Scots Move to 8-0 After Shutting Out Hiram 59-0

Five different College of Wooster players scored touchdowns and the defense posted its first shutout since Nov. 16, 2001, as the nationally-ranked Fighting Scots (No. 8 D3football.com, No. 7 American Football Coaches’ Association) easily handled host Hiram College 59-0 Saturday afternoon to improve to 8-0 for the first time since 1923.

That was the last year Wooster finished with a perfect regular season (9-0), which it could do again with victories against North Coast Athletic Conference foes Wittenberg University (6-2, 4-1 NCAC) and Ohio Wesleyan University (4-4, 4-1 NCAC) the next two weeks.

Against winless Hiram (0-8, 0-5 NCAC), the offense set the tone with 24 first-quarter points. After Richie McNally (Westerville, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales) made it 3-0 on a 22-yard field goal, Tony Sutton (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban) capped the Scots’ second drive with a five-yard score – the first of his three first-half rushing touchdowns. Sutton set up his touchdown with a season-long 55-yard run.

Sutton scored again just 2:36 later, bringing it in from 18 yards out to help put Wooster ahead 17-0 less than eight minutes into the contest. Wooster also scored on its fourth possession of the afternoon, driving 80 yards on 11 plays, capped by a nine-yard touchdown reception by McNally from Justin Schafer (Bethesda, Ohio / Union Local).

Down 24-0 to start the second quarter, the Terriers put together their best drive of the day. They marched the ball to the Scot 14-yard line, but on a 2nd-and-five play, Hiram was penalized for offensive pass interference. The Terriers eventually turned the ball over on downs, and went on to advance the ball into Wooster territory just one other time, as the Scots earned their first shutout in 27 games.

On the ensuing possession, Wooster drove 80 yards again, this time taking just eight plays. Sutton ran six times for 49 yards, including a one-yard score, which gave him the NCAC career record for total touchdowns (69) and scoring (414 points), surpassing Wittenberg’s Casey Donaldson, who scored 68 touchdowns and 408 points during his 39-game career. It took Sutton just 26 games to set the record.

There was no other scoring in the second quarter, as the Scots went into halftime ahead 31-0, having compiled 19 first downs and 396 offensive yards, 239 of which came from Sutton on the ground on 26 rushes. He did not play in the second half.

McNally, who finished with 23 total points against Hiram, hauled in his second touchdown pass from Schafer with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter from 11 yards out. Right before the third concluded, senior J.D. Lyle (Hillsboro, Ohio / Hillsboro) connected with sophomore Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) for a seven-yard score, marking Lyle’s first career touchdown pass.

In the fourth quarter, Wooster running backs Amil Tinsley (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Sean Anderson (Lowell, Ind. / Lowell) added their first touchdowns of the season from one-yard away with 8:01 to play and from five yards out at the :25 mark, respectively.

The Scots, who scored over 50 points for the third time in four weeks, wound up with 33 first downs and 656 yards of total offense to Hiram’s eight and 165, respectively.

Individually, Schafer completed 11-of-18 passes for 176 yards, while his two backups were a perfect 6-of-6 for 59 yards. McNally led the receiving corps again with 110 yards on six receptions.

The Terriers, who netted just seven rushing yards on 17 attempts, were led by starting quarterback Max Kravitz, who was 13-of-29 for 150 yards. Jason Exline and Greg Kibler were his top targets, as they combined for 99 yards on 10 catches.

Wooster continues the quest for its first NCAC championship since 1997 on Saturday, when it will host Wittenberg at 1 p.m. Wooster last defeated the Tigers in 1997.