seconds remaining.

 

Last Meeting: Wooster pulled within 35-28 after trailing 28-0 in what went down as an eventual 45-35 Little Giants' win on October 7, 2023 at Little Giant Stadium. Wabash's offense was not stopped until Jon Banal stepped in front of a Little Giant receiver at the 39-yard line and picked off star quarterback Liam Thompson. Banal's return got to Wabash's 10-yard line. Then-sophomore quarterback Chanden Lee (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) ran it in from there on a designed run, aided by a touchdown-springing block from senior tight end Sebestyen Balassy (Medina, Ohio/St. Ignatius). Wooster pulled within 35-21 behind its line and tight ends, running the goal-line formation made famous by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. Later in the third, Wooster swallowed up Wabash's fourth-and-1 push, and on the ensuing possession, two-way standout Tate Journell (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) caught a 22-yard touchdown.

 

Offense Notes: Wooster has allowed just two sacks through four games, which is tied for the 18th-fewest in Div. III. Lee enters the Wabash game 152 passing yards shy of 3,000 for his career. He is looking to become the 10th 3,000-yard passer in program history. Lee is one passing touchdown shy of being the ninth in program history with at least 25 career passing touchdowns. 

 

Defense Notes: With two interceptions last week, Wooster is up to six on the year, a total that ranks 16th nationally and second within the NCAC. Sophomore Wyatt Wilkie's (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) second pick of the year moved him into a tie with junior Louie Lindsay (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro Area Senior) for tops on the team. Wooster's other interceptions are from Journell and first-year Amari Lee (Marion, Ark./Marion). Wooster boasts a top-50 national ranking in turnovers gained with seven.

 

Special Teams Notes: Senior Carter Warstler (New Albany, Ohio/Columbus Academy) recorded his first kickoff return touchdown at Wabash in 2021. That was a school-record 98-yard run back. Warstler now ranks in the top-10 all-time at Wooster with 847 kickoff return yards, and his 32.6 average is currently No. 1 in program history.