Scots' Ground Game Puts Away Allegheny in Fourth Quarter

Jon Mathis hurdles Allegheny's Terry Hartford during a successfully executed fake punt early in the second quarter.

WOOSTER, Ohio – In a game that featured several long plays, it was two clock-consuming drives by The College of Wooster that spelled the difference, as the Fighting Scots scored two touchdowns during the fourth quarter to break a 21-21 tie and prevail 35-21 over visiting Allegheny College in the teams' North Coast Athletic Conference match-up Saturday afternoon.

With the score at 21 all, Wooster (6-2, 4-1 NCAC) used a 42-yard punt return by Taylor Trout (Nashport, Ohio / Tri-Valley) on the first play of the fourth quarter to retake the momentum. Trout gave the Fighting Scots' offense possession right around midfield after fielding it on his own six-yard line. Wooster went to the ground on five of the next seven plays, including Dustin Sheppard (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) runs of 13 yards and five yards the final two for a 28-21 lead.

The Scot defense then forced a punt, which was a touchback. From the 20, Wooster rushed the ball 10-straight times, with Sheppard and quarterback Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) doing most of the work. Sheppard carried it five times for 41 yards, which included the 3,000th yard of his career, while Holter toted it four times for 23 yards, including the game-clinching, two-yard score with 2:25 to go.

The opening half seemed to be a series of missed opportunities for the Scots, however, they made up for it with a late score. Wooster marched into the Allegheny red zone each of its first three possessions, the third being keyed by a successful fake punt when Kevin Friedman (Pepper Pike, Ohio / St. Peter Chanel) threw to Jon Mathis (Tallmadge, Ohio / Tallmadge) in the right flat for a 28-yard gain, however, it came up empty with a missed 29-yard field goal, a fumble in the end zone, and an interception at the three-yard line.

Two plays after the interception, though, the Scots returned the favor, as Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland) picked off a Gator pass and returned it 10 yards to the five-yard line. Three plays later, Holter rolled to his left and found Cameron Daniels (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Byrd) for a four-yard touchdown and the initial score.

Wooster's next possession would also result in a touchdown. The Scots went 81 yards in nine plays, keyed by a couple of 20-yard passes, and finished it on an option run, in which Holter kept the ball himself for five yards.

Trailing 14-0, Allegheny (3-5, 2-3 NCAC) got its offense going, primarily passing the ball down the field. T.J. Salopek completed 5-of-9 for 64 yards on the 11-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a 23-yard touchdown to Rob Carlisle.

Despite starting its next possession with just :43 and facing a 2nd-and-25 on its own 25-yard line after a personal foul, Wooster elected to go down field with it, and that decision paid off when Jordan Ferns (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield) got behind the Gator defense for a 50-yard reception on a streak play down the left sideline. After spiking the ball, Holter hit Ferns again for 21 yards to the Allegheny four-yard line. A fade route attempt to Ferns resulted in a pass interference penalty, giving the Scots a 1st-and-goal from the two with :14 on the clock. Again, the offense had trouble punching it in and Wooster was eventually faced with a 3rd-and-inches situation with :01 remaining. The Scots went for it, with Holter easily scoring on a quarterback sneak for a 21-7 halftime cushion.

The Gators, though, would tie it just 1:46 into the third quarter. Their first offensive play from scrimmage of the half resulted in a 74-yard touchdown pass from Salopek to Bobby Burkes, and after a three-and-out for the Wooster offense, Allegheny's Terry Hartford returned a punt 85 yards for a score.

The remainder of the third quarter featured a series of punts and then another Scot turnover in the end zone, as C.J. Bell made his second interception of the day and returned this one 48 yards. Wooster's defense and Trout's punt return gave the momentum back to the Scots, which they in turn used to overtake the Gators in the fourth quarter.

While the score remained close late into the fourth quarter, Wooster dominated the statistics. The Scots ended up with 503 yards of total offense and 26 first downs to Allegheny's 255 and 10, respectively.

Individually, Holter had his third-straight game with 350-plus yards of total offense, which gives him a school-record 2,366 yards for the season. He completed 20-of-35 passes for 258 yards and picked up another 103 on the ground, and his three rushing touchdowns equaled a career high.

Sheppard also recorded a 100-yard game – the first of his injury-slowed senior season – as he wound up with 105 on 22 attempts. That ups his career total to 3,018 rushing yards, joining just four other Scots to have reached that level.

In the receiving game, Ferns matched a career high with 117 on five catches.

For the Gators, Salopek was 19-of-31 for 221 yards through the air, with six passes going to Hartford for 58 yards, while the Scots' defense limited Allegheny to 34 rushing yards on 16 attempts.

Next Saturday, Wooster travels to Oberlin College (2-6, 2-3 NCAC) for a 1 p.m. kickoff.