11th-Ranked Scots Too Much for Oberlin, 59-13

This Evan Watson fumble return for a touchdown made it 35-0 in favor of the Scots midway through the second quarter.

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster put up 49 points on the scoreboard in the first half (49-0) for the second time this season, and the nationally-ranked Fighting Scots (No. 11 D3Football.com, No. 11 American Football Coaches’ Association) went on to celebrate a comfortable 59-13 "Homecoming" victory over winless Oberlin College Saturday afternoon at John P. Papp Stadium.

Wooster (7-0, 4-0 NCAC) was limited to one touchdown, a Richie McNally (Westerville, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales) nine-yard reception from Justin Schafer (Behtesda, Ohio / Union Local), on its initial three drives, but then exploded for five-straight on offensive series, plus a defensive touchdown.

The Scots started rolling on their final drive of the first quarter, going 68 yards in just four plays, capped by a Tony Sutton (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban) one-yard touchdown. The key play was a 42-yard connection between Schafer and McNally, with the senior wide receiver being caught inside the one.

Sutton went to work on Wooster’s first drive of the second quarter, as he accounted for 50 yards of the 60-yard scoring drive, including a highlight-reel 33-yard rush. Sutton got through the pile from one-yard out for the touchdown.

On the first play of the Scots’ next offensive series, Sutton went for 44 yards before being stopped inside the Oberlin 10-yard line. He once again took it in from one-yard out for his third and final touchdown of the day, this time on a 4th-and-goal play.

Following the kickoff, the Yeomen (0-7, 0-4 NCAC) took over on their own 22, and on the first play, Ryan Jayne (East Palestine, Ohio / East Palestine) came through unblocked on the left side via a cornerback blitz, forcing a fumble. Defensive end Evan Watson (Crawfordsville, Ind. / Crawfordsville) was there to pick it up at the 16-yard line and run in, marking Wooster’s fifth defensive touchdown this fall.

On its next offensive play, Oberlin turned it over again, this time a Brian Kight (Dublin, Ohio / Fallbrook – Calif.) interception. The Scots then went to the air, as Schafer completed passes to three different receivers, covering 40 yards, the last 11 of which went to McNally for his fifth touchdown in 2004.

Wooster was still not done in the second quarter. With 1:30 remaining, the Scots got the ball back on their own 48 and Schafer connected on three passes, each of which went for double-digit yards, including the last one a 10-yard touchdown to Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson).

The Yeomen took advantage of a Schafer interception early in the second half, only needing 10 yards for their first score of the game – a touchdown pass from Ryan Squatrito to Chris Schubert.

The Scots responded with a 23-yard McNally field goal.

The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter, another Squatrito-to-Schubert score (three yards) for Oberlin and an 11-yard pass from former high school teammates Bob Reiff (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay) to Aaron Gertz (Bay Village, Ohio / Bay). It marked Gertz’s first career touchdown.

On the day, Wooster piled up 486 offensive yards, led by Sutton, who matched his career average with 183 rushing yards on just 22 carries. Schafer was 10-of-18 for 158 passing yards, 87 of which went to McNally, who accumulated 23 points in his dual role as receiver and kicker.

Leading Oberlin’s offense was Squatrito, who completed 16-of-31 passes for 198 yards. Tailback Travis Oman and Schubert were his top targets, combing for 11 receptions and 150 yards.


Squatrito was sacked eight times, including a school-record-tying four solos by Andy Mizak (Warren, Mich. / Paul K. Cousino).

The Scots look to maintain their perfect record next Saturday at Hiram College (0-8, 0-4 NCAC).